The Articles of Confederation were written in 1776 and finally ratified in 1777, after independence from Great Britain had been declared and while the American Revolution was still in progress. The colonists set out to create a new nation free of the rule of a strong central government. Many identified themselves as citizens of their state or colony, and not as colonies or nations as a whole. State rights became an important factor in the new government. The Articles of Confederation brought the colonies together as a loose confederation with states right being more important than the power of the federal government. The purpose of the articles was to establish a union between several states, including the establishment of a central government. Unfortunately, there were many downfalls to the Articles.
First, in order for any measure to be passed by Congress, approval was required by nine of the thirteen states.
The Articles of Conferderation, ratified in 1781. ...
The Articles of Conferderation, ratified in 1781. ...
The Articles of Conferderation, ratified in 1781. ...Congress was very limited in its powers. They did not have the power to levy taxes or tariffs. An inability to raise money from taxes often left a chronic shortage in the military supples. Congress had the power to pass laws, but could not force the colones to comply. Therefore, the government was forced to depend on the colonies to abide on there own. This was often very difficult since many times the original states refused to cooperate. The Articles were also virtually impossible to amend, so problems could not be fixed unless all of the states agreed. Other weakness of that the Articles of Confederation encountered were the fact that the enforcement of federal laws and treaties were left to the states. Also, the federal government was not given the sole power to coin money. That right belonged to each individual state. As time passed, it was obvious that...
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