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Effectiveness of The Articles of Confederation

            For the short period from 1781 to 1789 when the Articles of Confederation were in use, it provided the states with an overall weak and very slightly effective government; however the Articles of Confederation did manage to hold together the states until a new constitution could be written for the newly forming United States. The Articles of Confederation held together the rag tag confederation of states long enough for it to get its act together. Although the Articles where effective enough hold together the states during the 1780's, it was an extremely weak form of government that definitely wouldn't have been as effective over a longer course of time. .
             Although the articles held the newly forming country together until it could adopt a new constitution, it doesn't necessarily mean that it held the state together very well. The Articles had many flaws that caused much chaos as well as controversy among the American people. One major flaw was the articles strength. The Articles of confederation had such little strength that it had no power even over its own people. If the American people living under the articles didn't like a certain law that was passed they had the ability to ignore the taxes and simply not pay them solely based on the fact that they do not approve of them no matter how much they might have been needed. (Document A.) Due to the fact that this form of government could not even collect on its own taxes, this in turn made the Articles of Confederation not only politically weak but financially weak as well. At one point the articles had made the United States get so badly in debt that it didn't even have enough money to pay its own troops that had fought for its existence during the war. (Document C.) .
             The government provided by the Articles of Confederation was also weak in two other major aspects. One was in the social aspect, although the war had already ended by March 7, 1785 there were still British garrisons occupying forts and posts within U.


Essays Related to Effectiveness of The Articles of Confederation

1. Articles of the Confederation - Three Sample Essays

... type of situation occurred when the U.S. tried to negotiate with Spain over the right to navigate on the Mississippi River. Because of the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation, the United States did not reach a peaceful settlement concerning the Mississippi River until the Pinckney Treaty of the 1790's. Political party struggles (or struggles between the beginnings of political parties) also tended to bring about disunity in the early government, thereby weakening its effectiveness. Rawlin Lowndes reflected the attitudes of the pre ... -Constitutional era in his...

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2. The Effectiveness of The Articles of Confederation

During and after the American Revolution, America's greatest leaders and thinkers feared nothing more than a centralized government which had too much control over its citizens. To avoid creating such a government, they drafted the Articles of Confederation, a document that gave almost all power, short of international affairs, to the American State Governments. The main issues with the Articles of Confederation were that it would not have held in a time of military crisis, required too much of a majority to pass legislation, and provided no effective means of national fund-raising. From 1781...

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3. Effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation

From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation did not provide the United States with an effective government because of the problems when dealing with foreign policy. Also, the government could not raise enough money to support its armies because it could not tax. The Articles of Confederation were not completely useless, however, it did not provide an effective government which was needed to deal with the country's problems and become a powerful nation. When dealing with foreign nations such as Spain and Britain, the government did not try to do what it needed to get the job done, but ins...

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4. AP American History DBQ: Articles of Confederation

... 1789 the United States was governed under the Articles of Confederation. In this time period, the newly formed country was the weakest it had ever been due to the lack of effectiveness that the Articles had. At first they seemed ideal for running the country but it was later noticed that the Articles contained too many weaknesses in key places to actually benefit the country. Economically, the articles ... were a disaster. This is most evident in document B, which best shows how the articles ineffectiveness affected the ... which is a letter to George Washington stating the need for all...

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5. The Articles of Confederation: Strengths and Weaknesses

... be accomplished. However, steps were being taken to do just that, American leaders agreed that the Articles of Confederation needed to be altered. On the other hand, the Articles of Confederation did have its strong points. Congress, with the power that it was allowed, created a number of plans that resolved certain troubles with the following: distribution of land with the Northwest Land Ordinances, helping establish departments for war, marines, and foreign affairs along with ... some way from any possibly threatening enemies. This helped create at least a minimal national economic st...

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6. Federalism and the United States

... of the Revolution, the United States became a confederation under the Articles of Confederation and when that system proved unsuccessful, it was transformed into a federal system by the Constitution. Federal systems are chosen for a number of reasons. These may include the size of the nation or the diversity of the political subdivisions. The United States combines a bit of both: the size of the continental United States made a unitary system impossible, and the diverse interests of the states made confederation impossible. This made federalism the only logical choice. The Articles of Co...

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