Compare and Contrast: The United States Constitution and Articles of Confederation

In many ways, the Articles of Confederation can be considered the first United States constitution. Adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 and ratified by all 13 original states in 1781, the Articles created a union of sovereign states. By 1787, the Constitutional Convention was convened and ultimately, what is still today known as the United States Constitution was approved and replaced the Articles of Confederation. In this research, these two pivotal documents will be compared and contrasted in an effort to understand and appreciate them both.

The Articles of Confederation and Constitution

Quite literally, the Articles of Confederation provide for a confederation of states, which is to say that the document took what were individual colonies prior to the establishment of the United States and made them a union of states that still kept a level of individuality but were united by the common desire to stay independent of any foreign control, wished to be able to collect taxes from citizens to provide for the needs of the states, and to engage in commerce with other states. This was an excellent step in the right direction governmentally, but it was not enough. There needed to be a unification of the states in that provided for the ability for the states to be represented as a nation, to be protected as a nation, and to provide for the benefit of all citizens as a nation. Realizing this, the founding fathers who laid the groundwork of the US in the first place, moved forward with great caution, knowing that they needed to create a new legislative document but also knowing that it needed to be an improvement over the Articles if it were to be worthwhile. This is how the Constitution came into existence.

Comparison and Contrast of the Two

Both the Articles and the Constitution served to maintain a free government, away from the pressures and oppression like that which was endured when the American colonies were under the control of the British crown. Also, both documents gave states the power to regulate commerce, tax citizens, make laws, and provide for a common defense. However, the fundamental difference between the Articles and the Constitution was the fact that the Articles made no provision for the new federal government to exercise any power over the individual states, especially from the standpoint of being able to collect taxes from the states, impose laws that would apply to the states, and to organize a federal army for which the states would provide soldiers. This would make the Constitution a necessity.

The Constitution represented a vast improvement over the Articles of Confederation. Especially since the US had just gained independence in a hard fought war with Great Britain, there was a dire need for the provision of a centralized defense for the new nation, which the Constitution had built into it. Further, the Constitution installed a chief executive of the armed forces, who would be known as the president, providing a solid seat of national power. Also, the Constitution ensured that the liberties put forth in the Declaration of Independence would be kept intact for all Americans, present and future.

The pivotal step in the advancement of a strong federal government in the United States of America is ultimately seen when the Articles of Confederation were seen to be too weak in terms of providing for a proper federal government with the powers of taxation and the like. As a result, the effort to create what would become the US Constitution began, the Constitution was ultimately ratified, and the young nation was given a higher level of strength, credibility and unity.

It bears repeating that the ability of the federal government to tax, a in the Constitution was essential because of the fact that the United States still had a huge foreign debt, incurred in the fighting of the Revolutionary War, that could only be paid off if taxes were to be collected from the individual states. As such, the Constitution had to be devised to provide for that flow of revenue from the state governments to federal coffers.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, it can fairly be said that the Articles of Confederation gave power to the states and the Constitution gave power to the federal government to regulate those states. While the Articles would be replaced by the Constitution, and the Constitution would over the years be amended, challenged and interpreted by different groups with different agendas in different ways, it is still highly accurate to say without question that the Constitution, and the Articles before it, created a form of democratic government that has shaken but never fallen in over two centuries of existence, and as times and needs change, so too does the Constitution to meet those changes and needs. Therefore, in closing, let it be said that the founding documents of the United States stand as shining examples for the world to notice.