The Articles Of Confederation: First Constitution Of The United States

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States, ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation gave all of the states sovereign power, and put extreme limitations on the federal government. The only power that the government had was in foreign affairs, and in last resort situations, the government could be used for legislation. These restrictions on the government quickly led to a variety of legislative and economic issues. One large legislative problem was with lawmaking in general. Each of the thirteen states had one vote, regardless of their population. Not only did this make many states unhappy because of how disproportionate this system was, but it also meant that is was hard to pass laws. In order to pass a law, nine out of the thirteen states had to agree on it, but because of this if five of the small states that in total had a population less than one, voted against a law, then it would not be passed. The same issue also arose in amending the Articles. This required the states to unanimously agree, and as anyone could imagine, accomplishing such a task is not simple. The Articles of Confederation also had some economic issues. After the Revolutionary War, …show more content…
This ordinance was also a system to distribute land and create new states, specifically in the Northwest territory. The previous system, established territories that would eventually join the original states once their population grew. The Northwest Ordinance was different because it would allow the territories to become states after they grew enough. In the beginning, each territory would have a governor and a council. Once their population reached 5,000, they would get an elected assembly. Lastly, when a territory’s population reached 60,000, they could write a constitution and petition for statehood. The Northwest Ordinance also established a system for public education within the new states, and didn’t allow