The Articles of Confederation

Over the course of time, the inherent weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were cruelly laid bare as America developed both as a trading nation and as an international power. However, there...

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States. They were created in 1776 but were altered between then and when they were ratified in 1781. The most important...

One should never forget that the Revolutionary War was fought and won under the Articles of Confederation. The American colonists didn't need a strong, centralized government to help them win; they...

The Articles of Confederation were the basis for America's first national government during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Its powers were limited to conducting diplomacy, printing money,...

The Articles of the Confederation is considered the first constitution of the United States. It established the Union and was created during the Revolutionary War. The Articles of the Confederation...

The leaders of the new American nation were wary of creating a system of government reminiscent of what they had seen under the colonial rule of England. The colonists had felt betrayed by their...

The Articles of Confederation established a legislature that was unicameral—meaning that there was only one chamber, or governing body, that comprised the entire legislature. This contrasts with...

The Articles of Confederation was our first plan of government. Each state was allowed to have between two and seven members representing that state in Congress. However, each state had only one...

The drafting and adoption of Articles of Confederation by the Congress (1777) was in and of itself positive because the Articles served as the first written form government of the new United States...

The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a very important law that was developed by the government while the Articles of Confederation was our plan of government. This law helped to organize the sale of...

Although the Articles of Confederation had proved themselves to be highly effective in coordinating the efforts of the states in fighting the Revolutionary War, they were totally unsuited to the...

There could be a few answers to this question. If you were referring to the United States of America, then the first written constitution would be the Articles of Confederation. After the colonists...

The main problem of the Articles of Confederation was that they did not give the federal government the power to tax. Keep in mind that the American Revolution was fought against a central...

The problems faced by the new republic went on from 1776 until the Constitution was ratified in 1787. These problems included a nonexistent executive branch under the Articles of Confederation. The...

The Articles of Confederation failed because they did not give Congress and the national government enough power. The new United States just fought a war to end what they considered tyrannical...

One of the fundamental questions of American politics has involved the balance between State and Federal authority. As previous educators have already said, under the Articles of Confederation, the...

The Articles of Confederation served as the colonial government during the American Revolution. In their attempt to avoid creating a centralized state that did not care about the needs of...

In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation acted as a sort of prelude to the Constitution of the United States. The Articles went through several drafts but...

One advantage of the government under the Articles of Confederation was that they provided more freedom than was enjoyed under Parliament's rule. They kept the new nation together during the...

The American Revolution was, largely, a reaction to the colonists' experience of a distant and unresponsive government, which was far removed from their everyday concerns, politically unaccountable...

I think that since the Articles of Confederation were replaced, any potential strength would be overshadowed by its weaknesses. However, the Articles featured some distinct strengths that have to...

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, often shortened in common usage to the Articles of Confederation, was the first constitution of the fledgling United States of America. It was...

Under the Articles of Confederation, each of the original states was represented by a single vote in a unicameral Congress. This was true regardless of population, so that the people who lived in...

Under the Articles of Confederation, state governments held most of the power. The preamble to the Articles described the government they formed as a "firm league of friendship," and this is more...

There were a number of serious deficiencies to the Articles of Confederation that made it completely ineffective for governing the new nation of the United States. I will briefly discuss some of...

There were several weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. One was that the government created by the Articles of Confederation was a very weak government. There was a huge concern about...

The Articles of Confederation served as the first governing document of the United States. Although the document was completed in 1777, the Articles did not go into effect until March 1, 1781, when...

The biggest success of the US Congress under the Articles of Confederation was its successful conduct of the Revolutionary War. It's instructive that the United States didn't need a strong,...

The Articles of Confederation created economic, administrative, and legislative weaknesses in the US government. These issues, while each distinct, were also interrelated, as they created a...

The Articles of Confederation were, for the most part, ineffective in dealing with major national threats and issues of the time. Without the power to tax, they could not raise the revenue...

The United States had changed. Unfortunately, its form of government had not. The Articles of Confederation had proved remarkably effective for the exigencies of the Revolutionary War. But they...

The US government under the Articles of Confederation lacked many important powers. Some of these were specific powers but others were more general. Generally, the national government simply...

I would argue that there were three main achievements of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Two of them had to do with just getting the United States going as a country and a third had...

The United States faced an uncertain future with the establishment of a Federal Government in 1789. After the failure of the Articles of Confederation, much was riding on the experimental...

The system of government created as a result of the Constitutional Convention helped resolve some of the issues we faced while the Articles of Confederation was our plan of government. The main...

This article means that the different states have agreed to engage in mutual defense. If one state is attacked, the others, in "a firm league of friendship," will help "assist" the state under...

When the United States gained independence from Britain, they needed to establish a new government as well as rules for that government. Since they had just fought a difficult war, which was still...

The Articles of Confederation were the United States' first attempt at government. They were effective during the Revolutionary War when the states were able to pull together for a common cause,...

Under the Articles of Confederation, the US national government essentially consisted of the Continental Congress and nothing else. The Congress was responsible for all decision and for carrying...

After the Revolutionary War ended, the United States needed to develop a plan of government. The Articles of Confederation was the first plan of government we had after the Revolutionary War. Under...

The Articles of Confederation had quite a few flaws. There was no Supreme Court to rule on the laws and there were no provisions in the Articles for the national government to demand taxes. This is...

The Ariticles of Confederation created a federal government that was too weak to be effective. The government was made of a legislative body that was unicameral, that is a single house...

The Articles of Confederation weren't an effective form of government for the former American colonies of Great Britain. That's why they were replaced with the Constitution less than a decade after...

Hamilton's assessment of government under the Articles of Confederation is consistent with his Federalist views. He felt that the Articles' weakness was a lack of a strong central government....

The Articles of Confederation were meant to preserve the independence of the new colonies. It was an agreement between them that ultimately formed a very loose federal government. The point of this...

The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the original thirteen United States colonies. The Articles of Confederation was drafted during the Second Continental Congress and approved and...

First, we have to realize that it is not objectively true to say that the Articles of Confederation were a failure. This is more of an opinion than a fact. After all, the Articles were in force...

The primary purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to create a stronger, more unified nation in order to better protect and support individual states. It was a compromise between federalists...

There were a number of factors that led to this call. Some of the most important factors include: Lack of coordination in foreign policy. Some states wanted to enact tariffs against British...

The greatest failure of the Articles of Confederation was that it played on the fear and distrust of government that came as a result of the tyrannical abuses of King George III and the British...