Analysis Of The Articles Of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were drafted between 1776 and 1777 by the Continental Congress, although it did not go into effect until 1781 (Schultz, 2013). Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was granted independence. There was no separation of power, no president, or anyone to serve as the executive power. There was a Committee of the States. The Committee of the States consisted of one representative from each state; this was the most centralized authority with little to no powers. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress has five powers which were to declare war and make peace, create international treaties, control Indian affairs in the West, establish a currency, and create and maintain postal service. Levying taxes and regulating commerce, the two most important rights were maintained by each state.
A few of the issues were a shortcoming of funds and the lack of authority over internal trade (Schultz, 2013). The new nation was massively in debt due to the war. The massive debt made it hard to find creditors to raise funds. Next, there was no centralized authority to manage commerce between the states. A national policy on commerce was not provided by the Articles of Confederation. Trade between the states greatly suffered because of this.
In my opinion, the main reason the Articles of Confederation failed to live up to the needs of the new nation was financial troubles. Farmers were unable to pay their debts. Tariff wars began because each state changed tariffs on the other states when trading goods. Inflation was another big issue that caused many financial