Articles Of Confederation Dbq

The Confederation Period is considered the most important time period in the establishment of the United States of America. America, having rebelled against the British, became a new country of American states which had the need to create a new government that would fulfil their ideas of liberty while being free of a tyrant. This government had the Articles of Confederation at its heart, which was ratified by the states in 1781 before the conclusion of the conflict with Britain. From its creation and to its removal in 1789, the Articles were insufficient, which would pose many problems with how the government was run. The Articles of Confederation made it clear that there was a need for a centrally powered government, and that the states would

The problem with this was that Congress could not demand money, it could ask, plead or beg, but not be given what it had asked, said in the letter from Virginian Joseph Jones to George Washington. This feebleness created many problems. It meant that public supporters or politicians of Congress could not be paid, reducing the belief in a central government. Congress did not have the money to set up a standing army and even to pay its potential soldiers, making the United States weak and ineffective if a conflict did arise with another nation or within itself, but this did appeal to the people due to their fear of a central power. The considerably weak state army’s and the disunity of the states kept the Articles of Confederation’s government from making progress in its foreign policy. Foreign nations in the world had no motive to respect the Congress' demands for supplies or aid and the country in whole, due to the lack of a strong army and a central controlled government, no other country had the need or the want to be allies with one suffering such

A Massachusetts farmer named Daniel Shays, created a rebellion that fought against the government and tried to force the replacement of the Articles of Confederation. This revolt was difficult to put down, which exposed the weakness of not having a standing Army within the fresh country. Resentment was not just identified with the common folk, even those with or in power felt it, this not only led to distrust with the government but also for states ignoring the central government and congress fully. A letter from John Jay to George Washington conveyed the idea that all people were uncertain with the Government in which they once supported. Therefore, there was a considerable amount of unhappiness with the Confederation Government by its cliques and even some of its creators, showing how ineffective a government relying on the Articles of Confederation was at this time. This ultimately led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. To ratify the new Constitution the Convention needed to convince the states to accept the Constitution and the fact that they were going to lose power. It took nearly two years for all of the thirteen American states to ratify it, and come to terms with losing power. This new Constitution would act as a basis for a new kind of government that would function on the principles of federalism and separation of power while keeping all branches in