Pros Of Articles Of Confederation

Following the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the colonies began to refer to themselves as “states,” retaining a feeling of sovereignty in their respective areas. The concept of forming a national government was troublesome to most, as the general consensus was that each state bore its own authority (Brinkley 133). Most states feared that a centralized government would revert them to the old ways of Britain, where sole power came from the king himself. However, the states knew that their survival of independence was contingent upon central leadership, and actions had to be taken. This need for centrality led to the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1777, which saw successes with foreign policy and personal liberties, but failures

It did end up allowing Congress the power to conduct foreign affairs, exemplified by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (Ewing). The government successfully launched a war for independence from Britain following the Declaration of Independence, and the victory was largely aided by funding from France (Brinkley 136). The resolution of the conflict between the United States and Britain formally recognized America’s independence, and also gained them a great amount of territory, which laid the north and south borders of the new country (Brinkley 145). The Articles also lamented states-rights, allowing free movement between states and promoted free interstate commerce. This allowed all inhabitants of the country to operate as free citizens, with full privileges and immunities, to travel between states while still being governed under one nation (Ewing). This provision helped promote a feeling of nationality, where states were recognized as entities within a larger body of control. Another accomplishment of the Articles was land distribution in the western territories. Congress passed the Ordinance of 1784, dividing the western territories into ten districts, and granted them permission to lobby statehood once population exceeded a certain threshold (Brinkley 154). Amended by the Ordinance of 1785, Congress permitted the sale of sections in the western territories to fund public school and also lay the

Since Congress had no authority to tax individuals, it levied taxes on the states themselves, which proved largely unsuccessful. This made it difficult to raise funds to properly equip a national army with supplies and weaponry, and also to pay off its previous war debts. The Congress eventually began to print their own paper money, called Continental Currency, but it was not widely adopted due to states printing their own money. This influx of currency led to high inflation rates, greatly devaluing the national currency and forcing many merchants to revert to accepting British currency in gold and silver coins (Brinkley 134). In short, the failure to collect taxes from individuals, coupled with a rapid devaluation of the national currency left the centralized government of America bankrupt. Another failure that resulted from the Articles was a lack of a balanced government system. At the time, Congress acted as a lone entity. There existed no judiciary branch of the national government to protect the rights of its citizens, and states reserved the right to overturn national laws as they saw fit (Brackemyre). States could therefore ignore national laws, since there was no judiciary branch to dole out consequences. There also existed no executive branch to enforce the rules laid out in the Articles, or to act as the central leader in foreign affairs (Ewing). There were times where Britain