How did the Constitution overcome the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Quizlet

The first government of the United States following the Declaration of Independence was the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789). A confederation is a state-centered, decentralized government where the primary powers of government are held at the state level. The Declaration of Independence spoke of the many abuses of King George III, who, as a monarch, ruled over the executive, legislative and judiciary powers of the government. In the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson stated that both King George III and the form of government in place at the time both failed to protect the colonists' "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." The unitary government, one that centralized the legislative, executive and judicial powers, was unacceptable to the colonists when they sought to create a government after declaring their independence from the British crown. The colonists decided to create a government that was quite different from a unitary system where the powers of government were concentrated in a single person. This decentralized system reflected the colonists' fear of a powerful central government. Under the Articles of Confederation, states retained their freedom and independence. Each of the 13 states had a vote in the weak national Congress (appointed by the state governments), while a vote of all 9 states was required in order to pass any laws and a unanimous vote of all 13 states was required for the Articles to be amended. The national Congress was also denied the power to tax, so it could not pay for the army and navy needed to defend the nation. The national Congress also lacked the power to regulate trade. As for the other powers of government, there was no national court system nor was there a national executive. The result of this decentralized approach was that each state functioned in many ways as an independent country. Several states negotiated their own trade agreements with those countries that the king had previously convinced not to have a relationship with the colonies, while other states established their own militaries. The lack of a national court system meant that criminals committing crimes in one state would often seek refuge in other states where they would not be prosecuted. Without a national military, states that were attacked or suffered internal rebellion could not turn to the national government for support or resources for their defense. The result of these state actions was that the states, despite being part of the same country, did not function as a nation. For instance, fears emerged that the 13 states functioning as independent countries would make the nation vulnerable to attack by Spain, France, by Native Americans. Together the lack of powers held by the weak national Congress coupled with each state's independent and often conflicting actions, raised concerns that the Articles of Confederation were not designed in a way to protect the new nation. In February 1787, Alexander Hamilton called for a constitutional convention, a "Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government" to take place the following May. In May 1787, 12 of the 13 states met in Philadelphia, PA for this purpose. The outcome of that meeting was the U.S. Constitution which was completed on September 17, 1787 and sent to the states for their review and ratification. 2. Responding to Shays's Rebellion Shays's Rebellion was a citizen rebellion that began in 1786. Two thousand western Massachusetts farmers marched on county courthouses to prevent land foreclosures. The farmers' land was threatened with foreclosure because they were assured that they did not have to pay taxes and other debts on their land during the Revolutionary War. These promises were not kept, which prompted the farmers to revolt. Congress would not respond because it was too weak and did not have its own army. Shays's Rebellion prompted representatives from five states to meet in Annapolis, Maryland in February 1787 to call for a constitutional convention of all 13 states the following May in Philadelphia. Congress stated that the purpose of this May convention was "the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation."

Federalists:
-"We should not be for blindly bending the government to the rights of people, but for the efficiency and firmness of a national government."
-"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
"[A] bill of rights, are not only unnecessary in the proposed Constitution, but would even be dangerous . . . If some powers are outlined and protected, what can happen to those that aren't?"

Anti-Federalists:
-"In giving such immense, such unlimited powers, was there no necessity of a Bill of Rights, to secure to the people their liberties?"
-"But rulers have the same habits as other men; they are as likely to use the power with which they are vested, for private purposes, and to the injury and oppression of those over whom they are placed, as individuals in a state of nature are to injure and oppress one another."
-"The confederation will be killed by this Constitution, and we shall cease to be 13 republics governed by our state governments, we shall be under the almighty too powerful Constitutional government..."

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