Comparison Of The Article Of Confederation And The Constitution (Essay Sample)

Comparison of the Articles and the Constitution Name: Institutional Affiliation: Date: Introduction: The United States of America has been operating under two constitutions. From 1st of March 1781, the state of Maryland ratified the Article of Confederation and ever since, it was in effect. The constitution on the other hand replaced the Article of Confederation was replaced from the year 1788 when the state of New Hampshire ratified it in June 21st of 1788 (Belton, 2014). The two documents have very little difference as both of them were established by the same people. This paper is going to provide a detailed differentiation of these two documents with respect to the powers of the executive, legislation and judicial branches. Comparison of the Articles of Confederation and the U.S Constitution: According to the Article of Confederation, the legislature was unicameral also referred to as congress whereas the legislature was bicameral according to the constitution (Van, 2017). The Congress was a single operation body as provided by the articles but in the constitution, the Congress is bicameral in that, it is divided into two operational bodies; the Senate and the House of Representatives. Furthermore, the articles stipulate that the congress was to serve only a single year. The constitution on the other hand provides that the House of Representatives is to serve two years whereas the Senators are to serve for a period of six years (Van, 2017). The chair of the legislature was the president of the United States according to the articles whereas the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President were the chairs of the legislature as provided by the constitution. According to the Article of Confederation, there was no executive. The constitution on the same hand provides that the president of the United States is the executive (Big Fish Publishing (Firm), 2010). The Maritime Judiciary was established in the articles whereas in the constitution, the federal judiciary was established and it included the Supreme Court. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Article of Confederation and the Constitution: Strengths: Articles: The key strength of the Article of Confederation is that it came up with the legislative body/Congress as the highest national governing body with the aim of eradicating any chances of the rise of monarchy (Articles of Confederation vs. US Constitution, 2008, May 11). The Congress had the unquestionable power to assign treaties, declare war, operate post offices and lastly, entertain foreign relations (Big Fish Publishing (Firm), 2010). Constitution: The constitution provides an amendment mechanism to address any weaknesses brought forward by the branches of executive, legislature and judiciary. The constitution also stipulates that the process of amendment can still fall prey of such mass hysteria as prohibition and other (Belton, 2014). The separation of power between the legislature, judiciary and the executive is very important as it eradicates monotonous control over different matters in the states. The legislature dominated government and thus, it controlled every major decision making it difficult for issues at different state levels to be handled effectively. Weaknesses: Articles: The inescapable fact is that the Article of Confederation...