American Government: The Articles of Confederation

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American Government
The Articles of Confederation spelled out how the United States government would be structured. In the articles, the national government was made up of a legislature or Confederation Congress. The Congress was made up of delegates who were elected by state legislatures. Congress had several powers, such as declaring war and borrowing money. However, all other powers belonged to the states.
The Articles of Confederation failed because Congress was weak. For instance, Congress had no power to tax or regulate trade within the country. Also, although Congress could declare war, it had no authority to raise an army and could only requisition troops from the states. Besides this, the national government suffered from a lack of effective leadership since there was no executive.
A call was made to revise the Articles of Confederation. James Madison presented the first proposal, or the Virginia Plan, which was mainly supported by the larger states. In it, they called for a two-house legislature. The lower house would be elected by voters from each state, and the lower house would elect the upper house. Representation in both the upper and lower house would be based on state population. The legislature would choose the executive for one term. The legislature would also appoint judges to the supreme court and lower courts. A Council of Revision made up of members from the executive and judiciary would veto laws passed by Congress. However, a vote by both houses could override the Council’s veto.
The smaller states came up with the New Jersey Plan. In it, they called for the retention of the one-house legislature. However, its powers had to be expanded to include regulation of commerce and rai...