2nd Continental Congress Attempted to Bring Us Essay

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2nd Continental Congress attempted to bring us through the Revolutionary War, but the members soon realized that we needed a form of central government on a permanent basis. The arguements began between Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson, the anti-Federalist, over how much power the central government should actually be given. This assignment will address these issues and has several parts. Make sure you answer all parts of the question and write an essay at least 4 pages in length. 1. Discuss the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the reasons it failed. 2. Describe the makeup of the Constitutional Convention and the priorities of the delegates. 3. Compare Hamilton and Jefferson in their political and economic philosophies and their concept of Federalism. Do you feel Hamilton had too much influence under the administrations of Washington and Adams? I want you to give an assessment as to the success or failure of Hamilton and his policies and the effect they would have on the future of the United States. You need to read chapters 6 and 7 for this essay.

The Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress is virtually the most important congress in the history of the United States of America, representing the very formation of the country. The Congress had initially met to deal with the American Revolutionary War, but ended up adopting the Declaration of Independence and forming the government of the United States.

Two of the more notable participants in the Congress were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson was an anti-federalist and Alexander Hamilton was a declared federalist, and conflicts rose between the two relative to the degree of the power that should be granted to the government.

Overall, the Second Continental Congress was a successful process which resulted in the formation of the United States. But the process was also tedious and complex and it involved several problems. For instance, the Confederation created several articles, yet these revealed several weaknesses, and they as such failed. Then, issues were also observed at the level of the makeup of the Constitutional Convention and the priorities of the delegates.

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Last, there was the already mentioned ideological conflict between Jefferson and Hamilton. In order to better understand the Second Continental Congress, each of these issues would be addressed throughout the following lines.

The Articles of the Confederation represented the first underlying principles of the functioning of the American government. They were created during the American Revolution that united the thirteen colonies and they went into effect on the first of March, 1781. Eight years later however, they were eliminated and, instead, the United States Constitution was created and enforced. In such a setting, a question is being posed relative to the traits which led to the demise of the Articles of the Confederation. In other words, the following lines reveal some of the more notable weaknesses of these articles:

The articles did not differentiate based on the size of the states; in other words, each of the thirteen states were only granted one vote in the Congress, regardless of the number of people they represented.

Throughout the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was not granted the ability to tax; this feature virtually made it impossible for the new formed country to be adequately administered.

The Articles did not grant the Congress the power to regulate the trade conducted by the states among themselves, nor the trade between the states and other foreign regions. This led to the inability to regulate imports, exports and promote national economic interests.

Then, the Articles did allow the Congress to adopt and pass various acts and bills, but there existed no executive branch to actually enforce the decisions of the Congress. This rendered pointless the entire effort of the Congress in the absence of an ability to actually implement the policies developed.

The Articles of Confederation did not create a judicial power within the new formed country, meaning as such that there did not exist a national court system. In the absence of such a system, the respect for legislations became optional.

Then,….....

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