Comparative Essay Essay Sample: Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution

The Articles of Confederation revealed many problems that needed to be resolved and the constitution was drafted to address these problems with solutions. The experience gained by governing under the Articles of Confederation allowed the United States to create a more perfect union under the Constitution by changing who has the power to lay and collect taxes. 

In Article VIII of The Articles of Confederation it says that the national government had no right to levy taxes and left it in the hands of the states(“Politics and Party Formation” lecture).

The Articles of Confederation states that “All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of the common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in proportion to the value of all land within each state”(Article VIII of the Articles of Confederation) which means that the states are responsible for collecting the taxes that are proportion to the value of the land in that state to help pay for war expenses or other expenses that help out the general welfare. The states rights set up by The Articles of Confederation caused many issues for our young country at the time. These issues included higher prices for most products due to competition between states which often lead to tariffs between states on certain goods and problems paying for war when the national government was unable to impose taxes. When the wars had ended the United States was struck with an economic downturn because the government wasn't buying the products that were being produced toward the war effort which led to an economic depression and this made the pricing of goods increase while the value of the money decreased. In order to help combat the effects caused by the Articles of Confederation they called together another convention to draft a new document to govern the United States called the Constitution(“Politics and Party Formation” lecture). The purpose of the constitution was to create a stronger national government to operate commercially in the world and pay the nation’s debts(“Politics and Party Formation” lecture). In article 1 section 8 of the Constitution it says that “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”(Constitution, Article I Section 8) and that “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”(Constitution, Article I Section 8). This explains the change in power to collect taxes from previously being collected by the states to now being collected by the national government in order to pay off debts that were caused by the borrowing and printing of money during the American Revolution. The reason for the provision of who collects the taxes was to allow the United States to pay off the debts incurred by the wars. This provision gave the national government many governing powers including the ability “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States”(Constitution, Article I Section 8).This allows the national government to pass any law they see fit to carry out the powers described throughout Article I section 8 of the Constitution. 

The Constitution was constructed with the intent to correct all the issues that had arisen from the Article of Confederation. The main flaw in the Articles of Confederation was that the power to collect taxes was given to the individual states which led the United States into economic ruin after gaining their independence because of the debt that had built up because of the wars. The Constitution changed who was responsible for levying and collecting taxes to the national government to pay debts and provide for defense.