Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

Before the Independent War, each state already had its own laws. Speaking from a certain perspective, each state could be seen as an independent country. After America won its independence from the Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the new country needed a mechanism to unify the thirteen states to form a government. The Articles of Confederation was the first national constitution that was acknowledged by the thirteen American states that was submitted to the Second continental Congress on July 12, 1776. It was sought to be the solution to group the thirteen states to be a country.

The creation of a strong national government from the Constitution was meant to reverse the problems created by the Articles of Confederation. America now had a central government, not just state governments. The central government could now, “collect taxes, raise an army, regulate interstate commerce, etc.” This gave the federal government a lot of power that was nonexistent before.

The articles of confederation built the structure for what the United States calls the Government today. Before the constitution the Articles of Confederation played an extremely important factor in creating a unified country. The articles of conferation is an agreement between the 13 states it acted as a "firm league of friendship" for the states by providing an alliance. The Articles of Confederation proved the United States had a limited central government. This then led the founding fathers to agree that a new stronger constitution was necessary thus they ratified the constitution and addressed the need for a stronger central government.

The Article of Confederation was the first written agreement in the United states. There are many strengths of the Article of Confederation. Congress gain the power to deal with foreign affairs. Not only did it they deal foreign affairs, it also dealt with Native American affairs. They also had power to regulate coinage.

The Constitution The Articles of Confederation was an archetype constitution that created a nation of independent states only loosely connected together by a single congress. The founding fathers deliberately designed a nation with a very feeble central government. There was no judicial branch, no executive branch, there was no coining money, and there was no president. These were all intrinsic weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that were entrusted to the states, weaknesses that would soon cause another rebellion. It was a confederation rather than a strong union, so in a sense we were playing with the other states on the team

In 1781, early American Revolutionaries created The Articles of Confederation as the first form of government in the new country. At this time, the Revolutionary spirit was still strong and very much alive as it floated throughout the country. The Revolutionary spirit sought freedom, plain and simple. It believed in the equality of all men and sought the most natural form of government. Americans at this point still feared an overpowering central government and wanted the states to remain sovereign.

“Each State remains its sovereign, freedom, and independence and not expressly delegated to U.S.” (Articles of Confederation Worksheet, Author John Dickinson). This is a strength because the states now have rights. All the states have it, and it is not expressed to the U.S. in Congress. “The delegates annually appoint in manner as the legislature of each state will direct to meet with Congress in November, every year with the ability to recall its delegates anytime within the year”(Articles of Confederation Author John Dickinson).

Under the A.o.C. 9/13 states had to be in agreement for a law to pass which was almost impossible so the constitution made it possible to pass laws. The constitution also granted the central government the ability to raise an army and declare war. A big focus of the constitution was to make it amenable and adaptable for an up and coming country which wasn’t possible with the articles of

As it applies to the Articles of Confederation there were many weaknesses in the way it went about governing the United States. For one, the loose federation of the states was too weak to act as a foundation to be considered or act as a central government. In addition the state legislatures had too much power and in turn had the ability to influence economic issues of all kinds. This strong legislature is the same one that allowed for mob ruling and actions by debtors. The Articles of confederation were also weak because the required congress to have all 13 colonies in agreement when a new tax was to be passed.

“Recognizing that these issues were symptoms of fundamental flaws in the Articles of Confederation, the delegates soon abandoned the plan to revise the Articles of Confederation and committed themselves to a second founding-- a second, and ultimately successful, attempt to create, a legitimate and effective national government ” (Ginsberg 38). This illustrates the transition of the removal of the Article of Confederation to the new beginnings of the United States Constitution. The Article of Confederation was first drafted on November 15, 1777, but later removed on May 25, 1787, to the United States Constitution. The purpose of this explicit transformation was that the Articles of Confederation had many flaws to retain the Commonwealth united

The Articles of Confederation were drafted sometime between 1776 and 1777 by the Continental Congress. Prior to the Articles of Confederation the Continental Congress “assumed a number of rights and responsibilities, such as creating the Continental Army, printing money, managing trade, and dealing with debt” (Shultz, 2014, p. 119). They had done all of this without the authority of the people or sovereign power, this is why the Articles of Confederation were created. The Articles of Confederation were presented to the states for ratification but only 8 states would ratify it within the first year. It would take until 1781 to get all 13 states to ratify it, which is what it took to before the Articles of Confederation could take effect.

By doing so, it allowed the newly free states to obtain most of the power as opposed to having a government oversee the treaties. The government was unable to conduct foreign affairs successfully. Under the Article of Confederation, congress had the power to declare war and make peace, it could coin money, but it couldn’t

The Articles of Confederation were a document seen as the “first” constitution of the United States. This document granted the new national government power to control the military, declare war, and create treaties between the states. However, the Articles had holes in it considering the government did not have the power to tax, create laws without at least nine states’ approval, or change the Articles of Confederation without a unanimous vote. This means that the country soon fell into debt and petty arguments between state, the new government had no control. It was time for a change.

They hoped to create a better government. The Constitution replaced the Article of Confederation permanently in March 4, 1789. The Constitution created checks and balances between the three branches. It also, established the Bill of Rights, and the first ten amendments of the constitution. The Constitution had to be ratified by at least nine states out of thirteen.

The Articles of the Confederation was written in the beginning, because the citizens of America feared the government. The people wanted a new system that was organized and protected its people from Wars, attacks, and most importantly a stronger and reliable economy. In my opinion, there were more weaknesses than strengthens: 1. Congress lacked the power to collect taxes. 2.