Articles Of Confederation 5 Essay, Research Paper

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 wrought 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 coupled 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. Each prospective state having 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 removal of their guaranteed markets. 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, also lacked a federal 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 major national problem. 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 a powerful executive, Congress did not possess the power to enforce their plea for capital and nationwide debt developed. Since change was virtually impossible, due to the unanimous amendment process, the Articles remained unchanged and caused hardships 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 state governments to help, but when the States refused, in one case in particular, these angered mobs of farmers rebelled against the government. This rebellion was known as Shays Rebellion. In some cases, however the State government agreeing to help the angry farmers thwarted this rebellion. Their help came in the form of coining money to cause inflation, thus making the debt seem smaller and smaller. Under the Articles, this behavior was considered 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, together with Shays rebellion, seemed to be the culmination of all the downfalls and weaknesses of the Fledgling government and changed was deemed to be necessary.

In the mid 1780 s the American people, viewing both the pros and the cons of their existing form of government determined that a constitutional solution must be considered. Thus the Constitutional convention of 1787 came about. The authors of this Constitution were heavily influenced by the downfalls of the Articles and strained to remedy each problem individually. First and foremost, the Constitution changed the design of a 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 self-inflicted problems and downfalls, most due to the inherent distrust of a strong central power. These shortcomings 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 settle the entire problem of Western colonization, 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 Constitutional 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.