The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution vary in many ways. Once the Revolutionary War ended, the United States needed some way to unify the states and have some sort of structure. The Articles of Confederation was the result of this. Once the Articles got put into play in the states, it became obvious there were many faults to it. These faults needed to be fixed. In order to do this, the delegates completely threw away the Articles and wrote a new form of government. This new government was the Constitution. The ratification of both the Articles and the Constitution were very long processes. Many people were for the new government, "it really becomes matter of astonishment that a system of legislation could have been effected in which so few imperfections are to be found", but just as many people were also against it (A farmer, of New Jersey: Observations on Government). The differences in opinion over the new governments caused many debates and disputes between the states. .
The Articles of Confederation was the first government ever put into place in the United States. It was drafted in 1777, and took four years for ratification. The Articles called for a government that was very weak. It only had one branch, the legislative. The government had very limited powers. "The United States in Congress shall never engage in a war.nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money unless nine States assent to the same" (Articles of Confederation). It did not have the power to tax, call for an army, or regulate trade. The Articles had many problems, one of the biggest issues being economics. The states were in a huge amount of debt after the Revolutionary War. The United States hit a severe depression, along with a recession. The states would give higher taxes to fellow states just because they could, which hurt the nation economically. "Our political machine constituted of thirteen independent sovereignties, have been perpetually operating against one another ever since the peace" (Letter from Henry Knox to George Washington).
