Government

AP United States Government and Politics

8-15-2008

Analysis of the Federalist Papers, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

One of the founding principles of the United States of America was the belief that every citizen of the country had a choice concerning their freedom. It is purely a matter of opinion in reference to how closely the American government has kept to that wording. However, there are early forms of documentation that provide modern day Americans an opportunity to look into just how the country was established primarily on the ideals of freedom. The Federalist Papers exhibited the earliest forms of support for federalism, which ultimately gave way to defending the promises of the Constitution. However, the antagonist to both was the ever popular Articles of Confederation that had its own interpretation of freedom in which the country was divided into separate state powers. However, the federalist ideas of the Constitution won over the hearts of Americans that can be viewed in full power to this day. To be able to define the current federal government powers of today, one must observe the differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, while taking into account the credence of separation of powers as presented in the Federalist Papers.

After the Revolutionary War, Americans sought freedom from the tyranny that was Great Britain and refused to maintain a strong central government. The answer to this call was the legal apparition that was the Articles of Confederation. These Articles outlined the rights of each state in the Confederation, rather than unite the country under a common banner. Each state was given their own judicial system, executive branch, and legislative body that could govern on their own terms. The central government overall had no influence whatsoever over the states as a whole unless their decisions were ratified by all states. This central power had no ability to levy taxes upon...