As the American Revolution gained momentum, however, many political leaders saw the advantages of a centralized government that could coordinate the Revolutionary War.
In June of , the New York provincial Congress sent a plan of union to the Continental Congress, which, like the Albany Plan, continued to recognize the authority of the British Crown. Some Continental Congress delegates had also informally discussed plans for a more permanent union than the Continental Congress, whose status was temporary.
Franklin introduced his plan before Congress on July 21, but stated that it should be viewed as a draft for when Congress was interested in reaching a more formal proposal. Congress tabled the plan. Following the Declaration of Independence, the members of the Continental Congress realized it would be necessary to set up a national government.
Congress began to discuss the form this government would take on July 22, disagreeing on a number of issues, including whether representation and voting would be proportional or state-by-state.
The disagreements delayed final discussions of confederation until October of By then, the British capture of Philadelphia had made the issue more urgent.
Delegates finally formulated the Articles of Confederation, in which they agreed to state-by-state voting and proportional state tax burdens based on land values, though they left the issue of state claims to western lands unresolved. Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an absence of formal national government.
George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delware, who was absent, bringing the total number of signatures to It was an extraordinary achievement.
Tasked with revising the existing government, the delegates came up with a completely new one. Wary about centralized power and loyal to their states, they created a powerful central government. Representing wildly different interests and views, they crafted compromises. It stands today as one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world.
The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution. They bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government. But at the time, only 6 of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority. The Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government.
The document made official some of the procedures used by the Congress to conduct business, but many of the delegates realized the Articles had limitations. Here is a quick list of the problems that occurred, and how these issues led to our current Constitution.
It took until February for 12 states to approve the document. Maryland held out until March , after it settled a land argument with Virginia.
The central government was designed to be very, very weak. The Articles Congress only had one chamber and each state had one vote. Congress needed 9 of 13 states to pass any laws. Requiring this high supermajority made it very difficult to pass any legislation that would affect all 13 states. The document was practically impossible to amend.
0コメント