Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Article Of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation provided the United States with a predominantly ineffective government that could not deal with problems at home and abroad. The country was unable to regulate commerce and effectively deal with foreign nations from 1781 to 1789. Although there were some advantages to the first constitution, the issues caused by the document greatly outweighed the benefits. The Articles of Confederation limited America’s ability to deal problems within its own borders and with foreign nations.
Although the Articles of Confederation served a great purpose and had numerous advantages and strengths, it also contained many weaknesses with some flaws. One of the weaknesses is that this agreement could not enforce laws or have the power to tax the people of the colony. Along with this, the government could also not allow each of he states to continue to follow those laws. There was also no national army or navy, no national courts, no solid leadership or power in a position to take charge, and there was only one vote for each state no matter what the size of the state is. The main reason Americans wanted to construct a weak national government was to prevent the them from gaining too much power and allowing the government to eventually
The Articles of Confederation were not the ideal set of laws that the founding fathers intended. They had their flaws, but they also contain a few laws that fixed some current problems of the country. The problems that faced the new nation were, the need for unification and preservation of this unification of the states, the rules emplaced on expansion and settlement of western lands, and it set up a economy, that was vital to the country. The states had just won the revolutionary war by coming together to fight the British, and the Articles of Confederation made sure that this unification was official and permanent.
The Articles of Confederation was the first plan for governing the nation. It tried to help the union become a fair union. It tried to give the states as much power as possible, but with this came many weaknesses. The biggest weakness being that the national government could not force the states to obey their laws. The national government could not tax the people or enforce laws and congress did not have a strong leadership role.
It introduced uniform currency, better lawmaking, amendments actually being possible to pass, and less/no rebellion. The Articles of Confederation had only one main branch: the Legislative branch. Judicial didn’t do much and the Executive branch didn’t even exist yet! Even the Legislative branch was flawed!
The Articles of Confederation structured the first government of the thirteen states. The thirteen states included: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. However, Rhode Island did not vote to revise the Articles right away. Therefore, the proposals of the Constitution continued to be declined by the other states due to not having a balance on votes. When Rhode Island finally sent a representative to the Constitution Convention, the Constitution was approved.
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.
How did the failure of the State of Franklin demonstrates the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? First of all the, the congress was divided into 13 states and each state had one vote in congress. Congress handled many problems, like how to make the western lands made by the united states i the treaty of paris. Congress failed to solve problems between states due to taxes and boundaries. Most of the citizens felt like the government was too weak.
Before the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, many states own land in the area that was considered in the Northwest, is east of the Mississippi River and North of the Ohio River. When all the states were in debt from the American Revolution, the Central government offered that if the states gave up their land in the Northwest, the central government will pay their debt. This was named the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This also created rules on creating a new state. The land that the states gave up cannot have slaves and in order an area to become a state, they must have a population of 5000 males or 60000 people.
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.
The Articles of Confederation was an ill-thought out plan that was rushed into effect to tie together a nation that wanted to distinguish itself from its parent country. Without much time to plan, flaws are bound to be present. The main problem with this document is in its name. It called for a confederation among the states. This left little to no power for a central government, and the states were almost independent countries themselves.
The Federalist agreed with the Constitution and its provisions. The wanted to create a strong federal government that will combine both the federal and the states as one nation. One of the weakness that the Articles of Confederation address is that the state had rights to levy taxes and regulate commerce. The states where in charge of the money coming in. The government concern was that if the states did not provide funds for the military they could not do anything about it.
In one hand, the Articles of Confederation had a weak central government, differing form the strong central government in the Constitution. The Constitution’s government had a structure of three different branches; the legislative, executive, and judicial branch; unlike the Articles of Confederation that had no structure whatsoever. The Articles of Confederation had many problems like, the poor international trade, poor foreign relations and a weak economy in contrast to the Constitution that only had one problem, the struggle over the ratification. the Articles of Confederation achieved the Northwest Ordinance and the Northwest Territory and according to a history website, the Constitution achieved that we had a system of checks and balances, that we had a bill of rights, and, eventually, the survival of a bloody civil war intact. Lastly, the Constitution had three compromises: the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Slave Trade compromise.
Can you imagine living without rules? You probably can, but rules are important and necessary for all people to live together, which is the main reason why The Articles of Confederation was created. It was the first constitution, and it’s purpose was to maintain armed forces, money, alliances, and treaties. Unfortunately, this didn’t really work as planned because it created a loose confederation and a weak central government leaving the state government the most in charge (Purdie Alexander, Articles of the Confederation and Perpetual Union, 1777.) One reason the central government was weak is because they lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce which was an issue that led to new federal laws.
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the united states. It gave great power to the State governments. The states had numerous rights to run their State the way they wanted to without consent from the national government. The States were not responsible for paying taxes to the central government, which led to lack of resources for a military among other necessities.
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