Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution - Essay Example

Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution The Articles of Confederation, ratified March 1781, were actually the first constitution of the United States of America, which provided all the states with the centralized laws. It united the separate states and gave them centralized power, established the taxation system and granted the right to coin money to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation were the first document that allowed Americans to recognize themselves as a nation. Unfortunately there were numerous aspects the creators of this document missed, which exhibited during the seven years of the Articles' of Confederation performance but the Constitution, adopted in June 21, 1788, was the result of the thorough work in order to make the U.

S main law more effective. The Constitution corrected the flaws the Articles of Confederation contained and made the U.S government more centralized. The confederation of states, established by the Articles of Confederation was loose, as they stated that "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right", while the preamble of the Constitution is authored by "We the People of the United States". The connection between the states became much more tight which made the country more powerful and made the governance easier.

One of the most important corrections that were made by the Constitution was that it granted federal government the sole right to coin money, while the Articles of Confederation enabled the states to print their own bills. This measure made a positive impact on the trade between the states and on the country's economy in general. The Articles of confederation also didn't empower the Congress to control the trade among the states, while the Constitution says that the Congress has the power to: "regulate commerce among the several states, and with the Indian tribes".

Another amendment made by the Constitution was that the Congress was given the right to lay the taxes and collect them, which, in its turn contributed to the continuing centralization of the country. The Constitution also improved the way the interests of the U.S citizens were reflected in the Congress, as it stated that every state must have two Senators and the number of Representatives proportional to the population of the state. The Articles of Confederation stated that in order to accept an amendment to them, the consent of the states should be unanimous, while the Constitution stated that if the representatives of the three fourth of the U.

S states would grant their consent the amendment cold also be accepted. While the Articles of Confederation left the enforcement of federal laws and treaties to the states, the Constitution state it was the obligation of the Congress to "to execute the laws of the union". The Constitution also granted the federal government the right to act directly on individuals and states. It provided the legislative basis for creating the Supreme Court, which granted the federal courts the possibility and the right to try the individuals who broke federal laws.

The Constitution of the USA also granted the citizens of the country the possibility to affect the policy of their country more directly, as it stated that the state Representatives should be elected by the popular vote unlike the Senators, who are appointed by state legislatures. The Constitution also took duty of the adjudicator of disputes between states from the Congress and granted it to the Supreme Court. As we can see, the Constitution made a lot of changes in the legislative, executive and forensic system of the USA, it made the connection between the states much tighter, thus making the country more powerful, established the new rights of the Congress and gave it the right to regulate the most important processes within the country, which allowed to make the power more centralized.

Works Cited1. The American Constitution. A Documentary Record. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Yale Website 2. Articles of Confederation. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Yale Website, 1996 < http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/artconf.htm >