Compare And Contrast The Strengths And Weaknesses Of The First Constitution

The first written constitution of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. Being the first constitution, there were likely to be some weaknesses. The Articles had more weaknesses than it did strengths. Once they put the articles in place, it was hard to get away from those and on to the Constitution. Congress decided on a final copy of the Articles but not until they had gone through six previous drafts. Benjamin Franklin was the first to write a draft of the Articles in 1775. Later in the same year, Silas Deane presented his own draft. After Deane’s draft was submitted, the Connecticut delegation submitted their own draft which is believed to be a revision of Silas Deane’s. By 1776, Dickinson prepared his draft. The committee of Congress made some revisions to Dickinson’s work. After Congress made their revisions a third version of Dickinson’s work was printed and prepared for congress to consider it as the final draft. In 1777, after a long process of altering drafts, Congress decided on their final draft. …show more content…
Other things that Congress could do were maintain armed forces and coin money. Even though they had the authority to do those things, they didn’t have the authority to levy taxes or regulate commerce. In order to make war, enter treaties, and regulate coinage, nine of the thirteen states had to agree to it. Congress was the last resort to resolve disputes between states. Congress could not change the Articles unless all thirteen states had to allow it to happen. To the Americans, it seemed as if Congress was just representing thirteen independent states (“Articles of