Weakness of the Articles of Confederation
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 02/11/2013 12:42 PM
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Allie Caffrey 10/31/12
DBQ essay Kerr/p6
America is unique in that it was founded on the power of the individual and the idea of natural rights, which we can credit to the founding fathers that wrote our Constitution. The Articles of Confederation provided our country with a prototype of government to work with, and quickly revealed weaknesses that would need to be amended to be able to run the country effectively. The task the founders and writers now faced was to create a document that provided the government with more power than the Articles of Confederation, yet without infringing on an individual’s rights.
Newly American citizens consisted of people who had just been liberated of England’s oppressive monarchy that was inconsiderate of its people’s best interests and instead valued their economic opportunity more greatly. These people had just witnessed their government impose things such as The Stamp Act, The Townshend Act, and The Quartering Act. They were fearful of their future governing body holding the power to inflict similar actions, therefore apprehensive about the first draft of the Constitution. These people, given the name of the Anti-Federalists, required the constitution give them more security in their rights to freedom of speech, religion, and press, as these were their main concerns (document two). Not only worried about their rights but of their say in government decisions, citizens lacking wealth or land felt they were not adequately represented and surmised that only white land owners would be in power (document five). These were not unfounded beliefs, and while a strong, central government was essential for America to make it as a country, the writers of the constitution had to make revisions in order to obtain the 9 states approval it needed to be ratified.
It wouldn’t be ridiculous for one to speculate that the Articles of Confederation had more or less failed America and improvement was...
DBQ essay Kerr/p6
America is unique in that it was founded on the power of the individual and the idea of natural rights, which we can credit to the founding fathers that wrote our Constitution. The Articles of Confederation provided our country with a prototype of government to work with, and quickly revealed weaknesses that would need to be amended to be able to run the country effectively. The task the founders and writers now faced was to create a document that provided the government with more power than the Articles of Confederation, yet without infringing on an individual’s rights.
Newly American citizens consisted of people who had just been liberated of England’s oppressive monarchy that was inconsiderate of its people’s best interests and instead valued their economic opportunity more greatly. These people had just witnessed their government impose things such as The Stamp Act, The Townshend Act, and The Quartering Act. They were fearful of their future governing body holding the power to inflict similar actions, therefore apprehensive about the first draft of the Constitution. These people, given the name of the Anti-Federalists, required the constitution give them more security in their rights to freedom of speech, religion, and press, as these were their main concerns (document two). Not only worried about their rights but of their say in government decisions, citizens lacking wealth or land felt they were not adequately represented and surmised that only white land owners would be in power (document five). These were not unfounded beliefs, and while a strong, central government was essential for America to make it as a country, the writers of the constitution had to make revisions in order to obtain the 9 states approval it needed to be ratified.
It wouldn’t be ridiculous for one to speculate that the Articles of Confederation had more or less failed America and improvement was...