Pros And Cons Of Confederation

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A confederation is an organization of a number of parties or groups united in an alliance or league. The American colonists wanted to be its own separate confederation, or country, united as one. Many of the people were weary of the British rule and the tax they imposed which included the Stamp and Sugar Act in order to pay for debt acquired from the French and Indian War. Therefore, the colonists rebelled against Great Britain. They fought for long eight years from 1775 to 1783, and won their independence. With this, the Americans were able to have their own right to formation of law and government. However, although they were independent and one country now, there were diverging views from each of the thirteen states
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This was important because it did not allow the states to bargain with other countries which could have cause conflict between other states and countries. But this was only one of the few strengths of a document that had many weaknesses. Because the Congress and the states feared of having a power like Britain they decided to let the states have sovereignty. This can be represented in Articles II of the document where it states “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right…” Sovereignty can be defined as the supreme power or authority. This created problem because the states do not have to listen to any other states or the government, which was Congress at the time. Congress could do nothing about it due to the fact that all states had their own jurisdiction. Since the Articles had no executive power it lacked to enforce and type of policies towards the states. One including the power to tax. They could only ask the states to pay their taxes but could not enforce it since they did not have the power to. The states were becoming so divided that each state began to have their own currency and refused to accept each other’s coined money. The United States was one country, however it was clear that each state was becoming more independent with the Articles in …show more content…
Shay’s Rebellion was a significant event that rendered why a change was needed and also alarmed many politicians at the time. Politicians like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay pushed for a new constitution, and created The Federalist Papers. In the written documents consisted on how the new government would operate and why it was the best option for the United States. In “The Federalist No.1”, Alexander Hamilton illustrates the “insufficiency of the existing federal government” and how the country desperately needs a new constitution. He also states in the same paragraph “comprehending in its consequence” portraying what is happening with the union at the moment and what is going to continue to happen if the old constitution is still

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