Articles Of Confederation Dbq Essay

The Articles of Confederation Following the Revolutionary War, the new American Government was set up under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation did not give the federal government enough authority to be effective. So in 1787 delegates from all the states attended a meeting known as the Constitutional Convention. Among those attending were James Madison, representing Virginia, William Paterson, representing New Jersey, and Roger Sherman, representing Connecticut.

Although Congress was granted the right to negotiate with foreign countries they were often ridiculed and not taken seriously. Clearly stated in the Treaty of Paris 1783, Britain was to evacuate all posts in America along with several other penalties. However, in John Jay’s letter to Great Britain, dated two whole years after the treaty had been signed, he was demanding that the British meet these regulations. (Doc. D) The British obviously did not perceive the Americans as a threat. Another example includes that of the negotiations, or lack thereof, with Spain. John Jay had met with a Spanish representative to discuss the territorial lines between the Spanish and Americans along with the use of the Mississippi. Spain refused to compromise stating that the Mississippi had been and would continue to be under their possession. (Doc. F) Both of these situations also highlight the confederations need for an army. With an army poised for battle, the Americans might have been seen as a small threat.

However, the most important power was that Congress had the right to obtain territory and control development of the western territories, which was previously controlled by their mother country, Great Britain. (Doc D) With the Articles of Confederation, the United States was able to break away from their mother country and become a free nation, setting up their own government. Although the articles set the United States free, it was unable to provide them with a solid government. Leaders like John Jay and James Madison criticized the Articles of Confederation because of the weak government. (Doc G) There were several problems between the states and the central government. For instance, sometimes the states refused to give the government the money it needed, and they engaged in tariff wars with one another, bringing interstate trading to a halt. The government could not pay off the debts it had incurred during the revolution, including paying soldiers who had fought in the war and citizens who had provided supplies to the cause. (Doc C) In addition, the new nation was unable to defend its borders from British and Spanish encroachment because it could not pay for an army when the states would not contribute the necessary funds. Another serious problem was that Congress could not pass needed measures because they lacked nine-state majority required to become laws. The states

For example, the Articles could not prevent the practice of state tariffs because the government was not allowed to interfere in interstate commerce; this discouraged trade between states and made it so there was no advantage to buying domestic rather than foreign product which weakened the American economy. Americans had also been cut off from trade with the British sugar colonies and American exports to Britain were restricted. These were two major sources of income for colonial America that were now gone, and with the limited federal government could do little to help. There was also a problem with inflation, because while the federal government did have the power to coin and print money, the states could each issue their own individual money as well. There was no way for the federal government to stop the states from doing this, and so the continental dollar continued to inflate and depreciate.

What motivated the Congress to pass the Articles of Confederation? What were the successes of the Articles and what were the problems?

The Constitution succeeded where the Articles of Confederation for one major reason was that it had created a government that was acceptable to those with the real power in early America. The Articles failed because they were not able to create a government under which there could be a "good business climate." The lack of a national government and the excess of democracy in the states meant that people who owned businesses could not feel secure and could not trade well with other states. This meant they could not make much money. It also meant that the economy of the nation suffered.

The colonies and their mother country were at their brinks with each other. Taxes, rebellion, and unreasonable law pushed these nations into battle which would be known as the American Revolution. The separated colonies would unite and fight together for their well deserved independence. Throughout this the first government was set up by the Continental Congress known as the Articles of Confederation. Some may argue that the Articles were effective in expanding the nation; however, the Articles proved to be ineffective when dealing with the falling economy and taking control of the colonies.

According to the famed historian Edmund S. Morgan “When the Articles of Confederation were drafted, Americans had had little experience of what a national government could do for them and bitter experience of what an arbitrary government could do to them. In creating a central government they were therefore more concerned with keeping it under control than with giving it the means to do its job” (Morgan, 1956). The people were scared, and therefore created a solution that was more concerned with holding powers in check, which left many holes, and a government with no power.

An example of the United State's struggle for foreign dominance can be seen in revolutionary John Jay's 1785 letter to the US minister to Great Britain in which Jay demands "in a respectful but firm manner" the "return of frontier posts on US territory" controlled by the British and the end of British restrictions on US trade(Doc D). Britain took these demands simply as suggestion, seeing as how the British did not leave Western posts until June of 1796, 11 years later, and US trade with the British West Indies did not resume until the early 1830's. This example proves the political weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Not only did the United States endure political territorial battles with Great Britain, but the young country also dealt with confrontations by Spain, as John Jay explained in his speech to Congress on April 6th, 1786 (Doc F).

The Articles of Confederation proved to be an effective form of government during 1781-1789. They were used as one of the major stepping-stones to the current Constitution of the United States. The Articles of Confederation also helped with current land issues facing the states and problems it was having with other countries. Although the Articles of Confederation were a very weak form of government, but in the long run, it proved to be a useful and important time in American History.

In 1786, John Jay, an American Statesman from New York and one of the founding fathers, gave a speech to Congress on Negotiations with Spain’s Minister Diego de Gardoqui. He addressed the fact that there were no rules or regulations on what would happen to Spanish territory in the United States. Any kind of arguing or planning was done between Spain and the United States. According to the United States, there were more people that needed the Mississippi River, which was considered Spanish territory, than Spain. Spain disagreed with the belief that all other men, that were not Spaniards, should stay off Spanish land even if it was in America (Doc F). The Articles did not cover what needed to be covered, and significant deals were missing. Land Ordinances were indeed established, but they did not thoroughly explain everything the way it was needed. The Land Ordinance of 1785 created a system for surveying and selling land to the public by dividing areas into rectangular townships called sections. The problem with this was that people needed money to buy land, and many people did not have money. Once again, issues were taken into the states hands, and even more problems surfaced in relation. The Articles of Confederation were once again ineffective in completely covering all of the needed issues. Due to the fact that there was no centralized

The Articles of Confederation had many ups and downs throughout its script. While it may have been successful in enabling the various states in pursuing their own interests, it was unsuccessful in granting the national interests. One part I liked from the Articles of Confederation was that the document was able to restrict land movements. This was done to control the land extents of the larger states so the smaller states wouldn’t be overtaken. According to the textbook “Articles until all states turned over their western lands to the United States....Consequently, the landed states gave up their western claims, and with Maryland’s.approval, the Articles of Confederation went into effect in March 1781.” Due to the fact that the Articles of

The United States during the Revolutionary War used a constitution that loosely connected the states called the Articles of Confederation. Seven years later they realized the document was insufficient and began to revise it. The Framers came to the conclusion that a new document must be written all together and they produced the Constitution we have today. However, the Framers did want the states to have representation similar to the Articles of Confederation but not quite as troublesome for lawmakers.

    The Articles of Confederation created a government with virtually no power - it couldn’t enforce laws, pass tax laws, fund itself, or even get the states to work together. Basically, Congress was a weak government; it had much less power than the states themselves.

In the Articles of Confederation it limited Congress, which made the United States’ central government very weak. In Document 1 “Rough Sailing Ahead?, ” it depicts the