The Articles vs Consitution
The fundamental basis of our government was very weak compared to the government of today. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were hardly unified, and had no strong central government. When the Federal Constitution was established, the states were finally "united", and the delegates realized that the power must come from the central government. When the Articles of Confederation were written in 1777, weakness was prominent. There was only one vote in Congress for each state, which was unfair to the states with a larger population. The
With the revision of the Articles of Confederation, America was on the right track to becoming a unified country. This complied with the equal representation deal. The central government had no control over commerce; each state had individual foreign affairs. There were now three branches of government, the executive (presidential), legislative (Congress), and the judicial (Supreme Court). The central government finally had more power than the states. There were no separation of powers; Congress carried out the laws. The executive branch now had the powers to execute laws, and the Supreme Court headed the Federal Courts. In the matter of deciding important issues, a simple majority vote was needed in Congress. The power foreign and interstate commerce was now given to Congress. There were no federal courts, and had no authority to act directly upon individuals and no power to compel states. The states were now states, not as independent unions under the Articles. In the Senate, there were two votes, disregarding the population of the state. A compromise was made between the populous states and the smaller states. Realizing that America was under a weak central government, in 1788 thirteen delegates met in Philadelphia to draw up the new and improved Federal Constitution.
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