Between 1781 and 1789, the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an ineffective government. When drafting the document, the thirteen states were cautious about creating an overly powerful central government because they feared the denial of their individual and state rights. The document was purposely established to bestow greater power in the hands of the states rather than centralization. They formed a committee of delegates compiled of representatives from each of the states. This committee established the national legislature and was referred to as Congress. Under the Articles, Congress was responsible for negotiating foreign policy, declaring war and sustaining an army and navy. Reasons for the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation were Congress' inability to collect taxes, regulate international commerce and negotiation
Secondly, the Articles of Confederation hampered foreign trade and policy. At the conclusion of the American Revolution, after granting freedom to the United States, Great Britain halted all trading in between the two nations. Congress was also unable to control international commerce. The combination of these affected the amount and the market value of the goods being exported (Document B). Numerous territories were still controlled by the British in the United States. Congress was unable to effectively demand for the land because the Articles of Confederation granted the separate states power of foreign policy (Document D). This caused little to no fluctuation of commercial growth and much confusion of land ownership. This is another reason for the Articles of Confederation's inefficiency.
The third and final reason for the unsuccessfulness of the A
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