ipl-logo

Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

733 Words3 Pages

Many people today believe that the federal government has too much power, but can you imagine living in a time where the national government had too little power? The United States claimed its independence from Great Britain in July, 1776. And so it was up to the now free colonists to create their new nation’s government. In fear of living under another tyrant, the Americans wanted to set up a government that would be equally just to all citizens. The Articles of Confederation became our first national constitution in November, 1777. However, all thirteen states did not ratify this new Constitution until March, 1781. Merrill states that, “The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777” (1970). It took many years to convince all the states to ratify because it was controversial document. It was controversial because not everyone believed that a confederation would be able to keep the states together. The Articles of Confederation failed because it created a weak central government, gave too much power to the states, and divided the United States. The Articles of Confederation had no power to …show more content…

A confederation is a system of government in which there is a firm league of friendship that binds the states/provinces of a nation. Gives little power to the central government. According to History.com, “Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes” (2009). This shows just how powerful the states really were. To retain sovereignty while under a “higher power” can only mean that power is not very strong. Having sovereignty means that you have total power to govern yourself while being free and independent from others. The states were no more united than the colonies were before the AOC came into effect. Histroy.com also states, “Article III described the confederation as “a firm league of friendship” of states’’

Show More
Related
256 Words | 2 Pages

The Articles Of Confederation was approved in 1781, created an alliance of thirteen independent states. The states were only united in theory, even though the states acted on their own accord. Unlike todays government, the Articles Of Confederation consisted only of a one house legislature. There was no President, no executive branch, or court system. Also, each state had only one vote in the "congress".

Read More
569 Words | 3 Pages

With the Articles unable to regulate trade in between each state, it was clear that the Articles could not create laws other than land policies, such as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the United States of America needed a new form of government with a more powerful central

Read More
1432 Words | 6 Pages

According to Article II in the Articles of Confederation,” Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” Overall, the federal government had very little power due to paranoia and the states’ government had too much power, which gave them too many privileges. It was not made as a permanent government; it was made for a temporary fix during the American Revolution. It was a very unfitting, unsustainable government. America would not have lasted on that government at all.

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

The Article of Confederation was created in 1776, after the American revolution. In 1787 The Articles of Confederation was re-written during The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The reason for rewriting it was because of it being a weak central government. No one person was allowed all the power in fear of being like the British. The Congress at the time was made up of one delegate from the thirteen states.

Read More
1283 Words | 6 Pages

There were several disadvantages to the Articles of Confederation. One was that Congress did not have the power to tax. This meant that the government could not raise money to pay for things like national defense. Another disadvantage was that the states were not required to listen to any of Congress’s decisions. This led to a lot of confusion and made it difficult to get anything done.

Read More
263 Words | 2 Pages

As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.

Read More
1186 Words | 5 Pages

During the 17th century, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. They waged war for eight years to obtain their independence, but soon came to a dilemma. The generals and political leaders behind the Revolutionary War were now in charge of thirteen different colonies without a form of government to keep law and order. They were going to have General George Washington become their new leader, however they soon realized that was just like the British monarchy they just seceded from. The Fathers gathered in Pennsylvania to sit together a write a formal government.

Read More
1635 Words | 7 Pages

In 1781, early American Revolutionaries created The Articles of Confederation as the first form of government in the new country. At this time, the Revolutionary spirit was still strong and very much alive as it floated throughout the country. The Revolutionary spirit sought freedom, plain and simple. It believed in the equality of all men and sought the most natural form of government. Americans at this point still feared an overpowering central government and wanted the states to remain sovereign.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the thirteen original states of the United States that served as the first constitution. The Articles had first been introduced by Richard Henry Lee in the Second Continental Congress. Although the Articles of Confederation has made its contributions throughout history, the Articles, however, did not last very long and had been proven inadequate from the very start. I agree with this statement based on the examples and analysis of the Constitution I will soon provide. The Articles of Confederation were written during a time when the American people feared a strong national government.

Read More
1246 Words | 5 Pages

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were created to hold the United States of America together during times of war. In the Articles, the founding fathers granted most governmental powers to the states, leaving only those necessary for the war effort – primarily the declaration of war, the creation of peace treaties, and the conduction of foreign relations – to the federal government. In this system, individual states were given precedence over the entire nation – an aspect that led to its downfall after the Revolutionary War. The Articles of Confederation denied the federal government the ability to issue taxes and tariffs – a power so necessary to the new country’s success, and yet so feared by its forefathers. They supported

Read More
949 Words | 4 Pages

For one, for the Articles of Confederation to be even be ratified in the first place they need all the states to ratify it. That causes one problem from the start. As stated earlier, the national government had “no executive, there was also was no judicial authority and no other means of enforcing the Congress’s will.” (pg. 36). Without an executive branch to enforce laws, nor a judicial branch established in the national government, Congress could practically do nothing.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

The Articles of Confederation did not provide enough

Read More
1506 Words | 7 Pages

The central government lacked the power to impose taxes and regulate the market, these issues led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 creating new federal laws. From the start of the American Revolution, Congress felt the requirement for a stronger union and a government powerful capable of defeating Great Britain.

Read More
906 Words | 4 Pages

They had no executive branch to enforce any of acts that were passed by the congress. Amendments to the Article of Confederation required limited voting on how many people were able to vote (July 2, 2014). The laws required a 9/13 was the requirement for the law to pass in congress. The American Constitution was adopted in 1789 and this replace the Confederation permanently.

Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

Open Document