The Articles of Confederation Versus the Constitution Assignment - 9

The Articles of Confederation Versus the Constitution - Assignment Example In order to understand the differences between these two historical and pivotal documents is to discuss them more deeply and individually. The Articles of Confederation were enacted in March of 1781 and were maintained until 1789, nearly 8 years to the day (Kelly). The Articles were chosen as ideal for a fledgling and inexperienced government to have a better chance of winning the Revolutionary War and defeating the British forces. However, many of the colony’s settlers had a negative experience with governments who had too much power and control and no real experience in the forming of government (Morgan 1). They specifically wanted a government with limited power. Many commented that the Articles of Confederation were essentially a â€Å"friendship agreement† between the 13 original colonies in the war against a shared enemy (Painter 3-4). The Constitution replaced the Articles in 1789. The Constitution was considered to be a â€Å"progressive† document; one th at represented a long term government that was different than those the settlers left behind. This is one of the first things that separate the Articles and the Constitution. The Articles intended to facilitate a favorable end to the war and the latter was intended to develop a long term, stable government structure (Winkler 1). However, the differences go much deeper.  There are several specific differences between the two documents. First, in the Articles, the individual states are sovereign and not accountable to the federal government, whereas the Constitution shares the powers between states and the federal government.