Following the Revolutionary War, America had just gained independance from Great Britain and needed to form a new government. The Articles of Confederation were established as an attempt to create a government that was unlike Britain’s. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had several weaknesses. When in the process of repairing those weaknesses, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists formed. The Articles of Confederation were very weak as well as useless to America and because of this, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists could not agree on a new type of government.
The Articles of Confederation was structured to give the majority power to the States while limiting the involvement of Government. The federal government was bestowed with the responsibility of mutual defense for the states and to “secure the blessings of liberty.” Government was supposed to be able to pass acts, however, each state was only permitted one representative regardless of that state’s population and votes needed to be unanimous for an act to pass. The power of the central government was vague and nearly unenforceable. Without a judicial system the federal government was unable to enforce penalties or consequences and without the ability to collect tax they could not finance the government meetings let alone the military to defend
Shays Rebellion served as the final nail in the coffin for the Articles of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation were a major improvement over the past government of England, in which the power only belongs to a few people, the king and parliament. The Articles of Confederation allowed each individual state to have its own power. Congress could not require any state to pay taxes, nor could they require to build a national army. Preventing tyranny was a major idea and a major goal that the Articles of Confederation produced. One other improvement that the Articles of Confederation instituted was the idea of not only reducing the power of the king, but increasing the power of the people. The people were “fed up” with all of their decisions being made by the central government, and as a result, The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was one of the first official documents of the United States. From the beginning of the American Revolution, Congress felt the need for a stronger union and a government powerful enough to defeat Great Britain. During the early years of the war this desire became a belief that the new nation must have a constitutional order appropriate to its republican character. However, after a few short years the Articles were replaced by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Articles were a stepping stone which led to the Constitution however the Articles contained more weaknesses than strengths which forced the colonists to get rid of them and create a new document.
The Articles of Confederation was written when the United States was a fairly new country, and from the people wanting to create a different government from the king of England. Although this document respected individual rights, it was too loose of a document that could drive the country to success. After revising what they had created, the founding father of the us the created the us constitution. It was more strict, but still valued peoples rights.
The Articles of Confederation couldn’t deal adequately with many problems that arose during the 1780’s. Some of the problems include National Security and Currency. On the other hand, The Articles of Confederation did have some admirable traits to it. Such as the Ordinances of 1787 and 1785. Though the Articles had some praiseworthy achievements, it did come with some major complications.
The Articles of Confederation was the original constitution of the United States, which was ratified in 1781, and replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. The Articles of Confederation was put into place to give the colonies a sense of unified government during the Revolutionary war. There were strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Strengths of the Articles of Confederation consist of declaring war and to make money, to borrow money, detail with foreign countries and sign treaties, as well as operate post-offices.
Shay’s Rebellion thought that the Articles of confederation was not strong enough and that there should be more power in the central government. The Articles of confederation was seen weak because, it revealed the economic issues and taxation, the lack of leadership, and not being efficient in making laws.
At a time many thought that the effects of a revolution would cause another one. The Articles of Confederation was the center of attention for this problem. After the fight for Independence the new America had to have a type of government. The Congress of this newly established nation created the Articles of Confederation. Of course problems would arise due to the ability of them knowing what they didn’t want when they should’ve known what the should have. Although the Articles of Confederation created the Northwest Ordinance; the failure to produce a stable Economy, the weakness of the Federal Government, and the inability to create a strong and structured army were causes of the Articles of Confederation.
How did the failure of the State of Franklin demonstrates the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? First of all the, the congress was divided into 13 states and each state had one vote in congress. Congress handled many problems, like how to make the western lands made by the united states i the treaty of paris. Congress failed to solve problems between states due to taxes and boundaries. Most of the citizens felt like the government was too weak. They felt tis because of the limited powers.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States government was in shambles. Having left the rule of the British Crown, the States desired a government far from their previous predecessor. However, having given tremendous power to the states and very little to the federal, there was much chaos. A prime example of the failure of this document was Shay’s Rebellion, when farmers rebelled against government officials for debt that they could not repay due to faults in the Articles. Consequently, a new Constitution had to be ratified which resulted in many compromises between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. These two contrasting groups had differing opinions on issues regarding the power of national government, clauses, interpretations, and amendments which inevitably led to arrangements made in the now presently used Constitution.
Madison began discussing the most famous Federalist papers by saying that one of the most grounded contentions for the Constitution is the way that it sets up an administration well-appointed for controlling the violence and harm created by factions. Madison characterizes groups as gatherings of individuals who assemble to secure and advance their exceptional monetary hobbies and political feelings.
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 Construction of the Constitution In the middle of 1776 the Americans Continental Congress began the drafting of the Articles of Confederation; those articles were the initial design of the United States government. The Articles of Confederation were finished in 1777 and sent over to all the states to be