Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

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The Articles of Confederation was an agreement within the thirteen colonies in America and this was used to serve as the first constitution. In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a document to serve as the constitution. In late 1777, a copy was sent to the states for ratification and in early 1781, the document named the Articles of Confederation was officially ratified by all thirteen states.
Congress’s powers over the states in the Articles were very well definite. Under the confederation, congress had the power to negotiate treaties, to declare war, and to make peace. Additionally, it also reserved the right to maintain an army and navy and also to regulate the interaction they would have with the Native Americans. Moreover, the powers that were not granted to Congress were reserved for the state governments. This helped to create a limited central government that saved the individual freedoms of each state. For example, under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had no power to levy taxes. Furthermore, any modification made to the Articles required an
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To address the problems, delegates from five states met at the Annapolis Convention in Maryland in 1786 but, a resolution was not found. In 1787, delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. At the convention, delegates agreed that the Articles should be scrapped and replaced with a new constitution to create a stronger national government and the drafting for a new Constitution to create a republican government began. This new government would consist of three branches: the legislative (Congress), the executive (the President), and judicial (Supreme Court). The three branches were created because the delegates believed the separation of powers into three different branches would ensure that the United States would not become another monarchy like

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