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Strengths and weaknesses of articles of confederation
Compare and contrast the weaknesses and strengths of the articles of confederation
Strengths and weaknesses of articles of confederation
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1a. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress didn’t have the power to tax the colonies so their only option was to request the states for money, which often ended in rejection. Because Congress had so little money to regulate the army/navy and resolve crises, they sold off western lands and printed worthless print money in desperate attempts to do without money. The constitution solves this dilemma by giving Congress the power to make revenue through taxing and borrowing and also the power to appropriate funds.
In your discussion, there are valid points about the Article of Confederation that cripple the government and the states. The balance and supportive evidence allows an articulate flow of your paragraphs as I read along. In an agreement, the Article of Confederation left the government with minimal power and the states with more only provided the instability to those actions and affect the colonist of each state. Also, the uneasiness of the government’s control and the state’s managing within the states left other affairs in question, such as the foreign trade, debt from the previous war and treaties or taxation. However, those issues only formulated the urgency for additional balance among the government and states.
The United States, under the Articles of Confederation, did not have the ability to properly deal with the problems arising within the borders of the country. As written to George Washington by a delegate from the Continental Congress, troops that had fought in the American Revolution were discontent because they were not receiving their payments and Congress did not have the capacity to pay off the country’s debts. (Doc C) The government was unable to pay off the debt of the country because the Continental Congress did not possess the ability to regulate commerce. Rhode Island rejected the proposal of a universal tariff, which would have helped to pay off the debt of the new nation.
The Articles of Confederation were written in 1777 to establish a confederation and join the thirteen colonies together after the United States declared independence from Great Britain. These articles would allow Congress to create an army, create laws and print money. While many believed the Articles of Confederation would be the solution to all problems, it became evident that many weaknesses derived from the articles. The Congress of Confederation needed nine states to conduct business but were rarely able to meet consistently. When they were able to meet, they often disagreed about many things.
Before the U.S. Constitution the United States held what was known as the Articles of Confederation in regard. The articles of confederation were ratified by the continental congress on November 15,1777. This constitution served as the United States first constitution from March 1,1781 until 1789 until the new constitution took effect. The Articles of Confederation were drafted because congress agreed that a strong Government was needed to organize the states because each state had different laws. The Articles of Confederation had many advantages as well as disadvantages though not perfect, the states followed the governing body under these documents, many political and financial challenges threatened the country.
The states have too much power, and the Federal government is not strong enough. According to document 2, there is no national court system, no power to enforce treaties, no power to raise an army, and that they have no power to collect taxes. These points basically say we don’t have a good army/defense, we cannot collect taxes and that we don’t have a sufficient enough
As said before, the Articles of Confederation had many imperfections. They gave the National Government too much power and the State Government hardly had any individual power. We solved
1) The first problem with the Articles of Confederation was that Congress could not raise taxes and had no money of its own because the States collected taxes and were reluctant to fork over any money to the Congress. Article one section eight of the constitution tells Congress they have the power to collect taxes which fixed the problem of no body giving money to the Congress Article one section eight also solves another one of the main problems of the Articles of Confederation which was that a weak central government had a hard time standing up to foreign enemies. In the same section that solved our problem of money for the central government it also authorized Congress to raise an army. The third problem was the Articles of Confederation
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.
Some of the issues that the United States had to deal with under the Articles of Confederation were: there was an inability to raise funds, the need for unanimity to make necessary changes, and the lack of authority over internal trade; thus, causing the Articles of Confederation to fail miserably in meeting the needs of the new nation. To begin with, the inability to raise funds was a primary weakness of the Articles of Confederation. As it stands, the Articles stipulated that Congress could not levy taxes. This was an unfortunate challenge for a new nation who was in debt as a result of the war.
The Article of Confederation was made to create a sense of structure in the government of America and advance the economy, resulting in a place where one can be proud to be a part of. The Article of Confederation exhibited lots of weaknesses, including different national governance, financial instability due to inefficient tax collection, and a lack of central authority. thus addressed and corrected by the US Constitution, creating a strong federal government and providing a strong framework for the economy to come. In the article on confederation, a main problem was financial instability due to inefficient tax collection. Following the Revolutionary War, the United States acclimated lots of war debt.
This is one of the successful parts of the Articles of Confederation because under the articles, the government cannot institute tax thus the government cannot make money. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 removed debts from the states and it also allowed the government to raise money by selling off the new
The Articles of Confederation were in need of a change. The document was a failure because the United States weren't able to raise money and pay for troops. The founder’s ideas of how the country should be ran all varied. The biggest disagreement was the representation of big vs. small states, this introduced two plans, the New Jersey and Virginia Plan. The New Jersey Plan, which was supported by the Anti-Federalists, supported small states while the Virginia Plan, which was supported by the Federalists, supported big states.
The United States confronted many problems once they gained their independence from Great Britain. One of the biggest problems was their form of government at that time, which was stated in the Articles of Confederation. This presented many problem to the states, as stated in a document about the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, some of the problems of the Articles of Confederation were the poor international trade, poor foreign relations, weak economy, and Shay’s Rebellion. The people, specifically the Federalists, wanted a new government because of the weakness of the government at that moment. According to many history books, the government also faced financial problems and tried to resolve them by taxing the states, because
Although there were some positives of the Articles, such as the Northwest Ordinance, which created new states in the Union, there were also some negatives, such how the, "Articles had limited powers: it had no power to tax, it could not compel the states to contribute to financing its operations," as explained by historian Jon Gjerde. Taxes are meant to fund the development or building of something that will help the country. The Articles of Confederation stated that the government would ask for a voluntary donation from the states, who would pay 1/4 of the times that they were supposed to, while the government couldn’t enforce this policy. If this continued, then America would have little to no money to fund anything expensive, such as a war or an exploration of land. Another flaw with the Articles of Confederation, was that, "It had no executive branch and no separate judiciary; instead, it relied on a legislature in which each state had equal representation”.
