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Chapter 2: The Constitution

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This activity contains 3 questions.

The Articles of Confederation

The great weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that the Congress had no real powers. Without Congress being granted any real powers, any problems that occurred between states were difficult if not impossible for Congress to handle. As noted in the text, the most striking example of the inability of Congress to deal with problems was Shay's rebellion. Let's look at the Articles of Confederation with an eye towards its weaknesses.

Search Tips

Review the Articles of Confederation at http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/ArtConfed.html.

Questions to Ask

Where did ultimate power reside (see Article II)?
Article III notes that the states entered into a "firm league of friendship . . . " What is implied by friendship?
Who was represented in Congress, people or states (see Article V)? Why might this have been a problem?
What powers were denied to the Congress unless a majority of states agreed (see Article IX, paragraph six)? Why was this a problem?

Why it Matters

It is important to understand why the Articles of Confederation were abandoned for a stronger central government under a new constitution. Many scholars argue that the United States would probably not be the country it is today had the Articles of Confederation not been scrapped and replaced with a constitution that gave the central government more power.

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The Philadelphia Convention

The 55 men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to debate the constitution were a select group of economic and political notables. In comparison, how different are the 100 senators who serve in the U.S. Senate today? Are our leaders still all male and made up of economic and political notables?

Search Tips

Go to http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/US_History/Founding_Fathers/index1.htm and review the biographies of the founders. Go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/legbranch/legbranch.html and review the biographies of the members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Questions to Ask

All of the founders were white. What percentage of the current U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives is white?
All of the founders were men. What percentage of the current U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are men?
The vast majority the founders were economically wealthy – of the elite. Do you think that the vast majority of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives are economically wealthy too?

Why it Matters

During the time of the founding in the late 1700s, only white land owning men could vote. Today suffrage is universal for anyone over 18. We should expect a much more diverse representative body today than we might have expected in the late 1700s.

Get Involved

Look at the gender distribution of your state legislature. How does it compare with the current Congress, is it more or less diverse?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

The Constitution

As with any important political decision, not everyone agreed that the United States needed to scrap the Articles of Confederation and replace them with some other constitution. In fact, supporters of the Articles of Confederation, called Anti-Federalists, were generally opposed to the new Constitution and supported a weaker central government. Supporters of the new Constitution, called Federalists, were generally the loudest critics of the Articles of Confederation and supported a stronger central government. Let's compare the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution in terms of the differences between the executive, the judiciary, the power to coin money, and the power to tax.

Search Tips

Review the Articles of Confederation at http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/ArtConfed.html, and review the U.S. Constitution at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html.

Questions to Ask

Who was the executive under the Articles of Confederation, and how did that change under the Constitution?
What was the judiciary under the Articles of Confederation, and how did that change under the Constitution?
Who had the power to coin money under the Articles of Confederation, and who has the power under the Constitution?
Who had the power to lay and collect taxes under the Articles of Confederation and who has the power under the Constitution?

Why it Matters

As the textbook explains, constitutions create political institutions and rules for politics and policymaking. The four changes reviewed here reflect the most extreme weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that resulted in the creation of two new political institutions and two new sets of rules for politics and policymaking. The changes resulted in a much more powerful central government and much less powerful state government.

Get Involved

Look for a strong point in the Articles of Confederation that would serve America well today.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

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