What Are The Effects Of The Articles Of Confederation Dbq

The Revolutionary War just ended in America, freeing the colonists from the tight grasp Britain held on them. But the ideal revolution hadn’t ended yet. The colonists still had to establish a system of government that emphasized republicanism and democracy at the same time. They wanted a government structure that would prevent the abuse of their authority because they’ve experienced corruption from the hands of King George III. Hence, the Articles of Confederation were adopted. It solely limited the government's power and increased individual State power. States became more independent, allowing them to regulate currency and taxes. The authority given to the states, the ordinances, and the economy established under the Articles of Confederation

The Articles instituted a system of government that caused rifts between states in America, making the nation subject to collapse. Once America was free, the first problem they had to address was to create a new system of government and to who the most government control was going to go to. The delegates decided that they should adopt the principle known as federalism into the new government. This enables the government’s power to be divided among states and congress. It was decided that the central government would have less authority than the states. They feared that if they gave too much power to the central government, they would eventually come to abuse it, relating to how King George III affected them. However, Congress could not enforce these laws because they gave States the right to do whatever they want, unless it was specified. Furthermore, Congress was not allowed to place taxes on the people, the states had to decide. Nothing more symbolized how America no longer wanted to be strong and unified in order to prevent a corrupt government from overpowering them. All the downsides to the organization of the government eventually led to the Constitutional Convention, which was held to revise the flawed Articles of Confederation. Overall, the divided structure of the government caused a

According to the Articles, States where allowed to pursue their own means of currency. This turned out to be not very successful in the long run. States constructed separate currencies, rendering it useless to other states and other parts of the world. At the time, the government was in need to pay back a large debt from the war. Part of the debt was to pay back the veterans. Taxes rose and farmers couldn’t afford to pay them. All of this madness inspired Daniel Shays to stir up a rebellion in Massachusetts, calling for a change of price in taxes. The rebellion became really violent, and the Congress, powerless as they were, couldn’t do anything about it. Many people realized that the Articles needed to be revised because it wasn’t working at all. Shay’s rebellion certainly proved that.
At some extent the problem was how the government’s dominance was going to. In the Articles, it was decided that it would go to the individual states, fearing that a central government would become too powerful. State governments were allowed to levy their own taxes. At the time, they were in need to pay back the veterans from the war. Taxes got out of hand and farmers couldn’t afford to pay them. To make matters worse Daniel Shays stirred up a rebellion in Massachusetts, calling for a change of price in