Some historians consider the confederation period of American history, from 1781 to 1789, the most critical era in the nation's development. Having rebelled against royal authority, the collection of American colonies, now become a collection of American states, had to develop a new government. This government was the Articles of Confederation, a basic constitution, which was ratified by all the states in 1781 before the Revolutionary War ended. But from their conception in 1781 to their abandonment in 1789, the Articles were totally inadequate, providing the U.S. with an ineffective government. Perhaps the greatest contribution the Articles made was to show the people that a strong central government was needed.
In basic structure, the Articles of Confederation were relatively simple. Since US statesmen had little trust in the arbitrary judges and monarchs of Britain, the Articles provided for no judicial or executive branch. The body of government was the Congress, comprising delegates from the thirteen states. Congress was a weak body, again reflecting the US's fear of monarchs as well as the independent heritage possessed by the separate colonies. Amendments could be made only by unanimous consent of all thirteen states--a rather rare phenomenon--and even national laws required a two-thirds majority, also somewhat improbable. Thus, from 1781 to 1789 the U.S. possessed a very weak control government with individual states finding it easy to obstruct legislation.
When examining the foreign and domestic policy of the Articles, one sees their total inadequacy as a constitution. Since individual states held their own interest above that of the new nation, they sought to block much legislation that did not favor them directly. Only in one area did the Congress coax a unified policy from the states, the area of land reform. The major landholding states--Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts--did cede their western lands to the Congress.
One of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was the inability to tax. ... Another weakness of the Articles of Confederation was the inability to regulate commerce. ... The inability to regulate trade was another weakness of the Articles of Confederation. The military forces created with the Articles of Confederation were also very weak. ... This is just another weakness of the Articles of Confederation. ...
These brilliant writers and philosophers hesitantly began designing the national level of government for use in America and named their final draft the Articles of Confederation . ... The Articles of Confederation created a unicameral Confederation Congress, with each state having only one vote. ... In Article 13, the Articles declared that in order to ratify an amendment to the Articles the consent of all 13 states were required . ... The Confederation Government, under the Articles, lacked an executive and judicial branch. ... The Articles of Confederation, which were in force from 1781 to 1...
The Articles of Confederation did not provide the US with a government able to solve national and international problems due to its inability to collect money, weak government with no executive branch, and conflicts with its foreign policy. ... There was no strong central power with an executive branch in the Articles of Confederation either, which led to state disputes and difficulty in passing laws. ... Besides its poor economy and weak central government, the Articles of Confederation also had problems with foreign policy. The Articles of Confederation was ineffective in solving the US&#x...
After the Revolutionary War in America, the Articles of Confederation was adopted by the congress. ... Even though the Articles of Confederation set up a democratic government, it was a failure. This essay will analyze the effects of the Articles of Confederation based on political, geographic, economic and social life of American people after its adoption. ... The American society wasn't pleased with the Articles of Confederation. ... The Articles of Confederation were successful in stablishing democracy in the country. ...
The Articles of Confederation: Once our Government, Now our History The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. ... Life under the Articles of Confederation was filled with hardship and uncertainty, the United States government was in a state of chaos. ... The fourth weakness ensured the demise of the Confederation by making it too difficult to correct the first three (Story 49-50). ... There was a larger topic at question, however, the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. ... The convention was originally formed to create ame...
The Articles of Confederation gave the States the power to control foreign trade. ... The Articles of Confederation's next weakness would be the way it is able to handle foreign interactions. ... Even though the Articles of Confederation were unsuccessful, it did obtain a few accomplishments. ... Although the Articles of Confederation did have a few small victories, the overall picture of the Articles was a complete disaster. ... The failure of the Articles of Confederation lead to the creation of our government's Constitution....
Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation The articles of confederation were introduced in 1777 and this gave the power to individual states. ... The problem of the Articles of Confederation was that limited the power to central government. ... Under the Articles of confederation, the United State's government as in a state of chaos. ... There were three major things wrong with the Articles of Confederation. ... It is seen easily that the Articles of Confederation was weak and ineffective for our society...
The Articles of Confederation, written throughout the American Revolution and was American's first constitution. ... However, steps were being taken to do just that, American leaders agreed that the Articles of Confederation needed to be altered. On the other hand, the Articles of Confederation did have its strong points. ... In this essay you will be reading about both pros and cons with their new government. ... Written in 1777 and finally adopted in 1781, the Articles of Confederation had its equal number of strengths and weaknesses. ...
