The Articles of Confederation, which were proposed and produced by John Dickinson and accepted as a governmental foundation plan by the Continental Congress in 1781 became Congress’ first effort to unify the newly founded country in economic and political strength through the use of a universal constitution for all of the states that stated the country’s liberty and gave certain rights to each individual state. During the early post-revolution era in America, states were advised by Congress to begin establishing state governments with written constitutions as a foundational structure in which there were almost no regulations or political structure. Many states began their constitutions by stating their “unalienable rights” which usually included the freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition, the right to bear arms, and the right to equal protection under state …show more content…
Each state that originally operated individually in governmental terms now had the right to speak for themselves in a Continental Congressional setting, which rather than having a president operated with representatives from each state, in which each had an equal voice in the country’s actions such as military actions, foreign affairs, and political motives. The Articles of Confederation possessed many of the governmental powers and limited much of the state’s previously owned rights, although the state’s governments did not become completely powerless. While the Continental Congress became possessive of many governmental powers, the states still individually possessed the rights to levy taxes, draft state military soldiers, and regulate trade within their own state. Although many states, as it would seem, would come to abuse these powers. In this sense, the Articles of Confederation did favor the individual rights of each state by granting rights for their possession apart from the central government’s