Articles of Confederation Vs. The Essay

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This would prove to cause competition between the states for power, economic and environmental resources, and political positioning. The interstate commerce law and the associated legislation did not exist under the articles. The Articles of Confederation were far less robust in their structure, giving states the majority of the unchecked power, and not allowing the Federal government the ability to oversee and tax the population in order to develop a balanced and fair economy. The articles did not even allow the Federal government the ability to raise an army, putting that responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the states themselves as well. The articles were certainly a step in the right direction, but they did not represent the best possible scenario for the young United States, and the Founding Fathers were more than capable of creating a far superior governmental framework in the Constitution.

Even after the adoption of the Constitution, there were still entire populations of people living in the newly independent United States who were not included in the debate over the rights of the populace. These groups were slaves, Native Americans, women, and non-land owning white males. The significance of the absence of these people's rights can be attributed to social and cultural factors. During the time period that the Constitution was written in, these people did not hold the same social status as wealthy white men (Frickey 455). For people in these groups, "independence" meant nothing more than a new form of management and social structure.

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Native Americans in particular were doomed to become a shadow of their former presence over the next century and a half. The Federal Indian law, which came well after the Constitution, served to not only help justify the massacres and holocaust of Native Americans that was occurring during the 19th century, but to also allow white settlers the power and freedom to act independently as their own judge, jury, and executioner (Frickey 460). Women and blacks were given the right to vote in the 19th century, and slavery was abolished following the Emancipation Proclamation put forth but Abraham Lincoln. The Constitution was never intended to challenge the ruling class's stranglehold on politics and the economy, but to set up a new structure to function within (Fallon 1798). The social structure that endured for nearly 150 years is testament to this fact.

Citations

Fallon, Richard H. "Legitimacy and the Constitution." Harvard Law Review, Vol. 118, No. 6. Apr., 2005. pp. 1787-1853.

Frickey, Philip P. "(Native) American Exceptionalism in Federal Public Law."

Harvard Law Review, Vol. 119, No. 2. Dec., 2005. pp. 431-490.

Jensen, Merrill. The Articles of Confederation. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, WI, 1970.

Smith, Douglas….....

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