FREE ESSAY ON ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

In the 1770's, as America's great thinkers and writers were declaring their desire for
independence; they also established a committee to lay the foundation for the American
form of government. These brilliant writers and philosophers hesitantly began designing
the national level of government for use in America and named their final draft the
Articles of Confederation . Out of their utter distrust of a centralized government, due
to their association with the English monarchial system, the drafters deliberately
established these articles as a loose confederation of states, rather than a firmly
united nation. Life under the Articles of Confederation was filled with hardships and
uncertainty, and the political scene was paralyzed with inability due to the lack of
sovereignty in a central executive branch and the unanimous state consent required for
the ratification of an amendment together with the lack of a taxation privilege .
However, despite its inherent flaws, the Confederation government did prove capable to
accomplish a few foreign and domestic achievements. 
Under the authority of the Confederation, the United States began to introduce itself in
the global scene. The United States determined its place in the community of nations by
establishing diplomatic relations and its participation in the world economy. The
Confederation Congress also accomplished something many historians overlook. They
successfully managed, organized, and eventually won the Revolutionary War . After winning
the war, the Congress went on to successfully negotiate the Treaty of Paris and compelled
the British to recognize American independence. On the domestic home front, the Congress
began to effectively solve the land ordnance problem. The Confederation Congress
established a procedure for governing the new territories and organized them into
prospective states, giving each prospective state full and equal status with the original
thirteen states. Furthermore, they institutionalized systems of local government, and
public education . Moreover, while accomplishing all this, the congress managed to keep
the national economy afloat. This proved to be an enormous feat because the economy was
suffering from the loss of colonial privileges. These major achievements were all
accomplished despite the inherent flaws in the basic structure of the Confederation
government.
The Articles of Confederation created a unicameral Confederation Congress, with each
state having only one vote. On most political matters this legislative body required the
approval of 9 out of 13 states to ratify any proposed Congressional intention. In Article
13, the Articles declared that in order to ratify an amendment to the Articles the
consent of all 13 states were required . This left the national government, running
through the Confederation Congress, powerless and unable to proceed with the most trivial
matters of politics. The Confederation Government, under the Articles, lacked an
executive and judicial branch. This caused Congress to be severely handicapped when it
came to the enforcement of her requests. This lack of an executive, coupled with the
Congress's negated power of taxation, caused a crippling financial difficulties. The
Congress, having only enough power to request essential national funds from the states,
found that many refused to pay, or were late in doing so. Due to the lack of an executive
branch, Congress soon found itself facing a mounting national debt that it was unable to
pay on its own or force states to assume their share of the burden. Since change was
virtually impossible, due to the unanimous amendment process, the Articles remained
unchanged and hardships continued to mount for many Americans.
The major hardships of America in the period of Confederation rule were primarily between
the debtor and the creditor . The economic downturn of the mid 1780's, caused by the
removal of the guaranteed English markets, left many farmers ruined and inundated with
debt . These farmers pleaded with their state governments for help, but in most cases
states refused to interfere, in one case in particular, these angered mobs of farmers
rebelled against the government. This rebellion was known as Shays' Rebellion in 1786 .
Alarmed by the rebellion, other state governments agreed to help the angry farmers to
thwart these rebellions. Their help came in the form of coining money to cause inflation,
thus making the debt seem smaller and smaller. Under the Articles, this coinage was
completely legal and it caused terrible interstate controversies. Congress, lacking the
power to regulate interstate commerce, could only helplessly watch as rival states began
a series of tariff wars over the inflation. These tariff wars, which devastated the
national trade, coupled with Shays rebellion, seemed to be the culmination of all the
downfalls and weaknesses of the fledgling government and change was deemed to be
necessary .
By 1887, some of the American leaders realized if the country was to survive a new plan
of government needed to be considered. Thus, the Annapolis Convention of 1786 was held to
address regional issues such as trade, but delegates were soon calling for a national
convention . At this convention in Philadelphia 1787, the authors of a new plan proposed
change of the loose confederation of states to a solid national union. They then changed
the mode of representation in Article 1, section 3, as to better represent the people of
America. In article 1, section 8, they empowered congress to regulate trade among states,
raise revenue through taxation, coin national money, discontinue state coining, and
enforce federal laws and treaties . The Constitution also imposed a federal executive and
judicial branch to act directly on the individual citizens of America and to execute and
interpret the laws of Congress. 
The Articles of Confederation, which were in force from 1781 to 1789, had many
shortcomings and flaws, most due to the inherent distrust of a strong central power.
These weaknesses caused many problems in America. Inflation grew, tariff wars between
states commenced, and the uncertainty of a possible mob-rule lived in the minds of many.
However, despite the flaws and setbacks imposed by the Articles, the fledgling Congress
proved capable enough to establish mechanisms for westward expansion, establish the
United States in the World Scene, and maintain a running economy . Still, a need for
constitutional change was illustrated by the severe problems, and the Philadelphia
convention answered the call. The drafters of the new constitution looked at all the
mistakes created by the Articles, and to their great credit, successfully learned from
them. They used the Articles as a foundation, and established the United States
Constitution which today still stands as the greatest republic known to man.