Chapter 2

1. The Articles gave the states authority to wage war, establish alliances, and conclude peace. The states retained all powers not expressly granted to the Congress. Under the Articles, Congress did not have the authority to regulate commerce or any authority to operate directly over the citizens. Congress could not tax citizens or products, it could only request revenues from the states. The Articles made governing very difficult. It did not establish a judicial branch, or a separate executive branch. Popularly elected legislatures with no checks on their authority passed laws rescinding private debts and creating barriers against other states. There was too much turmoil, so a the Constitutional Convention was scheduled to revise the Articles. The United States Constitution is stronger than the Articles because there is more organization and ruling. There are three branches that are each responsible for different things and the states don't hold all the power. I think the history of the United States would be completely different if we still operated under the Articles. I believe that the states would constantly be at war with each other and there wouldn't be as much peace as there is today under the Constitution.

2. In the first article, it says that a Representative should be a citizen for seven years. I thought that you had to be born in American to be a Representative, so that is definitely something new that I learned. I also didn't know that you had to be living in the United States for fourteen years straight before you can run for president.

3. In Marbury v. Madison, The Supreme Court declared that, because the Constitution specified which types of cases the Supreme Court could hear, the section of the Judiciary Act that expanded the Court's original jurisdiction conflicted with the Constitution. The court ruled that the Constitution is supreme over the law. The court declared that the judiciary would decide such issues. I think that the Supreme Court is very important in the Marbury v Madison ruling because the Supreme Court would not order Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The Court granted itself the authority of judicial review, the power to put down laws passed by Congress only on the grounds that those laws violate the Constitution. I think that it was a very momentous moment in history.

4. Looking at the government today, I would say that it is more like the Federalists envisioned it. The Antifederalists didn't agree that the ultimate law making authority should be in the hands of the national law, they thought it should be in the hands of the state law. Today, the law making authority is in the hands of the national law like the Federalists wanted and agreed with.


commented on:
1. Jared Griffith
2. Shana Butler
3. Megan Biggs