Article of Confederation Essau essays

Article of Confederation Essau essays The Declaration of Independence required a new government for the new nation to be. In 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress created a plan for our first official government. This plan was called the Articles of Confederation, which operation in 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was equal in powers and was independent of one another. The congress, which was the national government, had very limited powers. The states feared a strong congress, and felt that a strong national government might try to limit the powers and freedoms of the individual states. Although the Confederation was inadequate and was failing in trying to improve the nations economic condition, it achieved its most important success in the handling of western lands. After the war, Americas debt had increased by a ten fold. Under the Articles, the central government could not control trade between the states or with foreign nations. Each state regulated its own trade; this created many disputes among the states and other nations. On top of that, most states printed their own money. Without a uniform national currency, trading was a complicated procedure. Also, congress did not have the power to collect the taxes needed to pay for the expenses of the national government. It could ask for money; however it had no power to force the states into paying them. Without money, Congress could not pay the nation's debt nor could it provide government programs and services. Robert Morris, a financial wizard, proposed a 5 percent impost, but this failed because states with successful ports didnt want to loose their right to impose their own taxes. All the thirteen states in the Confederation need to agree before an article can be amended, but since some st ates didnt agree with Morris, that plan has failed. Next he planed to create a private bank. This bank issued banknotes, which were backed by hard money; alth...