Introduction
Immediately after the Lee Resolution declared American colonies independent, the Second Continental Congress led the team in appointing three committees to spearhead the transition process. The main task of these committees was to come up with a framework to guide the operations of the Confederation of the Colonies. The proposed framework is what informed the adoption of the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777 (Dagnal 190). The Articles led to the creation of a government where more powers were concentrated within the colonies (Dagnal 192).
However, ten years later, on September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution was signed by delegates in Philadelphia (Kay 244). The delegates spent months engaged in heated debates to find a common balance between conflicting views and clashing ideas (Kay 245). However, this essay aims to compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution to determine which one best suits the needs of the United States. Ideally, the U.S. Constitution is the perfect fit for the United States because it led to the creation of three branches, combined with the adoption of the First Amendment.
Similarities
The two, the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution, were regarded as the official laws that were obeyed by either colonies or states. Additionally, the laws were created by the legislature, comprising both the Congress and the Senate/the House of Representatives (Fatovic 190). In the two documents, the federal roles, with respect to foreign powers and nations, were similar. For instance, they both hold that the central government should be responsible for any negotiations with foreign nations (Fatovic 180). As further explicated by the authors, all functions related to diplomatic missions, the deployment of ambassadors, and the signing of treaties were accomplished by the central figure.
Another similarity between the two documents is that Congress has the authority to wage or declare war. However, the authority is delegated at the state level once the war commences. Each state or colonies were mandated to recruit and levy its militia. Also, in both the Articles and Constitution, there were term limits for all government officials (Fatovic 169). More specifically, in the U.S. Constitution, the representatives are to serve in the legislative offices for a period of two years, while senators remain in office for a term of six years.
Lastly, the two, the Constitution and the Articles, are based on several articles. The former has seven, with each performing a specific function. The first three articles cover the process of making laws, presidential powers, and the interpretation of laws, respectively (Whittington 224). The remaining four describe the relationship between powers when the rules should be changed, the declaration of the Constitution as the Supreme Law, and the process of ratifying the Constitution, respectively.
The Articles have thirteen points, with the first one describing the states as “The United States of America” (Fatovic 174). The second article explains the concept of state power, while the third emphasizes the need for states to protect one another against external attacks. The next three gave people authority to move freely, informed the creation of the Congress, and explained the roles of Congress.
The seventh and eighth articles elucidated how the state should choose the military and raise money. The next two explained the functions of the federal government and the declaration of war. Articles ten and eleven focused on the conditions of joining a given union, while the last indicated when and how the Confederation can be changed.
Differences
One of the primary differences between the two documents lies in the establishment of three branches of government: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. The Constitution, on the one hand, introduced the idea of separation of powers between the three branches. On the other hand, the Confederation only had the legislative body, a single entity appointed exclusively by state legislatures (Jackson 845). Another difference is that the Constitution adopted a bicameral legislature with the members of the House of Representatives being elected through a popular vote (Whittington 240).
The Senate, also a part of the bicameral structure, consists of two members appointed by the legislature. Each member of Congress under the U.S. Constitution was granted a vote. At the same time, under the Articles, each state was given a single vote (Fatovic 171). Additionally, the term limit for each member under the Articles was one year. On the contrary, members of the House of Representatives and Senate under the Constitution served for six and two years respectively.
Another difference between the two documents lies in the powers extended to the federal government. On one hand, the Constitution granted the federal government immense power over money and taxes (Jackson 840). Similarly, the federal government had the power to tax its citizens. On the other hand, the Articles “were written at a time when popular phrases such as Taxation without Representation dominated the politics of the day” (Fatovic 172).
In other words, the central government had little to no power over taxes – it relied on funding from the states, which saw the government crippled with meeting several expenses, such as paying debts. Lastly, the U.S. Constitution had a more elastic governance system compared to the Articles of Confederation.
Preferred Document
Of the two, the U.S. Constitution is a perfect fit for America because it was designed to address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. For instance, the Articles failed to effectively coordinate services and policies among states since they all had different priorities (Whittington 247). Similarly, the government needed to obtain approval from all the states before it could take any action. However, the U.S. Constitution’s primary aim was to ensure a separation of powers among the three branches through a system of checks and balances.
The same extended to all the states in an effort to ensure no single person or group yielded too much power. Similarly, the inclusion of the Bill of Rights makes it the preferred option. As explicated in Veneziano’s study, the Bill of Rights “spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government” (605). In addition to this, the Constitution provides American citizens with a range of civil rights and liberties, including freedom of expression, speech, and the press. In fact, U.S. foreign policy has focused more on safeguarding and promoting human rights.
Concentration of Powers
In an effort to understand where the most power should reside, it is necessary to highlight the primary responsibility of any government – to protect its citizens, as well as communities and all ethnicities. The government at all levels, whether state or national, should strive to protect its citizens against all forms of insecurity and exploitation by influential individuals in society. Similarly, the government should strive to protect its territories from both foreign and non-governmental entity threats.
Lastly, the government should protect its citizens from multinational corporations that are out to exploit them. All these examples point towards the need to increase the powers of the national government. It should have more powers to prevent the selfish pursuits of state and multinational entities, most of which operate at the state level, from encroaching on the civil rights of the citizens. In line with this, the national government should have more powers because there are checks and balances at the national level, facilitated through the three branches.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Articles of Confederation were adopted following the colonies’ declaration of independence, resulting in a government where the individual colonies held the most power. This system was replaced ten years later by the U.S. Constitution in 1787, a document widely considered superior by scholars. Both documents were similar in that they served as the supreme law of the land and were created by the legislative branch (Congress and the Senate).
However, they differed significantly in their views on federal authority. The Constitution empowered the federal government with considerable control over money and taxation, while the Articles left the central government largely powerless regarding taxes, requiring it to rely on funds provided voluntarily by the states. The author ultimately asserts that the federal government needs more power to adequately defend its citizens.
Works Cited
Dagnall, Caleb. “Statehood and Sovereignty: A Case Study of William Livingston from Philosophe to Federalist.”New Jersey Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol 5, no. 1, Rutgers University Libraries, 2019, pp. 190–227. Web.
Fatovic, Clement. “George WIlliam Van CLeve. We Have Not a Government: The Articles of Confederation and the Road to the Constitution.” The American Historical Review, vol. 125, no. 5, Oxford UP (OUP), 2020, pp. 1867–68. Web.
Jackson, Vicki C. “Congressional Standing to Sue: The Role of Courts and Congress in US Constitutional Democracy.” Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 93, No. 4, 2018, pp. 845. Web.
Kay, Richard S. “Formal and Informal Amendment of the United States Constitution.”The American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 66, no. suppl_1, Oxford UP (OUP), 2018, pp. 243–268. Web.
Veneziano, Alina. “Applying the US Constitution Abroad, from the Era of the US Founding to the Modern Age.” Fordham Urban Law Journal, Vol. 46, No. 2, 2019, pp. 602-620. Web.
Whittington, Keith E. “Jonathan Gienapp. The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era.”The American Historical Review, vol. 125, no. 1, Oxford UP (OUP), Feb. 2020, pp. 225–26. Web.