Post Revolutionary Government
After the American Revolution, the Americans aspired to create a lasting regime with a new type of government. The departure of the conservative Tory faction left the political system to run its course and to innovate new forms of government. Patriots had fought the war completely disunited. After the war, the thirteen sovereign states were basically alike in governmental structure and had similar constitutions. Americans had a political inheritance derived partly from England and party from their own devices for self-government. America had strong political leaders including George Washington,James Madison, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. The Second Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the Articles of Confederation contributed to the shaping of today's Constitution of the United States. The Second Continental Congress had no constitutional authority, and was only able to assert a limited amount of control over military affairs and foreign policy. Shortly before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the Congress appointed a committee to draft a written constitution for the new nation. This first constitution was called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of
away with the Articles of Confederation, rather than to just revise them as ordered by Congress. They were trying to overthrow the government by peaceful means. Much discussion took place to appease both sides, and they finally emerged at the Great Compromise, by which the larger states had representation by population in the House of Representatives and the smaller states had equal representation in the Senate. The new Constitution provided for a strong, independent executive branch in the presidency also. The president would be the military commander in chief, would appoint domestic officers, and would have the power to veto laws over legislation. The new Constitution included many compromises, and proved much more effective than the Articles of Confederation were. Despite the extreme feebleness of the Articles of Confederation, they provided a model of what a confederation should be like. Thomas Jefferson stated that the new government system was the best one yet created, not making a positive statement about previous government systems, but it was an improvement over former ones. Compared with European governments, the Articles of Confederation was a substantial improvement. Although ineffective, the Articles of Confederation outlined the general powers that Confederation provided a tentative confederation for the thirteen states. There were probably more failures than successes with this first Constitution. Congress inefficiently dominated the government, with no executive branch and no official judicial branch. E
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Approximate Word count = 1040
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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