Articles Of Confederation Failure

The Articles of Confederation were designed to be guidelines for the interactions between the states and the federal government after the Declaration of Independence and during Revolutionary War. These articles proved to be an utter failure due to a number of relevant factors including: No real power to the federal government, no means for Congress to enforce laws, and no power to implement taxation to name a few. The Congress’s powers over the states were specific and finite, it had the sole power to negotiate treaties, declare war, and make peace. It also reserved the right to maintain an army and navy and regulated interaction with Native Americans in the Western part of the country. The delegates also granted Congress the power to resolve interstate disputes,

It could only request that the individual states raise revenue to cover their share of national expenses. This caused a lot of controversy and division when the nation was trying to look for ways to repay the debt generated by the Revolutionary War. Furthermore, any amendments made to the Articles required unanimous agreement from the states, which usually never occurred. Moreover, Americans were especially afraid of federal taxes; remembering the “no taxation without representation”1 slogan from the Revolutionary War, they required that only the individual states could levy taxes. This system proved to be a completely ineffective way of financing a federal government, and in fact, many of the states refused to pay their fair part. The Congress originally received less than a third of what it asked for from the states. Moreover, Congress had been granted no rights to control interstate commerce. States were thus given a free hand to draft conflicting and confusing laws that made cross-border trade difficult and also conflicted with Indians in the region. As a result, the new Congress immediately began printing paper currency to pay for the Revolutionary