Articles Of Confederation :: essays research papers

Articles of Confederation     It would have been very difficult to run an effective government at a lower placethe Articles of Confederation. Many of the great minds politically active afterthe American Revolution realized this thus arrived the birth of one of thegreatest political documents of all epoch The Constitution. With the implementof the Constitution, the United States government became effective.     The product of some of the greatest minds to ever exist in this world,the Articles did have some positive effects on society. It successfully put anend to the Revolutionary War, it negotiated a favorable end to the war in theTreaty of Paris, and created a model for the admission of new territoriescourtesy of the northwest Ordinance. Nonetheless, it was much too weak to givethe new nation the necessary foundation on which the growth of society could bestarted from.     For one thing, any amendment of the Articles e ssential a unanimous vote throughout the colonies. Since this was almost impossible, there always beingtwo sides to everything a pro and a con, changing the Articles to eliminatethe ideas that did not tend properly was near impossible. Another factor ofthe Articles ineffectiveness was that relative was in essence tied in its representation. After the war, the colonists trusted no ultimate authority not evenone they designed. It could not regulate commerce, so what resulted wasthirteen colonies with different taxations and tariff laws. This only added tothe already present feelings of dislike and distrust which had existed amongthe colonies since they were first established.     After this period of eight years, the "Critical Period", the light atthe end of the tunnel arrived with Thomas Jefferson writing the Constitution.It delegated the power, at the discretion of the people. It was designed to beamended the great minds who designed it realized that t hey themselves were notinfallible, and could make mistakes. The beauty of the Constitution was that itallowed for these mistakes. Instead of the outrageous unanimous vote of statesto change it, two-thirds of Congress and then three-fourths of the states mustapprove. It ensured that no one section of government could grow so powerful tothe point that it could be considered a Parliament through the Checks and