A Look at the Making of the Constitution
Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. However, as it has been well documented, the Articles had many inherent problems associated with it. The Articles of Confederation would require all of the states to give their approval to pass. The Articles were also very limited in the actual power the new government would have. Under the articles of confederation all states remained independent and sovereign, and only utilizing Congress as an absolute last line of defense. "Without the power to tax or coerce states to follow the treaties it had negotiated, the Confederation Congress could not resolve the nation’s economic …show more content…
This party supported industrialization, a national bank, and government aid. The Democratic - Republican Party (Anti-Federalist), believed that the federal government should be weaker and that the states should themselves hold most of the power. "Rather than accept the need for a powerful central government, Anti-Federalists clung to the idea of a system in which the bulk of governmental functions would continue to reside in the states" (Keene 148).
The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, published a series of papers to get the public behind the ratification of their version of the constitution. “The Federalist, for example, a sophisticated defense of the Constitution written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, was first published as newspaper essays in New York” (Keene 148).
The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, did not publish papers like the federalist, but “the writings of Elbridge Gerry and George Mason, prominent Anti-Federalists who had participated in the Philadelphia Convention but had refused to sign the Constitution, were widely reprinted” (Keene
Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. However, as it has been well documented, the Articles had many inherent problems associated with it. The Articles of Confederation would require all of the states to give their approval to pass. The Articles were also very limited in the actual power the new government would have. Under the articles of confederation all states remained independent and sovereign, and only utilizing Congress as an absolute last line of defense. "Without the power to tax or coerce states to follow the treaties it had negotiated, the Confederation Congress could not resolve the nation’s economic …show more content…
This party supported industrialization, a national bank, and government aid. The Democratic - Republican Party (Anti-Federalist), believed that the federal government should be weaker and that the states should themselves hold most of the power. "Rather than accept the need for a powerful central government, Anti-Federalists clung to the idea of a system in which the bulk of governmental functions would continue to reside in the states" (Keene 148).
The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, published a series of papers to get the public behind the ratification of their version of the constitution. “The Federalist, for example, a sophisticated defense of the Constitution written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, was first published as newspaper essays in New York” (Keene 148).
The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, did not publish papers like the federalist, but “the writings of Elbridge Gerry and George Mason, prominent Anti-Federalists who had participated in the Philadelphia Convention but had refused to sign the Constitution, were widely reprinted” (Keene