The Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

The Constitution of the United States of America was framed in part by The Articles of

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.

During the time of the Revolutionary War, the American Colonies were upset about the England’s tyrannical rule and exploitation through harsh taxes. Eventually, the colonists revolted and split from England. They wrote the Declaration of Independence and created a new government whose outlines were written in the Articles of Confederation. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation had an overall negative impact, as it created a weak central government, a poor financial system, and inadequate militias. There are more disadvantages than advantages to this document.

The Articles of Confederation were placed as a form of temporary government. However, the Articles did not address the many problems the United States was having and going to have at the time. Therefore The Articles of Confederation were one of the weakest forms of functioning governments.

During the Revolutionary War, colonists believed that they needed a sense of unified government, so this led to the creation of the Articles of Confederation, the first written constitution of the United States (history.com). Although the Articles of Confederation had its strengths, such as allowing the central government to create treaties and maintain military, it had many weaknesses, such as preventing the central government to levy taxes and regulate trade. It also could not be changed unless there was a unanimous decision and it lacked a stable currency. Since the creation of the Articles of Confederation had many issues and weaknesses, the Continental Congress rewrote the Articles into what is now known as the U.S Constitution. The Constitution established a national government, guaranteed basic rights for the colonists and revised almost everything that was wrong in the original Articles, such as the sovereignty that resided primarily in the states and the lack of power from the national government. The Constitution was later ratified by all 13 states in May 1790, with the support of the Federalist Party. [A] Federalists believed in the commitment to a strong national government and in the practice of a separation of powers. However, Anti-Federalists had the opposite view which was the opposition of a strong national government, the support for small landowners, and the representation of rights of the people. Anti-Federalists believed that a strong national government

The Article of Confederation was a written document that was put in place in 1777 after the 13 colonies had gained independence from the British. During the time in which the Articles of Confederation were still in place; there were problems arising like: the Continental Army not being paid for their services, the struggling economy, and the people wanting to overthrow the government. But events that had taken place had brought the elite for a Constitutional Convention. In the Convention; the elite had discussed the problem that the Articles had caused for them and for the people. The elites during the convention had scrapped the Articles and wrote a new document; which was the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation had a lot of weakness, and this pushed the leaders to hold the Constitutional Convention, also the leaders had to make sure that the people didn't as much power over the government as they did.

The feebleness of Congress was a major weakness of the Articles of Confederation. When the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777, they created a “loose confederation” of states (Pageant, 181). This meant that each state was independent and sovereign, linked by Congress only to deal with common problems and foreign affairs. Congress was meant to be part of a united central power of the government, but due to the abuse suffered from the king, the states so limited the powers of the central government to the point of powerlessness.

By the year of 1787 it was evident that the union between the thirteen states was unraveling and a change was needed to save the country. The Articles of Confederation were weak and the need for a new governing document was evident.

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.

But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces. The states attempted to limit the power of the national government because they feared that it would become a monarchy. In an effort to limit the power of the national government, Congress created one without enough power to govern effectively, which led to serious national and international problems.

First, the Articles required that all states must agree on any bills before becoming law. This is the most significant flaw because each state had their own distinct needs and interests, it would be challenging to pass any bill that would be equally beneficial to all thirteen states. For example, the nation was very much in debt due to the recent war and needed a way to raise funds. Therefore, Congress passed a bill that would have put a 5 percent tax on all imported goods. However, because the Articles needed full unanimity, the bill died because Rhode Island was against it as the state depended on imported

The Revolutionary War victory that was won by the American colonies came as a shock to both Americans and the rest of the world. This near-impossible win sparked inspiration in many countries, including the French who fired up their own bloody revolution less than ten years later. However, many precarious steps were taken by the Americans in order to get as far as they did. Published after the Declaration of Independence and in order to convince France that a government was in the making, a constitution was appointed by the Second Continental Congress to be written by a committee. The Articles of Confederation were finished in 1777 and lastly ratified by Maryland in 1781. Though the document was needed at the time in order to help govern the budding nation, the Articles had many flaws that needed new finishing. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were terribly ineffective at solving any of the problems, such as debt, that confronted the new United States of America after the Revolutionary War. Because of the lack of congressional authority and the overwhelming power of the states granted within the document, the Articles of Confederation highlighted a loose friendship of states as opposed to a tight-knit union.

After the thirteen colonies officially gained their independence from Great Britain in 1783, they had looked forward confidently to reaping the benefits of independence, but were to discover that creating a nation was, if anything, a more arduous task than winning a revolution. Their existing constitution, the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781 by the Second Continental Congress, proved to be ineffective as the newly built nation was starting to crumble under its government. The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation necessitated the ratification of a stronger and more effective constitution: the U.S. Constitution. An effective Constitution consists of a strong limited government with a separation of powers among the branches

The Articles of Confederation, which congress passed in late 1777 and ratified in early 1781 was the outcome of the achievement of the congress and its selected committee tasked with writing a constitution for the new nation (McMurray, 2016). The articles had major weakness, however, such as prohibiting Congress from taxing citizens directly, and was in power for only six years before it was succeeded by the constitution. Congress do not have the power to control trade between the states, and the authority of Congress were barely defined, leaving a volume of political influence with the states. Each state maintains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every authority, jurisdiction, and right,

The national government of the United States had many challenges under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles caused money problems and the most essential detail, a weak government. This also caused America conflicts among each of the 13 states. These problems greatly impacted the United States and it’s government as well.