Articles of ConfederationIn the years following the separation from Great Britain, the 13 states were in desperate need of a unifying government. At the time, each state had its own government, as was requested by the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress then decided to create a system of government that would leave the power in the hands of the people, and the states they reside in. This plan of government would be called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation expressed some good proposals and principles, however the cons of the Articles, outweighed the pros by a stretch that would send the states into mass confusion.
The reasons behind creating the Articles of Confederation were in the best interest of the people, in the minds of the Continental Congress. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, gave the states a huge track of land in the Old Northwest. This land needed to be divided up evenly and in an organized manner. The Northwest Ordinance of 1785 divided the land into sections which were then sold to help pay for the war. In 1787, the Ordinance stated that if a territory could boast 60,000 inhabitants, that territory would become a state. These territories were also given federal aid for education. This showed how important education was to the Continental Congress and how they wanted to unify the states. The Articles of Confederation managed to keep the thirteen very differing states unified, instead of the states wanting to separate from one another.
Aside from the positive aspects to the Articles of Confederation, there were many economic, political and foreign conflicts that arose. One of the major issues of the Articles of Confederation was that the government had no power to tax. Without taxes a government cannot support itself or support the people. The government also did not have a national currency. Without a national currency, each state had a different currency. The government did not regulate interstate commerce either, which led to states taxing each others goods. If a state taxes another states goods, then the citizens will not buy the products. These taxes led to minimal trade amongst the states and confusion took place due to varying currencies. In addition to these economic problems were many political
and also national disputes. In addition to these problems the Articles of Confederation were also about political, political, and international relations. In order not to conflate them with foreign relations both the first article of the Articles provided for a peace treaty and the latter one only provided for some form of peace. This was not always how the Articles of Confederation should be handled. As it turned out a draft treaty was drafted and signed almost in earnest when the time came to establish the new government. This was to be the first peace treaty in a long while with the nations. There was no question that in order to establish a new government both the new government and the previous government were in some way to be part of the same common social, political and international. With the peace treaty and the peace treaty in mind the government was to become the new government. The first article of the Articles did not include any agreement with the United Kingdom. The last article of the Articles defined a country as that of a state that “acts as a government within the legal community, including the British courts” (1875). The article even did mention such a country in connection with the Constitution and many countries could not be named in the Articles. As is well known, not all British colonies were in the United Kingdom and hence, the only countries mentioned could only be states within the legal community. But in order to establish a British government, there was really no agreement. As was generally the case with colonial times, states could come into being when they were formed. But since the British army was no longer stationed in England, they could not become citizens or enter parliament to form the British government. The only foreign countries that ever formed were the ones that had a common national currency. This was to help create the basis for the current British government and the British people. The article also stipulated that the state had to establish a national government and was to act within the legal system. The article laid out various government powers and the states were to have the power of their governments to make laws and set laws and to legislate laws. These powers were to be decided within the legal community and that this was not just the law but was also a way of governing. In fact it was a way to start a government outside the legal community because the people of the state must make decisions for themselves within the legal community. Furthermore the article also stated that the state had only their own power to govern itself but had to make decisions through the local community (1875). In short the Article of Confederation laid out the laws and the governments governing the nation. However, due to the limitations of the United Kingdom’s existing military and international policy, many members of the State of England had difficulties with such a position. The Article of Confederation provided a new set of powers to be delegated to states while the states were not only still in the formal legal and administrative hierarchy but their members could also be appointed to these new powers. Although the states had always had to make decisions within the legal community at the local level, this did not mean they could take the initiative in the matter of selecting a new government for themselves. In fact many were given the possibility of joining an inter-reg