The Problems Faced By The United States

THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE UNITED STATES
UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
AND HOW THE CONSTITUTION ADDRESSED THEM

By
Alex Davis

Advanced U.S. History/ IB History of the Americas
Mr. Carlisle
December 19, 2008
What problems did the United States face under the Articles of Confederation
and to what extent did the Constitution address them?

Part A: Plan of Investigation

      This investigation assesses the problems the United States faced under the Articles of Confederation and the extent to which the Constitution addressed them. To achieve this, the investigation analyzes five defects of the Articles: (1) Lack of a proper legislative authority to regulate commerce between states and with foreign nations; (2) The State Quota System for recruiting soldiers; (3) Unfair representation in a unicameral Congress; (4) The lack of a Supreme Court to define and interpret laws; and (5) The division the Articles caused due to a lack of support from the general public. A number of sources are referenced in the assessment to evaluate the problems posed by the Articles of Confederation. Finally, two sources are analyzed for their origins, purposes, values, and limitations. Sources include an excerpt from The Federalist Without Tears compiled by Jean Stearns, and Decisions in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 by Christopher Collier.

Word count: 150

Part B: Summary of Evidence

Five problems of the Government under the Articles of Confederations according to Alexander Hamilton[1]
      • Lack of proper legislative authority to regulate commerce between states in the Union and between the United States and foreign nations.
      • Soldiers were recruited according to a State Quota system, which states only followed when it included their personal interest.
      • Unicameral Congress[2]: representation based on population- This posed issues as 7 of the states made up less than one third of the United States’ population. Because of the...