Making of the New Government

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After the victory over the British, each state had its own Constitution and Bill of Rights, but there were no centralized government. The Continental Government had a number of responsibilities that were not granted to them legitimately. They had created the Continental Army, printed money, managed trade, and dealt with the nation’s debt. They felt that they needed to legitimate their actions and realized that there was a need for a centralized government (Schultz, p115). In this report, I will compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation with the new Constitution of 1787, analyze the drafting of the Constitution and how the states compromised to draft it effectively, compare and contrast the debate over the ratification between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and evaluate the success of the Bill of Rights in achieving balance between national and states’ interests. The Articles of Confederation were drafted between 1776 and 1777 and they were to define the collective sovereignty of the states. The following year, The Articles of Confederation were presented to the states for ratification, but only eight states had ratified the document by July 1778. This created a problem because all thirteen states needed to ratify the Articles before they were put into action. This didn’t happen until 1781. There were many weaknesses when it came to the Articles of Confederation that the Constitution of 1787 fixed. Before the Constitution, the Articles had placed all power in the hands of only one legislature, which closely mimicked the Continental Congress. There was no President, Monarch, or Prime Minister. There was a Committee of States where one person from each state had a seat in government, but the powers were very limit... ... middle of paper ... ...to help with the Constitution. Finally the Federalists and Anti-Federalists settled their differences with the making of the Bill of Rights. There were a lot of people putting in a lot of work to make this country to what it is now. We all need to thank them for giving us a great place to live, work, and raise our families. Works Cited Roland, J. (2011, November 10). Constitution for the United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm January 28, 2012. Schultz, K. (2010). Hist. (pp. 115-118, 121-122, 125-126). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Three branches of government. (2007, June 18). Retrieved from http://courts.michigan.gov/lc-gallery/3-branches-govt.htm January 28, 2012. Whitten, C. (2010). Federalist papers index. Retrieved from http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/fedindex.htm January 28, 2012.

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