Reasons For The Articles Of Confederation Dbq

Two significant problems that made the Articles of Confederation a poor form of government were, the colonies couldn’t tax and there was no chief executive overseeing the colonies. After the war the colonies were in debt. One of the only ways they could pay off their debt was to tax the people in the colonies. However, the colonies had just fought in many battles against taxation so it would be unfair to be taxed after all of that. As the political cartoon shows the ship that is representing the Articles of confederation is being sunk because the colonies had no money. WIthout money the colonies couldn’t raise an army, have power over the currency, stop rebellions, or stand up to European powers. Another reason why the Articles of confederation

The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787, yet there was a struggle to ratify it that went on until 1790. This Constitution was created in order to replace the Articles of Confederation, because many people agreed that the articles were not right in keeping the United States in order. The Constitution is made of many rules that have helped the country to stay in order, but on the other hand some of these rules have

During the era or time in which the Articles of Confederation were in place, the document had a lot of weakness; maybe too many weaknesses. These weaknesses included: It had created a struggling economy, had no Judiciary, only had a legislature (Congress), no executive (President), and gave too much power to the states or the people. A weakness that the Articles had been that the people thought that the government would help with the economy. This caused a struggling economy, and that had a lot of consequences like Continental Army marching against the government for

After fighting for our country against Great Britain in the American Revolution, the United States gained independence. We had to figure out how to govern ourselves since we would no longer be under the power of the monarch. The Articles of Confederation was the answer to our problems; even though it established a very weak central government and had many problems, it was our first constitution and our first step towards a solid government. Some of the problems with the Articles included that the Congress had no power to tax, no power to regulate commerce, no power to regulate domestic affairs, no power to enforce laws, and many more. The problems lead to troubles with the States which convinced the Continental Congress to create a convention of delegated people to revise them; this convention was called the Constitutional Convention. The Convention fixed these problems by throwing the Articles out altogether and creating a new Constitution.

The nation’s economy was failing immensely and Articles of Confederation did not do much to help. Most war debts were unpaid and because there was no national currency, the individual states as well as the congress issued worthless paper money. The Congress had little power so they had no power to tax the and could only request that the state's donate money for national needs.

After America gained their independence from the British, the founding fathers would create a new form of government named the Articles of Confederation. They had met in Philadelphia to adopt this first official constitution in September of 1777, however, it was not ratified until March of 1781. There were two main purposes of the Articles of Confederation. The first one had been to create unity amongst the colonies, while the second purpose was to prove to the French, along with other foreign countries, that America had a structured government. They needed to win over allies and set their borders. The Articles of Confederation were effective in solving some of the new nation’s problems to an extent. It had been effective in securing American independence and settling disputes over land.

From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation did not provide the United States with an effective government. This is due to the following three reasons: The United States’ lack of an army, nonexistent judicial branch, and surplus of power to the states. After the American Revolution concluded, thousands of soldiers returned home to find little or nothing left. Financial support the government had promised the soldiers with after the war was no longer available due to the inability of the central government to collect taxes as stated in the Articles (Doc. C). This later resulted in Shays’ Rebellion, a march led by Daniel Shays in western Massachusetts during January of 1787.

The Articles of Confederation is a document which was created prior to the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The Articles of Confederation had strengths and weaknesses just like any other official doctrine created for the foundation of the United States. Some of those weaknesses lead to fights within many states, which made people rethink the efficiency of the document and the rights recorded within it. One of the weaknesses it that Congress had no power to tax the people, or the goods that they produced. Some people may think that it is a good thing, but without the ability to tax, the United States was in debt to the countries it had borrowed money from to fund the American Revolution. One piece of

The Articles of Confederation was the United State’s first constitution, it was written in an effort to unite the states after the American Revolution and served as a blueprint for the modern constitution. In order for the Articles to become official, they had to be approved by all thirteen colonies. Although Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states around the end of 1777 to become ratified, they were not officially adopted until March 1, 1781. Under these Articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. The American people feared a strong national government and as a result of this, the Articles of Confederation were specifically designed to be weak in the sense that each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern themselves, with the except of the rights exclusively granted to Congress. Since the Articles lacked many necessary components to keep a nation properly structured, they were eventually revised into the constitution we recognize today. Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed as though it only contained weaknesses, within the document, many strengths and accomplishments were made. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were proven to be both efficient and non-efficient during the time period they were in effect.

In the early years of the U.S.A, there was really no control or definite laws. After the Americans won the American Revolution, Britain was in no position to rule the Colonies any longer. This meant that Britain gave America the power to govern themselves. Perhaps that was a mistake, because the government the Congress created was weak and unhelpful. Benjamin Franklin was the one who submitted the first draft for a constitution, but John Dickinson, a delegate from Pennsylvania, wrote a constitution that later, after some editing, became the Articles of Confederation.

The state legislatures decided how they wanted to tax and collect revenue. Since Congress could not tax, they had no way to pay off foreign debt or do other things necessary to keep the country running efficiently. One way that Congress got funds was by requesting it from the states. In doing this, it made the state government superior over the federal government, which seemed to be a common tread in the Articles of Confederation.

States did not have to listen to Congress and could make up their own rules. For example, Congress could not force states to provide soldiers for the army. This was troublesome because after the Treaty of Paris, the Continental Army disbanded and the states were refusing to give the government soldiers. Without an effective army, it was difficult to protect its citizens against foreign threats. Benjamin Franklin said, "The confederation…(was) formed under very unfavorable circumstances.

America’s first constitution was the Articles of Confederation, not the Constitution. Under the Articles of Confederation, there were strong state governments and a weak central government, which had many disadvantages, but also some advantages. After 1787, the constitutional convention tried to amend the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution was enacted in America. This essay will talk about the process and reason for the Constitution instead of Articles of Confederation.

One time the confederation asked certain states to provide 8 million dollars for the national government and the states only sent them 420,000 dollars and since the Confederation government could not impose their laws they had to accept the little money that was offered. Most of the time states did not support the government and since there was no law to force them to help, the government budget had very little money. The states were too lethargic to create a strong national government. Therefore, Congress had to rely on printing paper money which would eventually lessen the dollar value. Seven years of combat had bankrupted the new nation. Many farmers found themselves in accumulating debts and taxes. “In fact, during the 1780s, most Americans paid three times as much in taxes as they had under the British tyranny” (Shi 206). The patriots who had fought for their independence to get away from the powerful British government were now facing the same problem in the new nation which is the increase in taxes. At first the people objected to “no taxation without representation” in the British government and now they are objecting “taxation with representation” in their own new nation (Shi 206). Many farmers had lost their lands since most of them could not afford it anymore and some farmers were imprisoned if they were not capable of paying off their debt. Those who served in the war were never paid for their services. Many

After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States still had a major task ahead of them. They had to form a new government that would satisfy the demands of the people and ensure the success of their nation. The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government that was proposed and put into effect. This attempt at creating a system that protected the people form a strong central government ultimately failed but was an important step in the development of the current government system. The weaknesses presented by the Articles of Confederation helped lead to reforms that made the Constitution successful. Both the Articles and the Constitution demonstrate the struggles that the colonists went through with the British and