Comparison Between Articles of Confederation and the New Constitution of 1787

Confederation and Constitution
Student:
Professor:
Course title:
Date:
Confederation and Constitution
This paper provides a comparison between the new Constitution of 1787 and the Articles of Confederation and describes the weaknesses and strengths of the Articles of Confederation vis-a-vis the Constitution. The drafting of the Constitution is also described and the paper shows how different States compromised so as to effectively draft a constitution. Furthermore, this paper provides a comparison of the debate over ratification between the anti-federalists and the federalists.
Articles of Confederation and the new Constitution of 1787
The Articles of Confederation has a number of weaknesses and just a few strengths vis-a-vis the Constitution. Strengths: some of the main objectives which the Articles accomplished were to bring the states together and create a powerful legislature. It was a major step towards national unity. The American citizens were highly satisfied with the legislature given that it provided them with a voice in the government. Furthermore, the Articles provided the United States Congress with the power of dealing with foreign affairs and it possessed the power to make peace and declare warfare, sign treaties and form alliances (Gienapp, 2015).
Weaknesses: one major weakness of the Articles of Confederation was a weak Congress/Federal government. The weak congress had very little power to control the states effectively: the Congress did not have power to regulate taxes and this caused some states to tax other states. The Congress could not unify domestic and foreign policies, enforce treaties, enact navigation rules, and enforce power on people. The Congress did not have control over foreign commerce. The system of enacting regulations was not adequate and bigger states had more voting power than states that were smaller (Lombardi, 2014). The Articles of Confederation failed to provide the United States with a government that was capable of solving global and national problems. Since there lacked a stronger Federal government with an executive branch, state disputes were rampant and passing laws was difficult.
The weak central government did not have control over the western lands. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Federal government did not have the ability to levy taxes and regulate trade. At times the states declined to give money to the Federal government which the government needed and the states and the Federal government engaged in tariff wars with each other, more or less paralyzing interstate trade (Unger, 2010).The Congress was unable to enact necessary measures given that it lacked the 9-state majority that was mandatory to become rules. The Congress was for the most part ignored by the states since the Congress did not have power to enforce cooperation hence it was not able to perform duties (Lombardi, 2014). The need to have a more powerful Federal government became clear before long ultimately resulting in the Constitutional Convention in the year 1787.
Drafting of the Constitution
By the year 1786, it was very apparent that the Articles of Confederation actually provided a government that was ineffective for the union. With strong encouragement from various state...