There are many different beliefs on how the government of the United States should be run. The first set of rules, called the Articles of Confederation, was written in 1777, but 10 years later in 1787 the Constitution was adopted. The Constitution replaced faulty laws that didn’t give the federal government supreme power; it set a base for our government that has still proven to be an effective framework for the United States to follow even 229 years later. The Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses like not holding the power to impose taxes and the need for a unanimous vote to pass an amendment, that were resolved by the enactment of the constitution and without it, America would not be the great nation it is today.
The Articles of Confederation was written in 1777 by a committee selected by the Second Continental Congress. It was designed to help win the Revolutionary War against British rule and to govern the new states after their victory in 1783. With this set up of government, there was no president; there was a one-house body of delegates and each of the thirteen states could cast one vote no matter how large the state’s population was. For any law to be passed, the government had to receive nine votes, also known as the two-thirds vote rule, and to make an amendment the vote must be unanimous. The reason no amendments were ever made to the Articles of Confederation is because all thirteen states were never in agreement. The government had the rights to declare war, conduct foreign affairs, make treaties, and coin their own money, but could not collect taxes. Most of their problems stemmed from this issue. The Revolutionary War left the government, and each state, in a great deal of debt. Since the Articles of Confederation did not grant the permission of collecting taxes from its citizens, they had no way to pay off this debt. With each state creating their own currency …show more content…
In Constitution, Watts states that the Constitution “…sets out the basic structure and functions of the various branches of government” (1). These being the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Our founding fathers wanted our country to be free from tyranny of the government and of the people, so they created the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances to make sure that one group does not assume more power than the other. The new structure for our government fixed many of the problems related to the Articles of Confederation. Under the Constitution, the states are no longer sovereign and the laws of the federal government are supreme. After the enactment of the constitution in 1788 the government assumed and enforced the right to levy and collect taxes in order to pay off the massive debt owed. It also gave the government the power to regulate trade between countries and interstate commerce. With the use of a nationally unified currency, the United States is able to more effectively control the importation and exportation of goods between states and other countries. Laws are passed with a majority vote instead of the two-thirds rule, and an amendment only requires a three-fourths vote to be passed. With this new rubric for passing laws and amendments, change is more attainable than it was under the Articles of Confederation and more citizens can be
The Articles of Confederation was written in 1777 by a committee selected by the Second Continental Congress. It was designed to help win the Revolutionary War against British rule and to govern the new states after their victory in 1783. With this set up of government, there was no president; there was a one-house body of delegates and each of the thirteen states could cast one vote no matter how large the state’s population was. For any law to be passed, the government had to receive nine votes, also known as the two-thirds vote rule, and to make an amendment the vote must be unanimous. The reason no amendments were ever made to the Articles of Confederation is because all thirteen states were never in agreement. The government had the rights to declare war, conduct foreign affairs, make treaties, and coin their own money, but could not collect taxes. Most of their problems stemmed from this issue. The Revolutionary War left the government, and each state, in a great deal of debt. Since the Articles of Confederation did not grant the permission of collecting taxes from its citizens, they had no way to pay off this debt. With each state creating their own currency …show more content…
In Constitution, Watts states that the Constitution “…sets out the basic structure and functions of the various branches of government” (1). These being the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Our founding fathers wanted our country to be free from tyranny of the government and of the people, so they created the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances to make sure that one group does not assume more power than the other. The new structure for our government fixed many of the problems related to the Articles of Confederation. Under the Constitution, the states are no longer sovereign and the laws of the federal government are supreme. After the enactment of the constitution in 1788 the government assumed and enforced the right to levy and collect taxes in order to pay off the massive debt owed. It also gave the government the power to regulate trade between countries and interstate commerce. With the use of a nationally unified currency, the United States is able to more effectively control the importation and exportation of goods between states and other countries. Laws are passed with a majority vote instead of the two-thirds rule, and an amendment only requires a three-fourths vote to be passed. With this new rubric for passing laws and amendments, change is more attainable than it was under the Articles of Confederation and more citizens can be