Unfortunately, this money was oftentimes not raised by the states or given to the national government long after it was due. Not knowing how much and when states were going to pay their share severely handicapped an already-limited national government.
Congress had few effective means to enforce its laws, raise revenue, or regulate the economy. The result was a disorganized economy that lacked the ability to pay for itself.
The second series of limitations that the Articles of Confederation had to contend with deal with was the lack of central leadership it provided. As detailed earlier, the Articles placed sovereign power in the hands of the state.
Most critically, this led to economic troubles, but it also led to a leadership deficit. Lack of national leadership took various forms. The Articles of Confederation offered no system of courts in the jurisdiction of the national government.
This meant that the entire judiciary branch was dependent on the states. Since Congress had no means to enforce its laws, the states could simply ignore national laws without fear of retribution. Also, since there was no national court system, individual persons or states could not file complaints against the national government. The states could always ignore anything they disagreed with, but if a citizen had a grievance with the national government there was no system in place to hear the lawsuit.
One of the glaring differences between the Articles of Confederation and its successor—the Constitution of the United States—was its lack of a chief executive. Most notably, the lack of a presidential figure or body left America without a representative to conduct foreign affairs. Britain actually complained of such difficulties, protesting that they did not know who to contact in order to initiate diplomacy. Without a single executive to act as the head of foreign affairs, America was at a serious diplomatic disadvantage.
It seems counterintuitive that a body of government would be tasked with declaring war, but not be allowed to commission an armed force.
Since it was dependent on state troops, Congress was severely limited in its capabilities to quickly and effectively responding to internal and external threats. Abroad, Congress failed to defend American from the continuing threat of Britain following the Revolutionary War. Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in , Britain began to break the agreement. By , the British were infringing upon American fishing rights and the British Royal Navy was impressing American sailors into forced conscription.
Rebels initially protested peacefully, resisting the collection of taxes and debts from struggling Americans. The national government failed to come up with the funds to raise an army capable of putting down the rebellion.
It took a group of rich merchants from Massachusetts pooling their resources to pay for a militia. Lastly, the Articles of Confederation proved ineffective because of a set of rules that made legislating under this framework inefficient. Considering the large discrepancy in state populations, states with larger populations were quite unhappy with this set-up.
For example, in , Virginia had over ten times the number of citizens as Delaware. In fact, Virginia had twice as many people as every state except for Pennsylvania, yet each state received only one vote in Congress. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content.
Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Issues The U. Legal System U. Foreign Policy U. Liberal Politics U. Martin Kelly. History Expert. Martin Kelly, M. Weak National Government In response to widespread antipathy toward a strong central government, the Articles of Confederation kept national government weak and allowed for the states to be as independent as possible.
Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Kelly, Martin. The central government and the states owed huge debts to European countries and investors. Without the power to tax, and with no power to make trade between the states and other countries viable, the United States was in an economic mess by It had to rely on a state militia sponsored by private Boston business people. With no money, the central government couldn't act to protect the "perpetual union. These events alarmed Founders like George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to the point where delegates from five states met at Annapolis, Maryland in September to discuss changing the Articles of Confederation.
The group included Madison, Hamilton and John Dickinson, and it recommended that a meeting of all 13 states be held the following May in Philadelphia. The Confederation Congress agreed and the Constitutional Convention of effectively ended the era of the Articles of Confederation. Toggle navigation. Sign up for our email newsletter.
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