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Pros And Cons Of The Articles Of Confederation

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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’’

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