Sahil Chawla Mr.

Zindars AP US History 30 September, 2013 The Constitution: A Radical Approach for a Radical Nation The Constitution was an extremely radical document in comparison to the Articles of Confederation. The people of the fledgling nation, after having fought a long and bloody Revolutionary War against a tyrannical government, wanted a government they could trust; thus the nation was created as a political alliance of independent states. Unfortunately, there were many problems with the Articles because the central government was severely limited; thus the Constitution was created to radically reform this. It created a unified nation with dependent states under a superior federal government. The Constitution was a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation; it created an Executive branch, reformed and strengthened Congress, and gave it much more economic power. The Articles of Confederation did not have any executive branch; however, during the Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the idea of having an executive branch-along with a legislative and judiciary branch. The resolution was approved after only perfunctory debate. Under the Constitution, the Executive branch was headed by a President, who no longer merely presided over Congress. The President was given the power to choose his own cabinet and place checks, such as a veto on a piece of legislation, on the Judicial and Legislative branch. The system of checks and balances was heavily endorsed by James

Madison. He believed that a large republic would be less likely to produce tyranny because so many centers of powers would be checking each other. This separation of powers became the Constitutions most distinctive feature. Although a strong executive branch was created, there was still a very weak legislative branch, the Congress. With the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was extremely limited. The states had all the authority under the Articles of Confederation. Shays Rebellion proved to many individuals that something needed to be done to strengthen the government. This rebellion was led by Daniel Shay, a former captain in the Continental army. He issued a set of demands that included paper money, tax relief, a moratorium on debts, the relocation of the state capital from Boston to the interior, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt. Daniel Shay and his rebels began to use force to stop courts from foreclosing their farms. The central government, under the Articles of Confederation, could not deal with the crisis at all; thus, it was up to a state militia, financed by wealthy merchants, to quell the uprising. However, this issue was resolved by the Constitution. In 1794, farmers in western Pennsylvania began to refuse to pay a whiskey excise tax and terrorized the tax collectors. However, Washington, with the power granted to him by the Constitution, was able to put together a militia and put down the resistance. It was no longer up to the states and people to take care of crisises. The central government was able to establish its dominance and gain the allegiance of the whiskey rebels. However, another major issue with the Articles of Confederation was the lack of economic power for Congress. Congress lacked any power to tax, a crucial mistake for a nation that had just fought a costly war. The Congress was dependent on the states to raise money to pay back the nations war debts. However, this was not at all an effective method. Furthermore, Congress was also not allowed to regulate foreign trade or interstate commerce. This gave the

states all the authority on both trade and taxes. Thus again, making it extremely difficult for the Congress to pay their war debts. However, the Constitution finally allowed the Congress to tax, regulate foreign trade, and control interstate commerce. The Constitution also made the document itself the supreme law of the land, rather than the states having all sovereignty. In conclusion, the United States Constitution was an extremely radical document that challenged the ideas in the Articles of Confederation. It provided a much stronger central government, without the danger of tyranny, by establishing three branches-legislative, judicial, executive- that can place checks on one another. It gave the Congress more economic power; most importantly the powers to levy taxes and regulate trade. Although the Constitution was ratified, debates still continue to this day over its interpretations. It was a solid starting point for the new nation; however, the details would continue to work themselves out over time through the political process.