Essay On The Articles Of Confederation

790 Words4 Pages

Before the Articles of Confederation were written, America was in the midst of a full blown revolution against Britain. The United States needed a government to seem like they were in control and help the U.S. become a respectable, independent nation. Thus the Articles of Confederation was written and adopted as the government. The Articles of Confederation were an improvement on the weak country of America’s government. However, the articles helped to improve several aspects such as forming a new government, an economy, and dictating what happens in the territories; but they also caused the nation hardships with no power in the federal government, and the economy was tanking. The formation of the Articles of Confederation as the new system of government was a huge step for the United States. Obviously, the Articles were …show more content…

The 2 good things that came out of the Articles of Confederation were the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. In addition, the Land Ordinance of 1785 stated that the Northwest Territory was federal government owns the land. This ordinance allowed the government to send people to survey the land to divide into townships and counties so the land could be sold for houses. Also the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 outlined how an area can become an official state, and that no slavery was allowed in the Northwest Territory. However, the Articles lacked in areas of foreign policies. The money coming from trade differed from state to state causing competition between states since one state might have a higher tariff on trade while another might have a lower tariff. They also failed in having control over the states and how much they taxed other countries. The Articles had given the government very little power to deal with these internal affairs that would affect their foreign