The Articles ofConfederation was written by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War.As time progressed, the thirteen colonies became the thirteen states. However, noneof the thirteen colonies were on the same page; they did not act together, or cometogether as a nation. The colonies desperately needed some form of government thatwas powerful enough to unite them all. They also wanted written down rules so thatall the states would have to follow and agree upon. The Articles of Confederationwas written and passed in 1777 and the document was ratified in March 1781.
The Articles of Confederation stated that the new governmentof the United States would not be ruled by a king. Instead each state would haveone and only one vote in the Congress. That caused the highly populated states tonot be too powerful.
In other words, the Articles of Confederation made sure thatthe new government would have “limited powers in order to protect the libertiesof the people.” Since there was no executive branch, and the states and legislaturewere supreme, judicial functions were limited. However, the articles permitted theCongress to do things like “settling conflicts among the states, making coins, borrowingmoney, and making treaties with other countries.” The articles worked very well during the American Revolutionperiod. However, the government slowly began to weaken after problems were continuouslybeing pointed out. Problems within the article itself showed that the document hada lot of flaws. Problems in the United States were that most of the power was heldby states, the government did not have an executive branch or a judicial system,and that there was simply no system of checks and balances. To add on, there wereproblems caused by the Articles of Confederation between other countries too.
Tradingwith Britain, for example, was making the United State’s economic condition worseand worse. Because of the Treaty of Paris, “Britain closed many of its ports toAmerican ships. Britain also forced American merchants to pay high tariffs.”In addition,Shay’s Rebellion sparked the nation.
Farmers had a hard time paying heavy debtsand taxes with little money coming in. The farmers wanted the courts to be shutdown so they began a revolt. As a result, the Articles of Confederation was replaced in1788 by the Constitution.
