The Comparison of the Articles of Confederation and the American Constitution

 
The Articles of Confederation was the first document that served as the American Constitution. First of all, it was important because helped to manage the states after that gained independence from Britain. The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation at the end of 1777 and five more years had passed before this document was finally ratified.

The new American Constitution was drafted and signed by many of the same people only six years later. What made them change their minds?

In comparison to the American Constitution, the Articles of Confederation had a lot of weaknesses. First of all, the Articles established a confederation where all states were in “a firm league of friendship with each other” (Articles of Confederation, 2008, para. 5). Although the Articles created the first National American government, this government was limited in power and, therefore, was not able to govern effectively. For example, it was difficult for the government to pass a new law since nine votes out of thirteen were needed (each of the states had one vote). The states often could not find compromises, for example, about managing western territories, on which several states had their claims. One of the biggest problems was the inability of the government to collect taxes and regulate the trade since the Articles had not given the government such kind of authority. As a result, some of the states refused to pay money. Moreover, the United States had a lot of debts after the ending of the Revolutionary War, and without the necessary funds from the states, the country was unable to pay them back. It was also unable to support the army and, therefore, to protect the borders. All of these finally led to the revision of the Articles.

The new American Constitution was signed in 1787 and formed “a more perfect Union” with a strong government that was able to control all of the states (The Constitution of the United States n.d., para. 2). While, in the Confederation, there was only the Congress, the Constitution divided power between the executive (the president), legislative (congress and the senate) and judicial (supreme and federal courts). The government also had “power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises” (U.S. Constitution n.d., para. 26).

Finally, the Articles of Confederation were valid only from 1781 to 1787, while the American Constitution, with some amendments, lasted more than 200 years.

The Drafting of the Constitution
Despite the many advantages that the Constitution had in comparison to the Articles of Confederation, its drafting was not so monosemantic and caused a lot of conflicts. Fortunately, the most important of them ended with compromises.