"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"-Thomas Jefferson
Through painful years of authoritarian British government and the weak Articles of Confederation, Americans' hungered for a new form of government. The American leaders, terrified by an autocratic central government like Britain's were in the need of a new administration, which would evenly balance control and freedom. The formation of the Constitution was due to a combination between the Articles and the British government, avoiding the weaknesses, while focusing on the strengths.
American leaders dissatisfied by how the British government was run created a drastically different political system under the Articles of Confederation. This provided for a loose confederation or "firm league of friendship" between the thirteen states, and together took joint action in dealing with common problems. This document ultimately united the country under the first national government. Providing separation of powers and a system of Checks and Balances, which allowed the branches to monitor one another.
The Articles of Conferderation, ratified in 1781. ...
Act of Maryland legislature to ratify Articles of ...
The Articles of Conferderation, ratified in 1781. ...Although the Articles of Confederation was weak it proved to be a land marking government, and when compared to the European government Jefferson commented he thought it was like comparing, "heaven and hell".
Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed like "heaven" to some it
proved to be too weak and ineffective to lead a nation. The tragic flaw of the
Articles was that the national government could not resolve or manage the problems of the nation, on account of the weak decentralized government. The inability to tax or regulate commerce among the states resulted in the nations failure in repaying its huge debt caused by the Revolutionary War. Inflation rose and the American dollar sunk down considerably at one point where it was only worth two cents, losing 98% of its value. Due to the inability to manage the nations tremendous...
Constitution
You've written a good essay on the history of the formation of the United States Constitution. What I find most amazing about the Constitution is that it has only been amended twenty seven times and the first ten amendments or Bill of Rights were instituted contemporaneously with the document's ratification. Accordingly, there have only been seventeen amendments to the Constitution since 1791, although the country has changed enormously from what it was in the eighteenth century. This is a tribute to the foresight and wisdom of the founding fathers. Your paper was interesting and informative. Good work!
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