Examples Of Ratifying The Articles Of Confederation

Ratifying the Confederation Period
Thanks to our victory in the Revolutionary War, America finally became an independent nation. Subsequently, we created our first official government, The Articles of Confederation. When Congress declared war on Britain in 1776, it also called out for a plan to help the states cooperate in the war effort. Franklin presented a plan of Confederation; in which Congress was given the power of planting new colonies when necessary, and implying control over the West. A committee of thirteen, with John Dickinson of Pennsylvania as chairman, prepared the Articles, which where adopted by Congress in November 1777. They were adopted by all colonies in 1781, with Maryland the last to ratify.
As the colonies were ratifying

This would lead some big colonies to keep their taxes low compared to the small land-poor settlements. The small settlements feared that their citizens would leave to go to big land-rich colonies where taxes were lower. The small colonies wanted to protect their own self-interests, and worked to have the Articles revised. This would give Congress control over the western lands. These lands became the treasury of the new government. Since the Confederation had no power to tax and could only implore the colonies for money, land took the place of taxes. By selling the land, the weak new government obtained the money that it couldn’t find through any other

Each colony had issued its own paper money. The more money there was in circulation, the less a dollar was bought. Then came the financial collapse. People’s paper dollars were refused as payment. They had no gold or silver. In previews years of the war, many farmers had gone into debt to improve their farms, buy more land, or just to purchase luxuries they wanted. But the depression meant they could sell their crops only at very low prices.
To repay their bills, farmers and debtors requested paper money with which they could use to mend their debts in the colonies. Some colonies agreed to help the farmers, but some refused to injure those who had loaned money. The farmers of Western Massachusetts were particularly upset about this, and began protesting against the failure of the colonies support. The popular Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army, led a rebellion. He demanded more paper money, tax relief for debtors and an end to imprisonment for debt. During 1786, Shays and his followers traveled around the colonies preventing the collection of