The period between the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and the drafting of the new Constitution in 1787 was one of weakness, dissension and turmoil. Under the Articles of Confederation, no provisions were made for an executive branch to enforce the laws nor for a national court system to interpret them. A legislative Congress was the sole organ of the national government, but it had no power to force the states to do anything against their will. It could declare war and raise an army, but it could not force any state to meet its assigned quota for troops or for the arms and equipment needed to support them. It looked to the states for the income needed to finance its activities, but it could not punish a state for not contributing its share of the federal budget. Control of taxation and tariffs was left to the states, and each state could issue its own currency. The result was virtual chaos. Without the power to collect taxes, the federal government plunged into debt. Seven of the 13 states printed large quantities of paper money, high in face value but low in real purchasing power, in order to pay veteran soldiers and a variety of creditors, and to settle debts between small farmers and large plantation owners. …show more content…
The states could say, as had the federal superintendent of finance, that "our public credit is gone." To compound their problems, the newly independent states, having separated violently from England, no longer received favored treatment at British ports. When Ambassador John Adams tried to negotiate a commercial treaty in 1785, the British refused on the grounds that the individual states would not be bound by it. The British were also angered by the failure of Americans to pay for property confiscated during the