Table of Contents

Introduction

The Articles of Confederation emerged as an issue of great debate among the United States citizens after the American Revolution. Encouraged by victory over the European crown, they claimed that the article was inadequate in governing the central authority. This is because it had no recognized executive power. In addition, it lacked the judicial branch, so disputes were not arbitrated sufficiently. International treaties were used to govern the country in the late 18th century. However, individual states disobeyed the treaty and as a result, the republic was put in a bad place diplomatically. The US constitution was formed to address these problems. This paper will elucidate the difference and similarities between the two articles.

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Similarities

The Articles of Confederation and the US constitution were considered as the official law. Therefore, it was obeyed by all states. In addition, they were both created by the legislature in the congress and the central government regulated the value of money. The federal roles in regards to foreign countries are similar in the two documents. They state that negotiations with other nations should be handled by the central government only. Therefore, activities such as receiving and sending ambassadors, diplomatic missions, and signing of international treaties are done at a centralized level.

In the two articles, congress only has the mandate to wage or declare war. However, during the war, individual states were allowed to recruit and levy their militias, which falls under the overall command of the federal government. There are term limits for holding government offices in both documents. For instance, in the Constitution, the representatives serve in the legislative offices for two years only while the senators’ term is six years.

Differences

The two documents codified the law differently. The Articles of Confederation had an established unicameral government, it had a weak central government and a strong independent state with one legislature. This system delegated the voting powers to committees from each state. Conversely, the Constitution has created a bicameral legislature, which allows one vote for a single legislative representative according to the census population. It has a strong central government with some powers reserved for states.

The Articles of Confederation relied on the lax union, it had no executive positions and roles. On the other hand, the Constitution centralized authority in one political entity by creating an executive branch of government. This position provided a figurehead in the government department, who was accountable to public scrutiny. The serving term limits differed between the two documents. For example, the office of the legislature term does not exceed three years in confederation while there is no limitation period for the legislature in the US constitution.

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The organization of the two documents varies significantly, the Articles of Confederation have congress only while the Constitution is made up of the judiciary (supreme courts and the federal courts), the congress, and the president. In both documents, Congress has powers to regulate trade, declare war, make treaties, borrow and coin money, and make laws. However, the power to tax and regulate trade is only present in the American Constitution.

In the US Constitution, the laws are made by the House of Representatives and the Senate, each state is represented by two members in congress (Kollman 28). Conversely, the legislature in Confederation was made up of an unbranched congress, which consisted of two to seven people. Representatives in Congress are elected through a popular vote in the Constitution system. On the other hand, the state legislatures appointed members into the congress under the Article of confederation.

The American Constitution has a more expansive governance system relative to the Confederation Article. This is because it creates balances and checks between the three government branches (Maggs 397). Additionally, it has a clear enumeration of how the states and the federal government should relate. Notably, the Bill of Rights was established under this structure. The amendments of this document laid a foundation for civil liberties currently enjoyed by American citizens. The reformations based on democracy have been enabled by the Constitution. However, people never demanded a Bill of Rights under the Confederation laws bec