Articles of Confederation

A detailed Summary of Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were drafted by John Dickerson in 1776 and were submitted to the states for ratification in November 1777. The Articles were not ratified until March of 1781, since it was required that all states ratify the document. Many states had problems with the Articles and through several compromises, the document was made to suit all the states. Although the Articles provided the United States with an adequate form of government, there were many weaknesses in the document that needed to be fixed.

In many ways, the Articles of Confederation were an effective form of government for the United States. The Articles set up a legislature where every state was equally represented. This pleased all the states, because the bigger states didn't have the power to outvote the demands of smaller states. In addition, there was no President or King, so no one person had too much power. Due to the strong dislike of a single, power leader from the US's experiences with England, it was in the best interests of the people to not appoint one powerful leader. Furthermore, the Articles did not give the government the power to individually tax the states, so each state would not be taxed without representation. If the stat

Although the Articles of Confederation made a lot of people happy and had several strengths, there were also an immense amount of weaknesses in the document. A major weakness was the fact that Congress didn't have the right to tax the states (doc A). Congress had to depend on tax donations by the states, but the states rarely gave them. Due to the lack of taxation and governmental funding, the country fell deep into debt and US currency became practically worthless. In addition, inflation hit the country and the economy and entire nation fell toward bankruptcy. Between 1775 and 1784, the value of the exports that the US sent to Great Britain decreased drastically (doc B). The United States were importing a large amount of goods from Britain, but were not exporting as much as they used to. This unfavorable balance of trade pushed the US further into debt and worsened the economy. Another weakness of the Articles was the fact that the British territories in the US were still under British control (doc D). The land held by the British was very important to the US merchants, and it was vital that the land be obtained. The Articles didn't solve this problem however and once the Articles were written, the territories were still under British control. Also, due to the new borders that the Articles drew up, there were many border disputes between states (doc E). In certain cases, several states had claims on the same territory and would fight over who sould gain control of the land. The central government lacked power, so border disputes were not easily settled.

Another flaw in the Articles was that the articles did not deal well with the problem of Spanish settlements in the Southwest. Spain refused to turn

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Approximate Word count = 1165
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History