The Problems With The Articles Of Confederation

fter the Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolution and recognized the United States of America as an independent nation, the Founding Fathers were made responsible for creating a government for the United States of America. They initially founded the Articles of Confederation, a weak government, out of fear of a strong, powerful one like Great Britain. Shortly after, however, the Founding Fathers noticed that the Articles of Confederation were failing. An enduring issue that connects to this time period is the enduring issue of conflict because the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were the root cause of many conflicts between and in the states, as shown in Documents 1 and 2. Documents 1 and 2 both summarize the major flaws of the Articles of Confederation and the many conflicts they sparked.

During the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation provided a necessary government that weakly bonded the thirteen states together. The Articles essentially made the states a confederacy without much order. Firstly, governments require a stream of revenue to function properly, and the weak tax authority of the Articles prevented America from paying debts. The Revolutionary War came with staggering costs that left the Continental Congress in debt.

In fear of creating a new monarchical system, no federal court or executive leader was placed into power. This created an imbalance of power between the thirteen states and the central government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government had the power to pass laws but had no way to enforce them. If one state did not agree with a recently passed law, the state government of said area could choose to ignore it. One way a federal constitution could clarify these issues would be by placing an independent executive in power who is chosen by an electoral college.

The Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and it is safe to say that everything went downhill from there. The government was unrestricting and ineffectual during that time and we are not allowed to blame them. Any government was needed, however, that government was not very operative. They had no provision for an Executive Branch or National Court System and were not able to force the states to do anything.

The event that lasted up until the winter of 1787, Shays’s Rebellion, proved that the government could not be protected by the Articles of Confederation. If the national leaders wanted to amend the articles, then they would have to have all 13 states in agreement, which was nearly impossible. Another flaw of the Articles would lie in the competition that the states had. They would compete for foreign commerce and that created a special problem for the newly formed United States, because it demonstrated to foreign powers that they were able to make the states turn against each other and that America was feeble and susceptible to harm, “we should by our conduct verify the predictions of our transatlantic foe, and render ourselves ridiculous and contemptible in the eyes of all Europe.” (Ginsberg, 38) Most importantly, the government was weak, and that meant that they were unable to keep control over the matters that were occurring.

As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.

The period between the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and the drafting of the new Constitution in 1787 was one of weakness, dissension and turmoil. Under the Articles of Confederation, no provisions were made for an executive branch to enforce the laws nor for a national court system to interpret them. A legislative Congress was the sole organ of the national government, but it had no power to force the states to do anything against their will. It could declare war and raise an army, but it could not force any state to meet its assigned quota for troops or for the arms and equipment needed to support them. It looked to the states for the income needed to finance its activities, but it could not punish a state for not contributing its share of the federal budget.

United States history is an important thing to learn about and discuss. Everyday history is being made. This historical essay covers the Articles of Confederation versus the new Constitution of 1787. It discusses the drafting of the Constitution and the Great Compromise. The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists are compared and contrasted.

There are many different types of governments in our world. The difficulty of forming a government is probably very intense. And with that, there are the citizens and their involvement, causing lots of room for failure. The government of the United States is particularly interesting on many levels. The Articles of Confederation ushered with it many issues regarding the agreeability within the governmental powers, and brought a multitude of problems with regard to balance among the government powers.

The Articles of Confederation was an ill-thought out plan that was rushed into effect to tie together a nation that wanted to distinguish itself from its parent country. Without much time to plan, flaws are bound to be present. The main problem with this document is in its name. It called for a confederation among the states. This left little to no power for a central government, and the states were almost independent countries themselves.

The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.

DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the thirteen original states of the United States that served as the first constitution. The Articles had first been introduced by Richard Henry Lee in the Second Continental Congress. Although the Articles of Confederation has made its contributions throughout history, the Articles, however, did not last very long and had been proven inadequate from the very start. I agree with this statement based on the examples and analysis of the Constitution I will soon provide. The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government.

The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.

The United States confronted many problems once they gained their independence from Great Britain. One of the biggest problems was their form of government at that time, which was stated in the Articles of Confederation. This presented many problem to the states, as stated in a document about the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, some of the problems of the Articles of Confederation were the poor international trade, poor foreign relations, weak economy, and Shay’s Rebellion. The people, specifically the Federalists, wanted a new government because of the weakness of the government at that moment. According to many history books, the government also faced financial problems and tried to resolve them by taxing the states, because