United States History 1492-1865

United States History 1492-1865

Q.1) Why was it necessary to change the Articles of Confederation?

Drawbacks of the Articles of Confederation

Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was given charge of many affairs such as making decisions about war and peace, regulating the postage system and the currency, settling disagreements between various states, conducting foreign affairs, and managing the western lands. Nevertheless, in spite of this authority, the Articles of Confederation did not give Congress the power whereby it could actually put its resolutions into effect.

The basic reason that necessitated changing the Articles of Confederation was their impracticability to offer executable authority to the Congress. Additionally, there were certain other weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation from 1781 to 1789. The Congress found that it was impossible to pass any laws since there was neither an executive, nor a national judiciary. The Congress did not possess any power to raise an army in unison with all the states. Moreover, every state of the Confederation had its own foreign diplomats that it delegated to foreign countries.

Even rivalries existed among all the states in matters of commerce and trade. Additionally, the Congress had no power to collect taxes and each state printed its own money.

Inabilities of the Federal and State Governments' Administration

These direct weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were witnessed by the United States during the Revolutionary War. The inability of the Congress to tax residents left the national army without any food, shelter or clothing. The troops battled without being paid for extensive durations. In the post war period, the persisting national governmental problems came into the limelight.

Another disaster arising out of the federal powerlessness was the Massachusetts rebellion of 1786. Led by a skilled officer of the Revolutionary War, Daniel Shays, the rebellion was launched against the Massachusetts government by the state farmers. The growing economic difficulties formed as a result of the Articles of Confederation made it problematical for the state farmers to pay taxes and dues. Consequently, the state confiscated their farmlands and threw farmers into debtor's prison. The rebels attacked the state courthouses and eradicated tax and debt records with intimidating to take over the Springfield federal arsenal. Since there was no national army under the Articles of Confederation, the private army of Massachusetts alone fought and seized the rebellion. However, the event was an eye-opener for all to realize the drawbacks of the Articles of Confederation that needed immediate revision.

The Need for Strong Unification

The self-centered objective of all the states to safeguard and guarantee their own authority under the Articles of Confederation was a major cause of the vulnerable and powerless national government. The confederation framed by the Articles of Confederation was not centered on unification, rather slackened for individual state benefits. The matters of nationalism worsened as residents felt privileged to identify themselves by their state name, instead of being called Americans.

All these shortcomings left the central government of the United States at the clemency of the states, causing the unity to fall in jeopardy. In addition, the unicameral system of government was collapsing due to the representative issues of the small and large states. Thus, the leaders decided to change the legislation and reframe it according to the need of the hour.

Q.2) What compromises were made in Philadelphia to placate the small states and the large states?

The Context

The basic reason why compromises had to be made was the fact that the representatives in the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia and their states had extensively dissimilar interests. Even if each individual state aimed at forming a government exclusively for its own benefit, it would not have been possible. The thirteen small and large states had varying geography, demographics and public interests according to their economies. For instance, some delegates intended to abolish the slavery convention while others chose to safeguard it. Such disagreements further worsened the situation when different delegates from large states stood against each other on the slavery convention as some supported it while others did not. The same obscurity persisted among the representatives of the small states too, leading the situation into a political deadlock.

The Compromises

Notwithstanding these dissimilarities, most of the pioneers and founding fathers of the American Constitution were determined to establish a powerful national government. The Virginian delegation presented the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia in 1787 wherein a government was called comprising of the legislative, executive, and the judicial bodies. Unlike in the Articles of Confederation, the legislative division was to be bicameral with population-based representation in both of its houses.

Since representation in the legislative system was based on state population, small states such as New Jersey and Delaware disapproved the Virginia Plan on the reason that they could be easily outvoted in Congress by the large states through this system. In turn, the New Jersey delegation proposed an amendment in the Virginia Plan, calling for a unicameral system of legislature with one vote to each state.