First paragraph must contain:
• An explanation of the powers that Congress has under the Articles of Confederation.
• A list of the strengths of the new government under the Articles of Confederation.
• A list of the weaknesses of the new government under the Articles of Confederation.
• Examples of how people have reacted to the new government.
First paragraph:
The Articles of Confederation numbers quite a few exclusive powers to Congress. Some of these powers were: the power to declare war or peace, to appoint and regulate officers of the land/naval forces, to build a navy, to set the size of the naval and land forces, to establish rules and courts for the regulation of privateering, to send ambassadors, to entering into treaties and alliances (that didn’t affect States to regulate foreign commerce), to settle disputes and differences between two or more States, to settle controversies concerning private land holders’ rights when the land is disputed by two or more states, to fix the standards of weights/measures, to regulate the trade and affairs with Native Americans, to establish and regulate post offices, to set the budget for the United States, to borrow money, and to appoint a “caretaker” committee during Congressional recesses. Despite having all of these “powers,” but Congress required permission from the States in order to act on most of them. A confederation is a government in which the state government has dominant power and not the national government. The Articles of Confederation created a confederation in the United States and the leaders of the new nation feared that a strong, centralized government would lead to a monarchy like the British government had. The Articles of Confederation had many strengths and weaknesses in the government. The Articles of Confederation, was a very unpopular document but it set the legislative body. It set congress, as the highest power in the nation because of the fear of monarchy. Congress had the power to assign treaties, declare war, operate post offices and entertain foreign relations and this document stipulated that Canada was allowed to enter the Union if they wanted to but as mentioned, the Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses. The lack of power given to the Continental Congress didn’t help the federal government. The Articles gave Congress the power to pass laws but no power to enforce those laws and if a state did not support a federal law, that state could just ignore that law with no consequence. Congress had no power to levy taxes or regulate trade and without a federal court system or executive leader, there would never be a way to enforce these laws. Some people were in favor but many people feared congress due to its power in the nation and the power to turn the nation into a monarchy.
<u>Second paragraph must contain: </u>
- An explanation of why a new, stronger government is necessary
<em>Second paragraph:</em>
In America’s earliest days, there were several types of governments due to the Founders experiments in trying to create a strong and helpful government. The first one was an agreement called the Articles of Confederation. This created a central government that had very little power. Individual state governments kept most of the power but this gave the states a lot of independence and created many problems. Due to this, the founders wrote the Constitution. This created a stronger central government that shared power with the states. The Constitution couldn’t be passed until it was approved by the states, and when it was sent out for approval, a raging debate began because many people feared a strong central government. These people that feared the Constitution were called Anti-federalists because they thought the Constitution limited the power of the states. But some people wanted a strong central government because it could represent the nation to other countries and control individual states that would not cooperate with the rest. This new government could best protect individual citizens’ rights and freedoms and it had three branches—the executive, legislative, and judicial—that could limit each other’s power. This way, the central government could not become too powerful.
