Differences Between The Confederation And The Constitution

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In this essay I will be discussing the Confederation and the Constitution. The articles of Confederation were diminished in comparison to the Constitution we all know today. Under the Articles, the federal government was weak and limited in power. A major issue was that congress could not collect taxes; they could only merely request funds from the states. The national debt was growing and soldiers needed to be paid for their service. Congress had only one representative for each state. This meant that a populous state would not be represented fairly with respect to its population. Another issue was that The Articles did not have separation of powers. Without a federal court, congress could interpret laws as they saw fit and there would be …show more content…

There were Federalists, who were pro strong central government. This included George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Anti-Federalists were for a weaker central government and stronger states’ rights. This included Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry. A major issue among both sides was whether to include a bill of rights. The Anti-Federalists, most prominently John Hancock, insisted that a bill of rights was necessary to prevent tyranny. On the opposition, the Federalists felt that the Constitution was written in such a way that inherent rights could not be denied. In The Federalist No. 84, Alexander Hamilton argues that the Constitution does not need a Bill of Rights, stating “And the proposed Constitution, if adopted, will be the bill of rights of the Union.” In The Federalist No. 46, Madison said State governments were enough to protect civil liberties, proclaiming “still it would not be going too far to say, that the State governments, with the people on their side, would be able to repel the danger.” Despite these arguments, the Anti-Federalists insisted still on a bill of rights. Compromising once more, a condition that a bill of rights be amended to the Constitution convinced the Anti-Federalists to ratify the

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