Essay about The Articles of Confederation

Delegates feared that the national government would have too much power over the states. William Paterson came up with the New Jersey Plan. The Plan proposed for changes in the Articles of Confederation that would let Congress regulate trade and tax imports, but would maintain state power. The New Jersey Plan proposed a single legislature, a government that relied on the authority of the state governments, more than one executive and one vote of legislation for each state. The plan allowed each state to keep its independence. The plan did not stop the states from violating foreign treaties, or from entering into treaties, or wars. James Madison was against the New Jersey Plan. Madison insisted that the New Jersey Plan did not improve any of the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. The Virginia Plan was finally approved as the plan to be used to construct the new government. The approval of the Virginia Plan meant that the delegates were now committed to creating a new

America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, delegates like James Madison, William Patterson and Alexander Hamilton had much bigger plans. They wanted to create a entirely new government rather than just fix the existing one. The delegates from Virginia took Madison’s thoughts, notes, and work and formed the Virginia Plan. On May 29th, 1787, the Virginia Plan was presented to the Constitutional Convention. After the Virginia plan was introduced William Paterson asked to be adjourned to contemplate the plan. On June 15th, 1787, Patterson reported

A few hundred years ago, the United States first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was created. This Constitution created a weak central government in order to give the people the rights that they deserve. This plan of government, however, proved to be too weak and it could not control the people or pay the debts that the country had acquired from the Revolutionary War.

During the late 1700’s, it occurred to Americans that the Articles of Confederation needed to be revised. The weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, which included the lack of power to conduct domestic responsibilities such as taxation and regulation of commerce, caused the United States to become bankrupt. Eventually, the new country was faced with the daunting task to greatly alter the Articles of Confederation. In February 1787, America finally persuaded the Continental Congress to convene at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 15, 1776 to September 17, 1787, which would eventually lead to the various debates concerning the problems that faced the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation. During the events that occurred at the Constitutional Convention, various plans were introduced. These plans included James Madison and Edmund Randolph’s Virginia Plan, which introduced a radical government structure to allocate the legislative branches by population and the separation of powers, and William Patterson’s New Jersey Plan, a response to the Virginia Plan, which conceived the idea of equal representation for all states. After heated debates, the introduction of Roger Sherman’s Connecticut Compromise helped to merge both the ideas of Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan into the definitive compromise. In this compromise, the legislature would be bicameral with each state guaranteed two equal senators in the Senate and

In May of 1787, individuals from each state assembled in Philadelphia, to transform the United States government into an effective and powerful nation that conducted affairs in workable ways. The delegates meeting at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 were given consent to alter and revise the Articles of Confederation. Except for those from New Jersey and Virginia, the representatives intended to revise the Articles. The primary issue that they resolved was that of State Representation. William Paterson and his associates offered a list of suggestions for revising the Articles of Confederation in his New Jersey Plan. Paterson, a delegate from New Jersey, supported the weak national government that the Articles made. Paterson declared imbalance of the rights of the small states against the large states and wished to expand upon the Articles making a more representative and all around well-organized government.

The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America classifies an effective government as one that "establish[s] justice, insure[s] domestic tranquility, provide[s] for the common defense, promote[s] the general welfare, and secure[s] the blessings of liberty." Based on these standards, the Articles of Confederation were effective to a certain degree at the time, but in the end, were too liberal to be effective. Because its main purpose was to ensure the blessings of liberty, the Articles of Confederation had to sacrifice stability and security, which ultimately led to its downfall.

The Articles of Confederation were the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. The Articles provided a system for the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with Europe and deal with territorial issues and Native American relations. The articles were supposed to be a legislative body serving as the nation’s executive rather than a parliament. It had full power over foreign affairs and questions of war and peace, it could decide disputes between the states, and it had authority over coinage, the postal service, and Indian affairs as well as the western territories. Unfortunately, the weakness of the government created by the Articles became a matter of concern for the American nation. The articles had no courts and no power to enforce its resolutions and ordinances. It also had no power to levy taxes and had to rely on requisitions from the states, which state legislatures could ignore. The articles didn’t have an executive or judicial branch of government, nor did it have an administrative head of government, and there were no federal courts (Shi &Tindall, 2013, P.239). America had to change from the articles of confederation to a constitutional government, to strengthen its government.

There are numerous possible conclusions as to what the Constitution may have looked like had James Madison gotten his way at the debates in the Federal Convention. Initially, Madison’s vision of government lined up with the Virginia Plan presented by Edmund Randolph to the Federal Convention on May 29th, 1787. This plan stressed the interest of a stronger national government, with representation in the legislative branch based on the apportionment of people, instead of states, and subjected state laws to a veto by the national government. Despite the early plan of government, it is more realistic to assert that Madison’s vision for government was pliable, and that his vision evolved through the convention to appear as it did on September 17, 1787. Considering Madison’s comments in both the Federal Convention along with his subsequent authorship of certain Federalist Papers, under the pseudonym Publius, it is clear that through the deliberative process of debate during the convention that James Madison’s vision for a national government was almost wholly reconciled to the final draft. James Madison achieved the majority of his desires for a new constitution, mainly protection against the encroachment by states on federal power, limiting the power of those in government by creating separate distinct functions for each branch of government and finally by securing rights of individuals structurally by extending the republic.

The Articles of Confederation was established to the Constitution of many states as a weak central government. People are believing that the weakness in the AOC give the republic subject to foreign attack and domestic affairs. Madison persuaded the states' rights advocate John Taylor to call for a meeting in the Annapolis, Maryland to address problems of commerce among the states. Madison led Virginia delegation to the Philadelphia which on May 14, 1787 and supported the cry for George Washington to act as its chair When Washington accepted the body achieved for the moral authority it needed to draft a new constitution. In the following weeks, Madison appeared as the floor leader of those leaders supporting a strong central government. A person

The Articles of Confederation, is the first written constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation consists of a Continental Congress, to maintain the Articles and serve as a government of the thirteen American colonies. The Continental Congress is made up of delegates from the thirteen colonies. These colonies include: Delaware, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts Bay, South Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

They ended up making a new constitution, and Madison, representing Virginia, became the chief recorder of information and took a lot of notes. Madison had helped develop Virginia’s constitution 11 years earlier, and it was his “Virginia Plan” that served as the basis for debate in the development of the U.S. Constitution. Madison strongly kept arguing for a strong central government that would unify the country. The delegates met secretly throughout the summer until they eventually signed the proposed constitution on September, 17th 1787. In order for the constitution to become the law that all Americans would have to follow, two-thirds of the 13 states had to approve it individually, and it was sent to them on September 28th. Once again, Madison campaigned for the acceptation of the Constitution by co-authoring a series of essays with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton that appeared in many New York newspapers and eventually got around the states. There were 85 essays in all and good old James Madison wrote 29 of them. Madison’s important contribution to the overall creation of the constitution earned him the nickname “Father of the

raged with anger as the government didn't change its ways to make the U.S. better. Eventually few political leaders from the congress set up the constitution convention to plan a new government, which later became the “Articles of the Confederation”. This new constitution made three branches that equal out their power so no branch has too much power than the others. The three branches are Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. George Washington was elected as leader of the constitution convention. The form of government was mostly written by James Madison from Virginia, also known as the father of the constitution. Madison made the Virginia Plan that was based on a strong central government. The Legislative branch was the congress in charge of making new laws. The Executive branch would have the president and carry out laws made by the Legislative branch. The Judicial branch would manage courts and help interpret laws to the people. The Virginia plan also had congress with two separate houses, an upper and lower house. The representation of the houses would be determined by the state’s population. The main opposer to the plan was the New Jersey plan. Which was created by William Paterson. The NJ plan was based on one house and for each state to have one vote. Both people from the convention were tied to both plans. Roger Sherman came up with a compromised based on both plans. This was known as the “Great Compromise”. The Great Compromise was

. Resolved that whenever requisitions shall be necessary, instead of the rule for making requisitions mentioned in the articles of Confederation, the United States in Congress assembled be authorized to make such requisitions in proportion to the whole number of white and other free citizens and inhabitants of every age, sex, and condition including those bound to servitude for a term of years and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes [3]; that if such requisitions be not complied with, in the time specified therein, to direct the collection thereof in the non complying States and for that purpose to devise and pass acts directing and authorizing the same; provided

The Constitution: A Model of Collaborative Effort By Jeffrey Twinning Who wrote the Constitution? Was it Thomas Jefferson? No, Jefferson was the main author of the Declaration of Independence, but he did not attend the Constitutional Convention in 1787 because he was in France serving as the American minister to that country. Was it George Washington? No, he was president of the convention but used his influence to maintain peace between the arguing factions rather than contributing his own ideas. Was it Benjamin Franklin? No, Franklin, the oldest delegate at age 81, contributed some of his wry wisdom to the debate

Consequently, many bankers, merchants, and citizens called for a stronger government. These issues led The Founding Fathers to revise the American Character. In 1787 Congress called for a special convention of the states in Philadelphia. James Madison became a central leader at the constitutional convention, who arrived at the convention more than prepared to debate the matter of a new constitution. Madison drafted his proposal known as the Virginia plan that proposed the three separate powers; Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches with a bicameral congress. However, another plan was submitted known as the New Jersey plan who was very similar to The Articles of Confederation. Slavery