Preview

What Are The Key Aspects Of The Articles Of Confederation

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1502 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Are The Key Aspects Of The Articles Of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress and they functioned as America’s first constitution in the year 1777. However, with progressive changes, ratifications were made to the Articles of Confederation by the beginning of March 1781 (Schultz 112). It is important to highlight the reasons as to why the Articles of Confederation were important to the American population and the American government at the time. This will help to understand why the constitution failed, and areas where it benefited the country. Ultimately, an understanding of the Articles of Confederation based on how they were implemented will help to effectively understand the development of America as it is known today, with the current constitution and a deferral government. The Articles was an agreement that took place among the first 13 states in the United States, which served as the country’s first constitution. The document was initially drafted by a committee that as appointed by the continental congress on July 1776 (Schultz 112). By November 1777, a clear draft was sent out to all the thirteen states for their approval and for implementation. However, ratifications took place in March 1781, after all thirteen states approved of …show more content…
The Articles of Confederation were important in allowing for the independence of states and ensuring that they could govern themselves while benefiting from their own profits. However, it fails to consider the ultimate impacts of not having a central government or a permanent army. Furthermore, trade routes and treaties were unregulated, and this gave a competitive advantage to some states at the expense of others. Ultimately, there was a need to change this entire setting, to embrace one whereby a central government was in charge of all the activities taking place and it would influence the laws and regulations across

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation was the first American constitution completed by the Continental Congress in 1777. The Articles of Confederation created a “firm league of friendship” between all 13 states. Each state agreed to send delegates to the Confederation Congress where each state will cast one vote in Congress. Under the Articles Congress had no possession over trade or passing laws regarding taxes. However, Congress can declare war, appoint military officers, coin money, and foreign affairs. Unfortunately, there were some downsides to the Articles of Confederation that people from all 13 states did not agree with or argued about it such things as alliance, passing laws, courts, money, and trade. (Davidson, 189)…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Articles of Confederation established the first governmental structure unifying the thirteen colonies and went into effect on March 1, 1781. Its purpose was to create a confederation of states where each state could maintain its personal freedom, independence and every power. While this document was effective in many aspects it did have its pitfalls and it was these pitfalls that lead to the Articles of Confederation's replacement by the Constitution on March 4th, 1789. James Madison, a federalist, expressed the importance of this reform by saying that the best the country could do at that point in time would be to avoid the errors suggested by the past experience of other countries and the errors from their own(document 10). The concerns regarding the Articles of confederation were extensive and the compromises that the Constitution then provided in return were even more so.…

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Articles of confederation created in 1776, was the first constitution of the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation had served as the agreement between the thirteen sovereign states and was ratified by 1777. The Articles had served as the start of a new government that had brought many benefits and prosperity to the country. Even with a strong state government, when faced with foreign and issues on a national level, the Articles lacked a strong central government. From 1781-1787 the articles started debilitating, even with all the gains that it had as a government.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This investigation assesses the problems the United States faced under the Articles of Confederation and the extent to which the Constitution addressed them. To achieve this, the investigation analyzes five defects of the Articles: (1) Lack of a proper legislative authority to regulate commerce between states and with foreign nations; (2) The State Quota…

    • 2155 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the United States of America won its Independence from Great Britain in 1776 many Americans began to have fidelity to their states instead of their country. Diverse citizens opposed to have an influential government. As a result, to the independent views of Americans the document Articles of Confederation was proposed. It was established with the primary purpose to balance the differences between states. Over time, this document became inadequate to govern itself and protect…

    • 196 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were numerous of problems under the “Articles of Confederation”. Several of the main problems were its incapacity of increasing funds, the necessity of completing consent to accomplish modifications , the “lack of authority over internal trade , foreign relations, and debt.” The central problem was that the states turned down the idea of giving the national government sufficient power to function properly. The articles gave each single state “independence”, but gave the “federal government” very little power. Congress had a hard time ratifying laws for the reason being that “ 9 out of 13 states” had to concede with passing them before any of them could fully go through .Congress did not have the authority to accumulate taxes required…

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Confederation Weaknesses

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Articles were forst adopted in 1777 by the Continental Congress. In 1778 a second copy was ordered since the first was found to be incorrect. It wasn’t until 1781 that all 13 states signed and ratified the Articles of Confederation. By 1787, congress planned to all meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles. The Articles of Confederation did establish some kind of order, but there was much chaos without a central ruling government. It was almost as if the separate states were their own country. There was no executive branch of government, and the constitution made it so there would be a president that would have executive power along with a vice president and would hold office for a term of four years. The Articles of confederation gave no power to a central government for taxation or regulation of commerce. The constitution addressed this by giving congress the power to set and collect taxes and regulate commerce with foreign countries and within the states. Before the constitution there were no federal courts, and they addressed that by giving all judicial power to one supreme court and inferior courts. Examples of inferior courts are state supreme, local courts, and appellate courts. The Articles of Confederation gave no power to control military and this was amended b giving congress the power to create and support an army and navy, and to make rules for them to abide…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming out of the war the new nation had a number of issues to attend to. While under the Articles of Confederation the government addressed these issues the best it could. Unfortunately some issues were not addressed as well as others. Although the Articles of Confederation were able to sign a treaty with England through the Treaty of Paris, ending the war, and was able to settle disputes for the settlement of western lands between the states, the Articles of Confederation failed to create an efficient way to settle the national debt, and were unable to effectively solve the problem of piracy. Thus, to a lesser extent, the government, under the Articles of Confederation, were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    At the time the Articles of Confederation were written in 1777, the United States was a new nation fresh from a war for their independence. With that new independence, the United States was full of raw political ideals. To say that the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems facing the new nation would be too high of praise, The Articles resulted in a powerless central government and the lack of a global economy.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation were written by the Continental Congress in an effort to unify the 13 independent and sovereign states into the “United States of America.” The Articles were completed in the late summer of 1777, and were adopted later that year in November. The United States went by this system, without it being ratified, until it was finally ratified on March 1, 1781. With the final ratification, the Articles set forth rules regarding the powers given to, and withheld from the federal government. The power to declare war on other countries, resolving the conflicts with the Western territories, and dealing with any other diplomatic issues that may arise were all powers that were given to the national government. The Articles of Confederation severely hindered the ability of the federal government, while allowing the states’ governments to nearly do as they pleased. The federal government was not permitted to collect taxes from the states, to raise a national military, to regulate interstate or foreign…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The United States of America had just recently gained independence from the British Empire and was now looking for a new form of government to help support their want for a new and fairer life. The Articles of Confederation provided the thirteen colonies with a new basic government and had many policies that also included items such as foreign policy and economics. They decided to create a new set of laws that congress would follow that would limit their power so they would not repeat the same events they had already experienced with Britain, this new set of laws was called, The Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation have very valid and strong points in what they say and accomplish the task of offering a more fair lifestyle to the American people. The articles limited the government’s power and gave the people a chance to have a life free from tyranny like that one they experienced under the reign of the king of England.…

    • 1485 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation failed to provide the United States with an effective government. It acted as though a loose confederation, or “firm league of friendship.” The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government that linked the thirteen states in common problems such as foreign affairs, and a judicial arm. Although, there was no executive branch, which meant no leader to enforce laws. Also, the Congress was weak (it was designed that way), and therefore the government could merely advocate and appeal. The United States faced two main problems: the lack of the central government’s power, and its inability to collect and/or create revenue.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the Revolutionary War was over and the Americans had won their independence, the revolutionists and republicans leading the new country were quite convinced that their government should differ from that of Britain and have a limited amount of power. Clearly, these men took these ideals more seriously than they should have. They created a constitution for the 13 states known as the Articles of Confederation, which put the majority of power in the hands of these individual states. They were adopted in 1777 after the war and enacted in 1781. The Articles of Confederation were quite a success pertaining to western lands, but proved unbeneficial for the economy of our new country.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Micheal Kammens

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The articles of confederation do somewhat seem a little harsh. There was an idea that everything had to be reported back to the central power but there were underlining ideas in the articles. There initial purpose was to promote security of liberty and general warfare. Does this sound familiar? Those two things can be found in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Exactly as Kammen inferences, we have a lack of knowledge of the constitution that causes us to miss important things. The articles indeed show the assurance of general warfare. Each state is self-governed but without having to report final decisions to the central power everything would essentially be “out of wake.” Liberty is having freedom under the set rules. Each state has…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation were meant to give the United States a loose, weak central government, making the Articles ineffective. With the Articles of Confederation, the United States was unable to support soldiers due to the inabilities of Congress. The United States was also unable to remove British trading posts from their home soil. The weakest states, who were not influential and least populous, had power over those that were strong and heavily populated. Also, the United States did not financially thrive between the years of 1781-1789. By 1789, citizens of the United States started to become weary because of the weak central government. The United States was unable to flourish and to unite under the Articles of Confederation.…

    • 905 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays