On July 4, 1776 The United States Of America Declared Its Independence

On July 4, 1776 the United States of America declared its independence from its mother country Great Britain. This feeling of independence was one that the colonists had never felt before, and didn't want to lose. From 1776-1781 the new states disputed over how they would run their new country without losing to much of their own state's powers. Eventually they agreed on a government with little federal power called The Articles of Confederation. Even though the Articles of Confederation brought legitimacy to the new country it had far more weaknesses than the little amount of strengths which led to the formation of the Constitution.. The newly United States functioned with the Articles of Confederation for some years. During these years America fought the American Revolution. The Articles gave Congress the right to declare war, but stopped them from drafting citizens of the states. This slowed our efforts to expel the British. The Articles gave the Congress some legitimacy as a government though. Congress was the only one allowed to grant permission to except an embassy, and make treaties with other countries. They also voted for the country with a majority winning the vote which made equal representation in the government. The new country under the Articles of Confederation had some good points, but also some bad ones to. First the good ones, it allowed Congress to settled the long dispute about who rightfully had the right to own the Northwest Territory by setting aside the land given by the states to be used for the expansion and can be used by the whole country. It also gave them the right to split the states claims to allow further expansion to the territory. Also it let them decide that the territory belonged to the nation instead of the states, and also set the system that is used today on how a territory becomes a state. It also gave them the right to negotiate a peace treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain that ended the war. The Articles also set up a democratic government by letting Congress pass laws with the votes of at least 9 states. The Articles however had its bad points also. It did not allow Congress to draft troops for the continental army which left us with shortages of troops an d also deserters. Also it left the states with sovereignty which made it impossible for the Congress to pass and enforce laws concerning the states. The Articles also did not allow Congress to levy taxes from the people which left the country in a large debt because they could not get a source of revenue from the states who did not pay. The Articles also did not stop the printing of money by the states which led to high inflation, and the decline of the Continental dollar. The Congress under the articles could not supply the army with sufficient food and also supplies which led to many deaths by starvation in the winter. Also the government under the Articles was not taken seriously, for one the British knew of the problems mentioned above so they kept their presence in the Northwest Territory, and took advantage of the fur trade. Also the Spanish closed the ports in New Orleans which stopped farmers from getting their food to markets. The Articles also gave more power to the state government because the believed to much power in one branch would hurt their wellbeings. In 1787 a knew form of government evolved out of the ashes of the Articles of Confederation. This government was the Constitution. The Constitution solved some of the problems plaguing the old government such as the issue over sovereignty, it took it from the states and also from the federal government and placed it into itself. Also it allowed Congress to tax the states to raise funds to bring us out of debt. The Constitution also stopped the states from printing money which slowed down the inflation and brought the value of the dollar back. It also allowed us to open the ports of New Orleans, and also helped us find away to remove the British from our lands. The Constitution also allowed us to raise an army to