3 REASONS THE CONSTITUTION EXISTS THE VALUE OF THE CONSTITUTION
Within the Articles of Confederation, Congress didn’t have the power to enforce laws and was only allowed to collect funds from each state. State governments held the majority, which made the federal government weaker. This led to states fighting over territory, war pensions, and taxation, all of which could potentially destroy the country. These issues led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which helped create the Constitution that we have today. You might be surprised to learn that a body of water — and other concerns — helped draft the document.
separate money. This separation made trade between states and other countries extremely difficult. Due to different currencies, Congress couldn’t print out money for the entire country to use. Fortunately, the Constitution established a common currency for all states and also allowed Congress to coin money and regulate its value.
could then use the canal as a form of transportation into the rest of the continent.
NO JUDICIARY OR EXECUTIVE BRANCH
There was only one branch for Congress, and each state had one vote in order to get laws passed. If Congress wanted to pass any laws, they needed 9 out of 13 states in order to approve it. Requiring this high majority made it difficult to pass any legislation. The Constitution divided the government into branches and gave certain powers to each branch, known as checks and balances. The first attempt at a constitution — the Articles of Confederation — failed, but with some adjustments and ratifications, the Constitutional Convention created the document we still use today. “My fiancee and I got into an argument that resulted in a charge of felony domestic assault. A police officer friend referred me to Johnny Houston. Johnny was able to get my case into court early so that we could resume living together and taking care of our family. Ultimately, the charge was dismissed and will be removed from my record. Johnny and his staff made a difficult situation much easier to deal with.” –T.N. our clients say it best
THE ERIE CANAL
Within the Articles of Confederation, each state managed the territory that lies within their state lines. George Washington wanted to use the Erie Canal as a form of transportation but couldn’t because the canal was in New York territory. He needed permission from New York in order to use the canal. But with the development of the Constitution, the Erie Canal was managed by the federal government. Washington
SEPARATE STATE CURRENCIES
Unlike today, the Confederation Period didn’t have a common currency. The federal government and the states had
Dexter and Rita News! Dexter and Rita are doing well. Dexter is a bit gimpy with his bad hip, but we are keeping
him a svelte 85 pounds and that seems to help. Rita is healthy as can be. They recently had a bit of excitement. We had the roof on our house replaced and Dexter and Rita could not seem to understand why we were not more concerned about the herd of intruders stomping around overhead. Rita got loose and decided to chase the one roofer who was snacking in the yard. Dexter fell in behind her. The pursuit ended when the roofer threw his pieces of chicken in the air which proved to be more interesting than chasing him. Here is Rita sleeping off the day’s excitement.
3
423-267-6715 | HoustonAlexander.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator