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Strengths of the article of confederation
Articles of confederation strenghths and weaknesses
Strengths of the article of confederation
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One of the first things that sparked the unification among the colonies was the Albany Plan of Union(1754). The document was mainly drafted by Benjamin Franklin. It was drawn up because the of the frequent wars between Great Britain and France would often cause violent conflict near the American Colonies and the skirmishes the settlers had with the Native Americans caused many people in the colonies to feel unsafe. This plan was the first step into allowing the colonies to govern themselves, at least in regards to protecting the colonies ' safety. With the Townshend Acts(1773) and Coercive Acts(1774) passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, the colonist responded with violence and called for a Continental Congress.
After breaking ties with the British government, the colonies had a new found independence and needed a system that unified the states and created a strong form of government. The Articles of Confederation were written in 1777 as a loose organization in which majority of the power were given to the states and put into effect in 1781. However, problems arose within the Articles that caused the colonists to doubt its effectiveness. The state delegates revised the document and created the Constitution which had many changes and little remained the same.
During the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation provided a necessary government that weakly bonded the thirteen states together. The Articles essentially made the states a confederacy without much order. Firstly, governments require a stream of revenue to function properly, and the weak tax authority of the Articles prevented America from paying debts. The Revolutionary War came with staggering costs that left the Continental Congress in debt.
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".
Once the American Revolution had ended, America required a new form of government to happen. November of 1777, the Continental Congress accepted the first American Constitution known as the Articles of Confederation. Shortly after the Articles were confirmed by the states in 1781, multiple problems started to arise that provided the United States with an ineffective government from 1781 all the way to 1789. They were not able to address any of the problems dealing with the American Nation due to the lacking features of the government under the Articles. Moreover, the Articles presented each state with too much power that lead to a loose confederation creating a limited power to the central government.
It was the heat of the Revolutionary war and The Thirteen Colonies were preparing to declare their independence from Britain, yet before they do so, they needed to establish a form of self-government. Through the Articles of Confederation in 1776, the colonies had established their first independent government, although with it followed many problems. These problems, although numerous, did not come without some, yet very little, success and perhaps one of the best outcomes of the Articles of Confederation is how they paved the way for the much sturdier Constitution. The Articles of Confederation had been created in a rush and by were no means a permanent form of government for the colonies.
There is no denying that the Articles of Confederation, the first written form of government in the United States, was an important aspect of this nations history. The articles were ratified on March 1, 1781 and they served as the basis for the formation of the Constitution and provided some, but not enough framework for adequate organization of United States. Although, it accomplished and lead to multiple advances in the U.S government, it’s ability to act as an effective government failed. Under the Articles of Confederation there was one house body of delegates with each state having only one vote no matter the size or population.
Analyzing the Documents On the day of November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation was created, a few years later on March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation was ratified. The Articles of Confederation, which used to be called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual union served as the first constitution of the United States. The articles were a list of agreements the thirteen colonies could follow to become a unified nation. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation failed, because the government were too weak, some efforts were put in to try to strengthen the government but it failed.
When the Revolutionary War ended. The Articles of Confederation was embraced so that each state can have its own sovereignty Independence and freedom. The Article of Confederation failed because of a lack of a strong central government. They granted power to the central government only on a goodwill basis. Debt became a big problem after the war when the federal government attempted to pay off the debt by asking the states to help pay their share of the bill.
At the end of the Revolutionary war, the former colonies were united under Articles of Confederation that loosely bound the new states into a nation. Because of disputes between the states, a constitutional convention was called to improve the Articles of Confederation. Instead of amending the Articles of Confederation, the representatives at the convention decided to create an entirely new document, the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution established a form of government that balanced power between three branches of government and provided for self-governing states. The Federalists were a political group who supported the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation is the first constitution of the United States of America. The constitution was in effect from March 1, 1781 to March 4, 1789, a total of 8 years. The Articles of Confederation gave congress the power to conduct foreign affairs, declare war, regulate the postal service, determine the value of currency, appoint military officers, control Native American affairs, and issue credit. Congress could not regulate trade, raise taxes, enforce duties, draft, and did not have a judicial or executive branches. The Articles of Confederation was not an effective form of government because the government could not repay their debt to the soldiers of the Continental Army or France, Shay’s Rebellion caused havoc in Massachusetts,
Because of the lack of unity in the colonies, the Albany Congress was formed in 1754. The goal of the Albany Congress was to unite the colonies, but it fails miserably. Benjamin Franklin’s political cartoon, “Join, or Die.” expresses his concern about unity (Document A). Some unity was shown during the Stamp Act Congress. In 1763, the Boston Tea Party occurred, which made Parliament create the Boston Port Act.
After the Revolutionary War, the 13 colonies found themselves in a bind. With a weak national government and no way to impose taxes under the Articles of Confederation, the burden of war debt seemed insurmountable. For the four years between the end of the war and the ratification of the Constitution in 1788, debate raged on between the Anti-Federalists, who supported the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalists, who desired to create a stronger federal government under the Constitution. Many subjects were hotly debated between the two groups, but two of the most important issues debated were the rights of the national and state governments and the Bill of Rights. While compromise on these issues eventually led to the ratification of
The debated decision would take more than a few favored votes in signing a written document. The Articles of Confederation, being used to unite the new born country after the war, were deemed unfortunately insufficient by the representatives of the thirteen colonies. During this time, the young government was composed of one house that served as the Congress, containing no leader and no court system. This new government had miniscule power over the states, who governed themselves. (3) Consequently, this led the representatives of the 13 states to make a journey to Philadelphia, the capital, where they began to scrutinize possible options, and this meeting would become known as the Constitutional Convention.
The Articles of Confederation go through a long and difficult process. After the Independence War in 1776, the 13 states adopted the Articles of Confederation; it could not solve the problems in early time of America completely. It played an important role in the history of America, because these Articles influenced the Constitutional Convention and promoted the development of history of the United States. In history, Columbus discovered America land.
