Why Are The Articles Of Confederation Ineffective

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In 1781 the Articles of Confederation was established to create the first government of the United States. The Articles of Confederation was ineffective which lead to the states having more power than the federal government. In 1787 the founding fathers came together to create a more effective way of controlling power. They wanted to make sure that no person or group help more power than another person or group. Having too much power over others is considered “tyranny”, and the Constitution guards against that through separation of powers, checks and balances and equal state representation within the Legislature.

The Constitution guards against tyranny because of separation of powers. In the United States government there is separation of powers, which means no national or state government has too much power (Doc A). Each part of government has certain jobs they are capable of. For example; the national government can declare war, and only the state government can establish schools. The national government can’t meet the local needs because they don't know what each individual state needs, and they don't know the local issues. The national government has their own jobs to fulfill to help …show more content…
James Madison once said “The three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other” (Doc C). This quote explains that the three branches should have distinct powers that can be checked by another branch. For example, the legislative branch can check the executive branch by impeaching and removing the president. On the other hand if the executive branch dislikes a bill that the legislative branch has passed they can override that bill. Each branch has certain jobs they can do to make sure one branch doesn’t have more power than their branch. Once again, this system is called checks and balances and it protects our government from
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