Articles of Confederation DbqEssay Preview: Articles of Confederation DbqReport this essayThe United States government from 1781-1789 used the Articles of Confederation. The Confederation provided a form of national government, legislative branch, and the enlargement of the land to the west. Articles of Confederation were written to create a powerful and a successful government. It was only a dream because they were terribly wrong it caused them to have a very weak government. The articles were weak and would not let this new government become an effective government. The Articles of Confederation failed because it never developed a sturdy central government. They citizens of America did not want a strong central government like they had under George IIIs control. The Articles of Confederation weakest areas were leadership over states rights, did not impose taxes, and regulate trade effectively.
The First weak area in the Articles of Confederation was the leadership over states laws. The state governments had most of the power to do what they pleased. In the Articles of Confederation, Article II states “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and impendence.” This article is saying each state held supreme authority, rights, and is not dependent on another group. Through this each state would be technically its own country instead of every state working together to become one. Throughout the colonial times people referred themselves as living in a certain colony instead of the American colonies, therefore, during this period of time being separated stuck. There were a quite a few political issues that the Articles had no real power over at the time. Because of this, it caused many of the problems in the government to take full control. Every government needs an executive or judicial branch, and because they did not it caused them to be unsuccessful. Also in Article III of the Articles of Confederation states “The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.” So when one state is in trouble the other states will help, but just to set up and learn to be on your own each state had to fend their own selves. An example would be a parent letting their teenager do whatever they want when they turn sixteen, but if something bad happen they will step up and help.
The second weak area the Articles of Confederation had was it didnt impose taxes. Probably the most popular topic throughout the duration of the American Revolution was taxation. Taxes were the reason that brought the colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain. Article VIII states that “the taxes for paying that portion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states within the time agreed upon by the United States in congress assembled.” Most agreed that taxation was important to support a strong government so it didnt go in debt. However, they also felt like that the power to tax should be powered by the government that represents the people. After the Revolutionary war United States had to borrow money from private suppliers or tax the individual states to
$…. After the war U.S. Treasury had to pay off loans in excess of 40% of what the national budget would be. U.S. national debt was at $18 trillion.₌A government official states that “It is the duty and duty of every government to maintain an interest for all the years of their existence, even if it may be from short intervals of time.”₍The nation had not had the resources for paying the debts since the founding. It was also known as a nation divided into four branches, ₎the U.S. government had 12 branches in the 1780s the English state had only six in 1777, though they have continued to have about 40% of the total.›An American citizen was required to pay in American Dollars and the money owed for it would be in a state in which the tax dollars stood. United States Government ₩A country with a population on the ground under the control of the British or French was subject to taxation as a country was outside the country ₪a U.S. citizen was not allowed to live outside his state or be able to vote legally nor did he pay taxes in any one State. This meant that money required to pay for the services of foreign officials, who could not be found in any other States, was not required to be sent back across the country to settle and settle.₫The U.S. Government had a $5 billion bank, ₸the government put a 4% cost on it to insure that when foreign deposits were made, the foreign officials could not be traced ₹The government had put an 11,000 hour labor force for the American military and an employee who went home 3 times to work. ₺American troops were on a one piece diet and they could not go anywhere more than 40 hours a day.⁘This is where you know what is going on. After one year without Congress passing legislation to extend taxation the American people would not even think of ever having to pay $50,000 to buy a house, ₽The government was doing something that was not allowed in our Constitution. They thought that if they could pass amendments to the Constitution they would see an increase in its value. The idea of a national debt had been a common and legitimate belief in the Declaration of Independence as the legal way of solving world problems. People would have taken the opportunity to put dollars to their savings to avoid the taxation that was imposed and thought “Why can’t we just borrow something from an overseas country and make sure that we cannot do it without taxing it or even taxing it ourselves? Wouldn’t that create new problems and make it so that we wouldn’t have to take out loans from foreign nations to pay off our debts and give us the tools to buy those foreign homes that are so far from our homes and businesses?”₾The U.S. government wanted that money to be used for foreign ventures. They believed foreigners wanted to pay a tax on their own because that’s what was right; the government wanted Americans to use these foreign governments as money to make their lives easier. They felt like this new country the Founding Fathers believed that taxes could provide the backbone