Articles of Confederation and Constitution

POLS 212

Guy  

Reading Assignment: Articles of Confederation and Constitution

Professor Guy

February 11, 2015

The Constitution: An illustration of Thomas Jefferson’s flawed Worldview

        The Articles of Confederation’s underlining objective was to project the wellbeing of the states, “The…States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberates, and their mutual and general welfare.” From a theoretical standpoint, the Articles objective seems practical and acceptable, however, because the Articles granted the states full sovereignty, the Articles thus had authority to ensure general welfare. The lack of enforcement and power is one of the chief flaws in the Articles, and the need for a constitution that granted the federal government more power is quite possibly the most intriguing concept from this day’s reading assignment. When reading today’s assignment, the provisions in the Articles of Confederation appear to be Thomas Jefferson’s ideal constitution. Jefferson’s farmer is the analogy I thought of when reading the Articles. Independent farmers are people who provide for their own subsistence, according to Jefferson, and a community that instills this philosophical principal is positioned to become a virtuous society. The unlimited expansion of commerce and industry eventually leaves people vulnerable to political subjugation and economic manipulation. I used Jefferson’s farmer because this is an individual that is granted full sovereignty and independence in the same manner that the Articles grants freedom to the individuals states. In other words, Jefferson’s farmer exemplifies the Articles’ beliefs: Self-sufficiency, self-government and independence from a strong federal government.  Unlike the Articles, the Constitution gives Congress the power to levy taxes and creates the position of an executive branch, all of which are an example of how the federal government gained more power.  The comparison of the Articles and the Constitution are a perfect illustration of how Jefferson’s worldview, although striving for a virtuous society, is disposable because it lacks an authoritarian government.