From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation did not provide the United States with an effective government because of the problems when dealing with foreign policy. Also, the government could not raise enough money to support its armies because it could not tax. The Articles of Confederation were not completely useless, however, it did not provide an effective government which was needed to deal with the country's problems and become a powerful nation.
When dealing with foreign nations such as Spain and Britain, the government did not try to do what it needed to get the job done, but instead let the foreign countries push the United States around. Spain wanted to limit United States usage of the Mississippi by prohibiting the country from navigating below the Spanish territories all the way down to the ocean. The United States did not try to argue with Spain, but instead, let them run all over the U.S. while all they did was come up with a limit on the treaty with Spain to twenty-five or thirty years. Furthermore, the government was also ineffective when dealing with Britain. The British were limiting the United States trade by incapacitating its merchants in a certain degree to remittances to theirs. The problems with the government when dealing with foreign nations were very costly and needed to be reconsidered. It limited trade routes and trade with other nations which were essentially during that time in order to remain a strong country.
A major problem with the Unites States government during that time period was the inability to tax its people. Without being able to tax, the government was not able to raise money for essential things such as its armies. If there is not money for the army, then supplies cannot be brought to the troops such as food, ammunition, and weapons, which were vital for an army. This is the reason for the massive losses at Valley Forge. George Washington could not receive the necessary supplies for his army because of the lack of money that the government had and therefore, lost many of his men for an unnecessary cause which could have been prevented had it not been for the ineffectiveness of the U.
