The Articles of Confederation

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What does Article III of the Articles of Confederation mean?

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Article III of the Articles of Confederation established a "firm league of friendship" among the states, committing them to mutual defense and assistance against attacks. However, the article lacked specificity and enforceable provisions for defense, such as raising an army or funds, leading to its inadequacy in nation-building. The inability of Congress to levy taxes or require state contributions highlighted these weaknesses, prompting the creation of a stronger Constitution to address these issues.

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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 attack, for whatever reason that attack occurs.

The Articles of Confederation created an inadequately weak bond between the states, treating them each as sovereign nations with open borders. It was much more like the European Union today than what we would call a modern nation state. As we can see from Article III, there is no legislation for common defense, no fundraising for an army, and nothing but the weakest of agreements to supply . . . something . . . if another state is attacked. The lack of specificity is alarming and "friendship" is a very flexible term.

The nation's founders quickly realized this document was not adequate to the nation-building goals they had in mind,...

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which was why the Constitution was written.

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The Articles of Confederation comprised the first constitution of the United States of America. After a long process of approval by the various states, the document went into effect on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation proved to have numerous inadequacies, including the lack of executive and judiciary branches of government and the inability of Congress to levy taxes. This eventually necessitated the convening of a constitutional convention and the writing of a new document that became the Constitution of the United States.

Article III of the Articles of Confederation says:

The said states hereby enter severally 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 whatsoever.

This article means that the signatory states agree to a union of mutual friendship and guarantee to defend each other against attacks from outside regardless of the reasons for the attacks.

The problem with this article was that although Congress alone had the authority to declare war and fund and regulate a Continental Army, the states were under no obligation to contribute men or finances. The Continental Army that fought during the Revolutionary War was largely disbanded after the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, was signed. The various states had militias, but there was no provision to unify them. This was one weakness of the Articles of Confederation that prompted the need for a stronger constitution.

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Article III of the Articles of Confederation says that all of the states will work together and defend each other in case of an attack by a foreign power. This basically means that an attack on one state will be considered as if all states were attacked.

This article was very important to the survival of the new country. If a state only responded to an attack if that state was attacked, the new country would be greatly weakened, as a foreign power could try to individually control each state one at a time. When all the states pledged to support each other in case of an attack, it eliminated the possibility of a divide and conquer strategy that foreign powers might employ. This idea was a big step for each state to take, because each state fiercely wanted to have its own autonomy.

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