Preview

How Were the Articles of Confederation Hypocritical

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
371 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Were the Articles of Confederation Hypocritical
How the Articles of Confederation hypocritical
The Articles of Confederation were hypocritical because there were money issues. Article 9 from the Articles of Confederation states the congress has the power to “borrow money” from states. (Doc .A) However, article 8 “all charges of war, and other expenses that shall be [made] for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by the Unite Stated in Congress assembled, shall be [requested from] a common treasury. (Doc .B) This proves that article 9 of the Articles of Confederation is hypocritical because states do not have to put money into a common treasury. Therefore article A is hypocritical because they really cannot borrow money.

The Articles of Confederation were hypocritical because of military struggles with the states. Article 9 of the Articles of Confederation states that the congress has the power to determine war and peace.(Doc .A) However article 7 states the officers “shall be appointed by the legislature of each state respectively, by whom such forces shall be raised… and all vacancies shall be filled up by the state. (Doc .C) This proves that the Articles of Confederation is hypocritical because the word shall means should this word allows the states to ignore the congress and can prevent an army from being formed. Therefore article 9 is hypocritical because congress has NO ability to raise an army, and determine war.

The Articles of Confederation were hypocritical because there was no congressional authority. Article 9 of the articles of confederation mentions twice that congress has the “sole and exclusive right” to the powers granted to it. (Doc .A) However Article C states “that each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence and every power.” (Doc. D) Knowing the information of the above two paragraphs, this proves that article 9 of the articles of confederation is hypocritical because the states as sovereign maintain the ability to govern themselves independently from

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Although the Articles of Confederation provided a working government for the United States, it was not necessarily an effectively working government; an effective government would be one that not only establishes control and authority, but one under which the nation flourishes. Certainly the Articles set down a basic government with the idea of a democratic republic. However, the Articles of Confederation didn't impose an effective government as much as it set the basis for one. It was unable to enforce many laws and many of those set were also unequal in operation, as unfair to some states as fair to others. Thus, from 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation established a working, yet ineffective government, with very little control or authority over foreign relations, the economy, and western lands.…

    • 927 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "From 1781 to 1789 the articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government". I disagree with this quote because the articles was to weak to keep the nation unified which made the article a failure. The Articles were set up intentionally to be weak because of the memory of a strong central government of the British. The articles were to weak to govern effectively so it did not have the ability to carry out designs with out controversy from other states. This caused major problems later down the road for America. The Articles did had some good points to it like the Land Ordinance of 1785 but it was ultimately a failure due to financial, foreign, and domestic problem the Articles had made.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the problems of the United States under the Articles of Confederation was the…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One major flaw in the Articles of Confederation was that the state governments were given much more power than the central government. For example, the Confederation Congress could not levy taxes without approval of the states. They could only present their ideas to the states, hoping to reach an agreement. When the central government requested a tariff on imported items, the state of Rhode Island refused to pay. This inefficient method of funding resulted in inflation and overall lack of money for the central government. To make an amendment in the Articles of Confederation, all thirteen states had to agree. Although this weak central government was thought of as ineffective in governing the states, it provided equal rights for every state. Each state had the same amount of power, allowing a small state with few people to have the ability to cancel the vote of another state. Many of the states had conflicting views, resulting in large struggles over the amendment of laws. The Articles of Confederation was very effective in supporting small, minority states like Rhode…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • 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

    The Articles of Confederation had many flaws within it; it made the States more independent but the federal government have very limited control. They weren't allowed to make trade treaties, or allowed to tax which resulted in them not being able to pay their debts. The Constitution was made to tighten up the Articles and set a standard within the States. “ All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.” (A-3) This is what caused a change, and tightened up the government. The government had 3 branches now, each with its own responsibilities and neither was more powerful than the other. The legislative had the power to create a new currency…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although it provided an outline to how future government should be formed, The Articles of Confederation did not provide America with an effective government from 1781 to 1789. Nicknamed “The Articles of Confusion”, The Articles of Confederation lacked stability and the power to truly govern the states. Under the articles there was no executive branch and no way for the federal government to raise money.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between 1781 and 1789, the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an ineffective government, Although there were flaws, strong steps were taken in the attempt to try and make the United States a better country. The Articles set up a government that gave individual states the power to make their own laws and enforce them. This was ineffective for the following reasons: 1) The Continental Congress controlled public affairs but there was nothing in the Articles that gave Congress the power to enforce laws or unify the states. 2) There was no solid system of money to ensure that taxes would be paid or protect commerce, both nationally and with foreign trade. 3) The country lacked unity and strength because there was no leadership.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government." During those years the United States government was still developing and the Articles of Confederation was not an effective form of government. The states had a strong objection against the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was not a government well suited for this new country. The United States needed power over the states to make it a better place to live and have separate states with different laws.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 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
  • Powerful Essays

    The Articles of Confederation made ways to treat citizens fairly and drastically reduce taxing. Britain had imposed massive taxes on the colonies that did not involve them in any way, due to the fact that the taxes had to do with events happening in England and had no effect on the colonies. But as a territory of the British Empire they had to pay the British monarchy anyway. The newly independent states wanted to change this unfair form of taxing as much as possible, thus they created a law so Congress could not tax citizens directly and is so stated in Article nine in the Articles of Confederation. They had only the power to request money from the states. Also, people at the time had already helped with the expenses of the Revolutionary War and were in debt. They could not pay back taxes or debts to the government if they just collected money from them and left them with nothing. So the articles were made to not allow Congress to collect any debts from the states and this was also stated in…

    • 1485 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout these few years, the lack of a central government seemed to be an overwhelming factor when it comes to the effectiveness of this document. A large fault in the Articles is the inability of Congress to create taxes and regulate trade. There is simply no way that a central government can survive without taxes. Also, since the government had no authority over the colonies, they could not force anyone to contribute to the overwhelming war debt caused by the American Revolution. And without their ability to control the colonies, there is no central government. Also, the difficulty to make amendments to the Articles made it almost impossible for anything new to be put into action. With so many different ideals coming from the different parts of the nation, the Articles lacked in that it called for a nine-state majority to make amendments. It seems nearly impractical to try and acquire nine completely different states to agree on one topic, seeing they came from different parts of the country, and thus, making Congress close to nothing. And finally, if the U.S. were to be attacked by Britain again at this time, there would be no way for them to defend themselves, seeing that Congress could only ask states for troops, but could not raise an army. This would have been catastrophic if another country had decided to attack the U.S. for any reason. To sum that up, the inability to create taxes and trade regulations, the difficulty to make amendments, and the inability to rise up an army contributed to the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thee American Confederation and Constitution has caused several colonist to be reluctant for several years. The United States government ratified these articles creating unity between the states and the representations for all citizens. Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are justified for an effective United States rule and law. To better understand what the level of economics and drawbacks were during this time, it is imperative to compare and contrast the situations in which the documents contradict.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Articles of Confederation are of great importance to the United States of America. The articles helped shape and define who we are as a country. The Articles of Confederation serve as the first official document that defined the U.S. government. Although we do not use it today because it discriminates against African Americans and supports slavery. Today we are country of free and equal people. Using the articles would not only upset the balance of equality that has been bestowed upon us, but would also break the law seeing as slavery is illegal. They also give too much power to the states, defeating the purpose of itself, seeing as each state has the power to govern itself without requiring the permission of the central government. How…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays