US History Thematic Assignment: The US Federal System

US HISTORY THEMATIC ESSAY
OUR FEDERAL SYSTEM
University
Date of submission
1.0 Introduction
After the American Revolution, the former 13 colonies were unified under the Articles of Confederation, which established the premier government structures that took effect in 1781 after ratification. The purpose of the Article was to establish a confederation of states where every state would retain its sovereignty, freedom and independence. Despite the envisaged purpose of state unification, the Articles of Confederation denied congress the power to regulate taxes.
2.0 The U.S Federal System
Under the Articles, the national government had little power. There was a strong loyalty to the independence of states, and fear of a strong central government (Kee & Shannon, 1992). Due to inherent weaknesses in the article of confederation, the US constitution was adopted as a replacement to the Article of Confederation in 1789. The Articles established a weak central government and strong independent states. This power imbalance between states and the central government led to myriad problems. The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the American constitution due to various weaknesses. Despite their weaknesses, the Articles had numerous achievements notably winning the American Revolution, ending the revolutionary war and establishment of various state departments (Bederman, 2008).
In spite of these achievements, Articles failed due to inherent weaknesses. First and foremost, they advocated for a single state, single vote, notwithstanding the state size. Secondly, Congress had no power to regulate and administer taxes as well as the power to regulate state and foreign trade (Ingraham & Rosenbloom, 1990). Moreover, there was no executive arm of government to enforce laws passed by congress. The Articles did not create a national judicial system and further required that any amendments to be ratified through a unanimous vote. During the enactment of laws, 9/13 majority was required in congress. Moreover, states were at liberty to create their own tax regimes and enforce own interstate commerce rules. Thus the Articles of Confederation failed because they underscored state independence and sovereignty more than the national good (Bederman, 2008). This often led to frequent interstate conflicts. Moreover, states were under no obligation to financially support the national government. The central government lacked power to enforce laws enacted by congress. The independence of states proved detrimental when states begun to enter into foreign agreements without involving the central government. Moreover, each state established its own military arm, dubbed as militia. Worse still, each state begun to print and use their currency (Ingraham & Rosenbloom, 1990). All these factors led to an unstable national economy. A protest against rising debt and economic instability ensued in Massachusetts. The national government was unable to quell the uprising thus further exposing the weaknesses of the Article of Confederation. Under the Articles, the country had become ungovernable, with economic and military weaknesses; it became apparent that a constitution was needed (Bederman, 2008).
3.0 Power Sharing
The American constitution established three levels of government, thus purposely sharing power among the three branches of government (Schedler et al., 1997). The framers envisaged a power sharing structure where no arm of the government would enjoy immense power. Each arm of government acts as a check and balance for the other branches. The three articles of the constitution created three levels of government...