As the world changes, do the laws governing our way of life. Every state has a constitution that oversees its operation and means of livelihood for all citizens and the government alike. The laws outlined in these constitutions keep changing with time. It is evident in the state of the USA where two constitutions have governed them since the 18th century. These include the constitution and confederation Articles. The confederation article was passed in 1781 while the Constitution stepped in to replace the Articles of Confederation in 1788. The American law implementers felt that they need a more flexible governing body that would ensure that they overpowered the Great Britain and became the most powerful nation in the world.
To come up with the best type of constitution that would benefit the state as a whole, the policy makers made a few adjustments to the Article of Confederation. For example, the Article of Confederation provided that the Congress could appeal to states to pay taxes. It meant that the States had a choice to disregard that request which would slow down the operations of the state towards development. The policy makers, therefore, made payment of taxes by all individuals to be mandatory. It would mobilize the necessary resources for the development of that nation and ensure that they were in a position to control commerce as well. There is also a significant change in the composition of members of the Congress and the amount of control these representatives had in governing the nation. For instance, the article of Confederation provided that the Congress members have no control over commerce but in the current constitution that has significant influence on the trade. We also see the Congress being granted the right to form an army when necessary but were not permitted to in the Article of the federation (Greg, 1998).
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Many factors led to the draft of the Article of Confederation. The State craved for laws that would change how certain things were done. This reasons varied from economic reasons to political, historical, constitutional and social reasons. The state wanted to do away with practices such as having a mandatory obligation to the state to give up the eldest son to serve in the army, the desire by the church to break free from the government, the aspiration to abolish the slave trade and the need to assign the equal right to women. In addition to that, the States needed a constitution that would govern the powers of the Congress and the interstate relationships. The state also needed economic freedom from Britain hence needed laws that would control their business transactions. They needed strategies that would steer the country into total financial independence. These factors led to the draft and debate of the Article of Confederation which was later ratified in 1781. A few years later, American government felt the need to come up with laws that would give the full government control of the country’s economy and grant them power to make important decisions for the State. As a result, the Article of Confederation was changed to the Constitution in 1788. It would give the government full control of its citizen and gear the development of the nation (John, 2001).
Many have attributed the creation of the constitution to the desire by America to break free from the administration structure of the Great Britain and supremacy in the radicalism linked with the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. It is evidently seen in the American constitution history as the Congress is perceived to come up with laws that give the States financial independence and free them from the oppressive regime of England. They provide for free commerce within the states and give the Congress enough power to make decisions without many constraints. The drafting of the Article of Confederation is the first step to the Revolution of America. It was when the nation declared full independence from Britain is stirring a lot of tension between the two states. When the Congress provides for free trade among the States, England bans the import of products from America, and she has to find means to sustain her economy and grow it. It eventually leads to the financial independence as well as political independence from England. History has recorded that this had not been an easy task to accomplish as the country hit a depression and there were conflicts among different states during the first few years. The article of confederation has assigned all power to the various states hence it could not step in to control trade and salvage the economy from its depression. In addition to that, they could not solve disputes among states. Further, this led to the creation of the constitution that granted the government control over the states. It resulted in the recovery of the economy and America gained full independence from the oppressive regime of England. They were able to steer the economy away from the debts accrued during the reign of England. The King had subjected the nations to the debt by siphoning raw materials from them and exporting the by-products to them. The procedure of breaking away from the reign of England lead to the recovery of the Economy in term of social, financial and political factors.
There is a need for every state to have a governing body and a set of laws that dictate the way in which the economy operates. It also helps maintain law and order within the states. The constitution of each nation clearly dictates this legislation and the consequences of not abiding by these laws. The lack of a good constitution leads to the downfall of the government. As time passes by, the needs of each nation change hence there is a need to amend the current constitution to match the changing times. It is evident by the changes experienced when the article of confederation was amended to the current constitution.
References
Greg, D. (1998). U.S.A History Resources: Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution . Chicago: University of Chicago Press
John, C. (2001). The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence . Washington, DC: Lillian Goldman Law Library.
