Constitution Compromises DBQ
Constitution DBQ (rewrite)
Prompt: Various concerns lead to the demise of the Articles of Confederation and the adoption of the United States Constitution. Discuss these concerns and the compromises that were made to arrive at the Constitution that is still in place today in the United States.
The Articles of Confederation established the first governmental structure unifying the thirteen colonies and went into effect on March 1, 1781. Its purpose was to create a confederation of states where each state could maintain its personal freedom, independence and every power. While this document was effective in many aspects it did have its pitfalls and it was these pitfalls that lead to the Articles of Confederation's replacement by the Constitution on March 4th, 1789. James Madison, a federalist, expressed the importance of this reform by saying that the best the country could do at that point in time would be to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries and the errors from their own(document 10). The concerns regarding the Articles of confederation were extensive and the compromises that the Constitution then provided in return were even more so.
The need for compromise was long awaited and the desperation for a document of higher potency was craved by the people of the US many years before the Constitution was even written. This desperation can be detected quite effortlessly by a letter from George Washington to James Madison in November of 1786 (Document 1). In the letter Washington expresses his apprehension regarding the current path of the country when he says, "We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion! How melancholy is the reflection, that in so short a space, we should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the prediction of our transatlantic foe!" This expression of uneasiness adequately expresses many of the feelings of the people of the US during this time and therefore it can be understood why some
Prompt: Various concerns lead to the demise of the Articles of Confederation and the adoption of the United States Constitution. Discuss these concerns and the compromises that were made to arrive at the Constitution that is still in place today in the United States.
The Articles of Confederation established the first governmental structure unifying the thirteen colonies and went into effect on March 1, 1781. Its purpose was to create a confederation of states where each state could maintain its personal freedom, independence and every power. While this document was effective in many aspects it did have its pitfalls and it was these pitfalls that lead to the Articles of Confederation's replacement by the Constitution on March 4th, 1789. James Madison, a federalist, expressed the importance of this reform by saying that the best the country could do at that point in time would be to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries and the errors from their own(document 10). The concerns regarding the Articles of confederation were extensive and the compromises that the Constitution then provided in return were even more so.
The need for compromise was long awaited and the desperation for a document of higher potency was craved by the people of the US many years before the Constitution was even written. This desperation can be detected quite effortlessly by a letter from George Washington to James Madison in November of 1786 (Document 1). In the letter Washington expresses his apprehension regarding the current path of the country when he says, "We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion! How melancholy is the reflection, that in so short a space, we should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the prediction of our transatlantic foe!" This expression of uneasiness adequately expresses many of the feelings of the people of the US during this time and therefore it can be understood why some