The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was a  document that recognized the national government functions after the United States confirmed its independence from Great Britain. One of the issues with the article of confederation is that it prevented most of the single states from having their external diplomacy. After the Declaration of Independence, the continental congress realized that there was a need for a national government. There were disagreements on whether the government will be state-by-state or proportional. These different opinions caused a delay in the final dialogues regarding the confederation until 1777(“Milestones: 1776–1783,” n.d). The Articles of Confederation was then formulated after agreeing on proportional tax based on land worth and state-by-state voting. One of the issues with the Article of Confederation is that it left the state rights to the western lands subject unsettled. The article of confederation also did not give congress the power to impose taxes on the citizens regardless of the debt that had been incurred due to the war. The federal government had issues conducting foreign policy because of its inability to enforce laws that the single states perceived to be opposing their interests (OpenStax, 2019).

In the creation of the constitution, the argument that was presented was how the representatives will be elected and whether citizens will be allowed to select the representatives. The second argument was slavery and whether slaves should be taxed (“Constitutional Rights Foundation,” n.d.).

It was important for the constitution to be ratified because it guaranteed some of the rights to the American citizens. Signed in 1787, the constitution, according to Article VII, would only be operational if nine states ratified the constitution. It took roughly ten months for nine states to support the constitution, and Delaware was the first state to approve it.

References

Constitutional Rights Foundation. (n.d.). Home. https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-2-the-major-debates-at-the-constitutional-convention.html

Milestones: 1776–1783. (n.d.). Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/articles.

OpenStax. (2019). U.S. history. OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/p7ovuIkl@6.18:gMXC1GEM@7/Introduction (Links to an external site.)