The Articles Of Confederation And The Early Formation Of The United States

Last year, our new government was formed. We agreed to what the Articles had said. It seems that now we are having issues with what we had once agreed with. In this newsletter, I will only address four of the most problematic things in the Articles of Confederation. However there are many more that will not be brought to light today.

With the United States new found independence from Great Britain, its founding fathers realize from their historical experiences that a document of law needed to be crafted and established to preserve its new found independence, while maintaining order. However, the first document crafted by the founding fathers, the Articles of Confederation, did preserve the country new found independence but it did not maintain order. The Articles of Confederation described by many founding fathers to be a document that was crafted to satisfy needs of every state for its ratification, even when the document did not present a responsible democracy. The Articles of Confederation granted all national powers to the congress; however, it allowed each state

The Articles of Confederation was first written in 1777. It was passed by the Confederation of Congress. Congress decided that they needed a firm government to organize the states as a whole. At least that was their primary goal. Since each state had separates rules. The Articles of Confederation was later ratified by each state in 1781. It was “America’s first federal constitution” (Keene 138). The confederation had a few strengths but many weaknesses. The nation faced many economic and political issues that lead people to controversy.

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.

It all started after the Declaration of Independence during the time America was busy fighting the Revolutionary War, when Congress realized that they needed to form a plan to move forward and unite the thirteen states as a nation.

The most significant issues that the United States had under the Articles of Confederation were: “managing the western expansion, foreign relations, and debt.” The first significant issue was with the western expansion as Americans relocated to the Nashville, western Pennsylvania, and Kentucky areas in mass numbers in the 1780s. The result of this meant that the areas were enhanced greatly that had western charters. At the time, the northern and southern areas (in the Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi River) had specific boundaries based on the original colonized charters which meant that the western area was the Pacific Ocean. The states that did not have part of the western area resented the condition and as a result, Maryland protested by not approving the Articles of Confederation unless the state of Virginia yielded its western land to the federal government which they did in 1784. However, their yielding was not without strings attached as they demanded that they be allowed to keep a small portion of the land reserve for their own use as a part of the deal which Congress had no choice but to accept. Eighteen years later in 1802, every state had yielded their western land to the federal government.

“In November 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the United States first written constitution.”(Ginsberg, et. al. 2014: 35). The Articles of Confederation played a big role in the drafting of the United States’ new constitution. The articles were our United States’ first written governing document. The Articles of Confederation solved some problems by creating at least a minimal amount of government at the time, but it also created some problem for our country because we did not have enough government. As time went on, the Founding Fathers found the issues with the Articles of Confederation, sought ways to solve those issues, and created the Constitution as a lasting governing document.

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.

The first approved document of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. However, after a few years, the Bill of Rights replaced the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Articles began the Constitution but the articles had contained a lot of weaknesses so they had to create a new document.

Prior to the adoption of the constitution by the United States the formal and legal document used to govern the United States was called the Articles of Confederation. This draft was finalized in the summer of 1777 and was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. This document was deemed ineffective rather quickly due to the lack of several issues not being addressed like the government not having the authority to tax the people of the United States. Another issues with this document was that it gave all of the national government’s power and duties to a single chamber legislature known as Congress. This raised many concerns and caused the delegates to convene and work on a new plan that would be more effective. The Virginia Plan was created

The dust has settled and the land was calm now, the war was over and there is now peace. The colonies, now the United States, has won the war against the British and they are now independent. A fresh new country now at peace with the world around them, is about to have an unexpected and important rebellion that will shape the image of this country and it’s government, Shay’s Rebellion. A tear in the Articles of Confederation will make an American Revolution veteran, Daniel Shays, and others, to gather debtors who want to fight, to get rid of the first and broken American constitution. The Articles of Confederation was the original U.S constitution. It was made legal by the Continental Congress with a lot debate and changes to its early document.

The Articles of Confederation was the original constitution of the U.S. which was ratified in 1781. It was later replaced with the U.S. Constitution in 1789. The history of the Constitutional Convention involved people like James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, and many more. The Framers of the Constitution were delegates, and helped draft the Constitution of the United States. The debates for this Constitution changing from the Articles of Confederation, took place from May to September

The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States and was approved in November 15, 1777 by congress. “The Articles sought to balance the need for national coordination of the War of Independence with widespread fear that centralized political power poses a danger to liberty.” (Foner 249). It took three and a half years for the approval of them. One of the contributors of The Articles of Confederation was John Dickinson who wrote a draft in June, 1776. The draft he wrote was later revised and conversed in late July and August. All states of the United states had accepted it except Maryland in 1779 and completely endorsed by all thirteen states until March 1, 1781. It was until

The Declaration of Independence ignited the search for a government, with some states even drafting their own. In 1777, the Continental Congress finished drafting a national government for states for ratification. They ratified it easily, supporting how this form of government was the polar opposite of the”tyranny” of Great Britain. The Articles allowed the government to do the following: make treaties, form a national army, and other meager tasks compared to the faults. These limitations were highlighted as they could not actually enforce any of these powers, nor could the government tax. This led to funding being even more limited than initially perceived. Even the editing process hindered

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