Articles of Confederation
In the United States of American, the first constitution, as well as the first governing document, has been referred to as the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. In the summer of the year 1777, the final draft of the Articles of Confederation was written. Subsequently, on November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the abovementioned articles, which have been given significant importance since then in the country.
In practice, Congress uses these articles as the de facto system of government of the United States. However, on March 1, 1781, the final ratification of these articles of Confederation was done, which resulted in its significance as de jure. As a result, the significance and referring of the Congress of Confederation was given to the Congress. Furthermore, operating rules for the amalgamation were set by these articles. (Feinberg, 2002)
A number of issues and reasons were significantly responsible for the adaptation of the Articles of Confederation by Congress. In this regard, we will try to define, discuss, and analyze the abovementioned reasons and consequences that were associated before, as well as after the adaptation of the Articles of Confederation by Congress.
In this regard, some of the capabilities of the Articles of Confederation included the creation of wars, which were enabled after its adaptation by Congress. Furthermore, diplomatic agreements were negotiated after the adjustment of these articles in the United States. Moreover, a number of issues regarding the western territories were resolved by the amalgamation of the articles of confederation. In this regard, the Articles of Confederation affect the government, as well as the operations in the United States.
It has been observed that taxing authority was lacked by the abovementioned articles, which was one of the criticisms by the people who favored the emergence of a more powerful central state. Secondly, the ideology of one-state, as well as, one-vote was the basis of these articles. In this regard, a mutual defense amalgamation was created by these articles, by which the American Revolutionary War was managed by its design.
In the year 1783, the abovementioned war was ended in the region. Consequently, the creation of a new merchant state was conspired by the special interests. Particularly, a central government was wanted by the holders of war scrip, as well as speculators of the land. One of the reasons for the need for a central government would be the need for the legalization of western land holdings that were associated with disputed claims. In addition, a high tariff was wanted by the manufacturers, which can result in a barrier for foreign goods. However, the creation of a central government seemed impossible due to the competition between the states. On June 21, 1788, the United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation. (Feinberg, 2002)
In order to analyze the background behind the creation of the Articles of Confederation, it has been indicated that in the mid-1750s, the French and Indian Wars began the increase cooperation by a political push for the colonies. In addition, various states were induced in relation to cooperation for separating from the British Empire by the opening of the American Revolutionary War in the year 1775. In this regard, the role of a confederation organ that ran the war was played by the Second Continental Congress in the year 1775. Consequently, in the year 1777, the Articles for ratification by the states were presented by Congress.
As mentioned above, the year 1777 witnessed the beginning of operations by Congress for the ratification of the articles. One of the reasons for the ratification of the articles was that the official effectiveness of this document was not possible until the thirteen colonies would have ratified it. On February 5, 1778, the state of Delaware became the first to ratify the document. For several years they dragged through this process. The West witnessed the refusal of some states, as well as the ratification by others. Finally, on March 1, 1781, the state of Maryland became the last state to ratify the document, as the claims in the Ohio River valley were ceded by Virginia, as well as New York.
In order to understand the Articles of Confederation and their role in creating the United States as a federal republic, it is very important to discuss the thirteen articles that were contained in the five pages of the Articles of Confederation. In this regard, we will discuss the thirteen points of the articles. The referring of the United States of America was given by the establishment of the name of the confederation, and an everlasting and perpetual union was the status given to the country.
Secondly, the precedence over the confederation government by the separate states was asserted in the second point. At this point, freedom, independence, and complete sovereignty were given to every state. In addition, the status of a league of states united was also given during the establishment of the United States. The common defense, as well as, mutual welfare was regarded and associated with these states. In this way, all the states were bonded with each other, which was one of the significant advantages of the articles.
Freedom of movement from one state to another was given by the abovementioned establishment of the United States. Moreover, each state was allocated with one vote in the Congress of Confederation. In this regard, state legislatures were responsible for the appointment of members of congress. One of the important declarations that were made in the articles of confederation was that conduction of foreign relations, as well as a declaration of the war, was only allowed to the central government. Engagement of war by any single state without the consent of Congress was prohibited in the articles. (Feinberg, 2002)
In addition, state legislatures were responsible for the funds in order to pay off the expenditures that had been done by the United States. In this way, the rights of the central government were particularly defined in the articles, which was one of the important reasons behind the adaptation of these articles by the United States. When there is no session of the Congress, a Committee of the States, as defined in the articles, was allowed to play its role as the government. In the Articles of Confederation, Canada was pre-approved for its membership in the Confederation, and other states required a minimum of nine states in order to approve its admission in the confederacy.
Lastly, approval of Congress with the consent of all the legislatures of the states was required for the alteration of these perpetual articles. In this way, the Articles of Confederation provided a number of advantages, as well as created complexity for its amalgamation in the government. A unified front resulted in the adaptation of these articles by the United States. However, one of the difficulties was the enforcement and implementation of the abovementioned rights that were not being done by Congress. However, Congress took advantage of all the benefits that were provided by the articles in order to create a federal republic of the United States under the constitution.
Federalists
The discussion of the emergence of the Federalists is also very important, as it is very much related to the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. In this regard, a number of explanations have been used for the term of federalist around the world. However, in the context of the United States, a member of one of three groups has been associated with the term of federalist.
Historically, when the ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States was done during the year 1787 to the year 1789, a number of groups supported its ratification, and a number of other groups rejected it. (Madison, 2003) In this regard, the groups that supported the ratification have been referred to as the federalists. In this regard, the movement that was created for the support of the ratification has been associated with some documents, which are known as the Federalist Papers.
In short, the Federalist Papers defined and presented the ideology of the Federalists. In other words, the ratification of the Constitution of the United States was advocated in a series of eighty-five articles contained in the Federalist Papers. The Constitution was interpreted by the primary source of these papers. In addition, the system of government that was proposed in the Constitution was outlined, and its philosophy and motivation were presented in the papers by the Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay are some of the well-known authors of these papers. A large republic was advocated, and the means of preventing factions was discussed by the Federalists. (Madison, 2003)
Anti-Federalists
In the late eighteenth century, American politics witnessed two distinct counter-movements that have been referred to as Anti-Federalism, and their operators have been known as the Anti-Federalists. In this regard, a stronger national government that was proposed under the Constitution was opposed by them. Moreover, aggressive fiscal policies were proposed by Alexander Hamilton regarding the first administration of George Washington, which resulted in the formation of a second movement of the Anti-Federalists in the country. (Ketcham, 2003) The referring of the Anti-Administration Party has also been given to this movement.
Eventually, their proposition of weakness of the national or central government under the Articles of Confederation resulted in the sanctioning of a convention for the amendment into the Articles. According to the ideology of the Anti-Federalists, the sovereignty and prestige of the states were threatened by the creation of a stronger government. (Ketcham, 2003) Some of the opposition of the Federalists observed sufficiency in the central government under the Articles of Confederation. However, most of the Anti-Federalists opposed the creation of a central government.
Conclusion
We have tried to define, discuss, understand, and analyze the Articles of Confederation, their adaptation by the United States, and a number of reasons and issues that were associated with them. A number of advantages benefited the United States due to its acceptance, which superseded the disadvantages. Lastly, we discussed the ideologies of the Federalists, as well as the Anti-Federalists that began in the 1780s in the United States. We hope that this study will help students, experts, and historians in their future analysis of the subject.
References
- Barbara Silberdick Feinberg. (2002). the Articles of Confederation: the First Constitution of the United States. Twenty-First Century Books.
- James Madison. (2003). the Federalist: a Commentary on the Constitution of the United States. Cambridge University Press.
- Ralph Louis Ketcham. (2003). the Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates. Signet Classic.