I.S.

187 703 Articles of Confederation Paper

Darren Y. 2/10/2014

After the Americans gained their independence from Britain, they drafted a constitution. This constitution is known as the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution that Congress has ever made. Since it was the first constitution that Congress has ever made, it has many weaknesses and issues. One of the weaknesses was that the states had much more power over the federal government. Another weakness is that Congress didnt have the power to control the trade system. These are two major issues for the economy and the government. It affected the early years of America. Therefore, these weaknesses are very significant. The Articles of Confederation gave an immense amount of power to the states. The federal government was very weak. In the article, Articles of Confederation, George A. Billias explains that the Confederation became a league of sovereign states. Congress needed consent from the states for most important measures. Billias wrote that the central government was always dependent on the states to accept its measures but the states declined most of the times. This was bad for the nation. Billias states that the central government couldnt make laws for individuals and could only make laws for the states. That means that the states get much more power than the people and the national government. The federal government couldnt tax and the economy plummeted. Also, the Articles of Confederation could be amended only with ratification of nine out of thirteen states. The fact that the states usually declined meant that the Articles of Confederation could never be changed, meaning that the Articles would always have this weakness.

The national government didnt have the power to control trade between foreign countries. States also refused to trade with each other. This leads to a poor and horrible economy. Trade is a very essential thing in the early years. Many people benefit from trading with other people. However, since the states got so much power, that Congress has so little power that it cant regulate trade. The economy was (and still is) really bad because of lack of trade. Therefore, it was a significant weakness. In conclusion, the Articles of Confederation has many weaknesses. One weakness is that the Articles of Confederation gives too much power to the states. The federal government couldnt do anything without the permission of the states. Another is that Congress cant regulate the trade system. This decreases the economy by a significant amount. After Congress addressed the issues of the Articles of Confederation, they made a new constitution, which was the Constitution.

Bibliography McDonald, Forrest. "Articles of Confederation." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. Billias, George A. "Articles of Confederation." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.