The Articles of Confederation

 

As the Revolutionary War was coming to an end, there was an atmosphere of anti centralized government that bordered on a phobia. While realizing that some government was necessary, the American people were extremely wary of granting the government too much power. Congress appointed a committee to draft a plan for a confederation of states. The head of the committee first presented a plan for a strong centralized government. The states and the public had such an objection to a powerful central government, that when finally finished and ratified, the Articles of Confederation had undergone such changes that it was unrecognizable from the original. Because of the public’s fear of what could happen if the government was given too much power, the Articles of Confederation made a government so weak that it was ineffectual and a failure.

One of the reasons that the colonies decided to break away from Britain was the corruption of the government and the infringement on the people’s rights. To prevent the new government from becoming corrupt, the Articles limited what the government had control of. While preventing a government from turning into a tyranny is a good thing, the limitations put on the government went beyond protection. They crippled the government.

At first glance, the main problems were that the U. S. did not have any power to tax the people. They had to rely on states to pay. There was no set amount, so states paid whatever amount they wanted to. This led to major shortages of money for the government. There was no way for the government to operate effectively.

However, when the states refused to pay, the second flaw became apparent: the inability of the U. S. to enforce the laws. Several other problems became more eminent as time went on, such as the specific mention of the amount of states required to pass laws and declare war. While the original number, nine, was a two-thirds majority of the current states, when more states were added, the number stayed at nine. This allowed a few states to overrule many more states.

Please do not pass this sample essay as your own, otherwise you will be accused of plagiarism. Our writers can write any custom essay for you!
  • Confederation Vs. Federation The Need For Change
  • Sample essay topic, essay writing: Confederation Vs. Federation The Need For Change - 367 words The US government transformed itself from a very weak government to a strong central government from 1776 to 1876. The maitenance and creation of order was deeply needed in america at this time. Due to the US Constitution, The Articles of
  • Constitutional Convention
  • Sample essay topic, essay writing: Constitutional Convention - 458 words May 25, 1787 Fifty five delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met in Philadelphia today. Rhode Island is the only state of the thirteen that chose not to attend the revising of the Articles of Confederation. Though, after the delegates reviewed the articles, they agreed
  • Ap Us History How Effective Th
  • Sample essay topic, essay writing: Ap Us History How Effective Th - 447 words Before the Constitution, there was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was a new national government that reserved freedom, sovereignty, and independence for the states. The Articles of confederation provided an effective form of government for western lands, on the
  • The Articles of Confederation
  • The Articles of Confederation were the first basis of law and order in the newly formed United States. They built the first government and all the accompanying rules. The Articles of Confederation may have been a descent start, but it was not at all an effective one. One of the main problems with the Articles of
  • A Plan In The Making The Const
  • Sample essay topic, essay writing: A Plan In The Making The Const - 919 words A Plan in the MakingSome people have always wondered whether the making of Constitution of the United States was, in fact, supposed to happen at the Constitutional Convention or if it was even supposed to be drawn up in the way
Need Book Reports, essays, lectures? Save to bookmarks - » The Articles of Confederation. Collections of essays on literature!

The Articles of Confederation