Articles of Confederation

            From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government in the sense that it provided unity and a government body in times of war and adversity. The Articles of Confederation was a guideline in which the 2nd Continental Congress hoped would bring a stable legislature. The Articles Of Confederation created a unicameral legislature meaning it the house of government would be composed of a single house of congress in which each state was represented equally. It proved to be effective in matter concerning expansion of the country and bringing guidance to the country. Although it was an effective legislature, it was flawed by the facts that it lacked a leader with power, and its inability to impose certain important issues such as taxing.
             Under the Articles of Confederation the Congress held responsibility to conduct foreign affairs, make war and peace, deal with Native Americans outside the states, coin and borrow money, supervise the post office and negotiate boundary disputes between states. The ability to conduct foreign affairs are evident as John Jay eventually made an agreement with Spain's minister Diego de Gardoqui in order to trade and navigate throughout the Mississippi river(Document F). Another successful aspect of the Articles of Confederation was that the Articles allowed expansion and created an admission process for new states which was called the Land Ordinance.(Document E) By 1788, The Constitution had replaces the Articles of Confederation, and this caused some stir among certain states such as South Carolina verifying that it was indeed a successful legislature in some aspects.(Document H).
             The Articles of Confederation also had many flaws that eventually brought about change in the United States legislature. The greatest weakness was the inability of Congress to forces taxes on states. The states desired a form of self rule, so the idea of a federal tax was very unappealing(Document A).