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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Articles of Confedration Assignment




this assignment needs to be posted before class on Thursday October 3rd for the adv sections

11 Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Government

1. Delegates were paid by the states who selected them
2. Each state had one vote and 9 states needed to pass any law
3. Unanimous vote needed to amend the Articles
4. No National Courts
5. No powerful Chief Executive
6. No common currency
7. Each state regulated its own tradeno
common interstate rules
8. National go. did not regulate foreign trade
9. National go. did not have power to make treaties
10. No national Army/Navy
11. national gov. could not collect taxes from states or citizens (credit to Mark Choe)

Your task is to pick the listed weakness of the US Government that you feel was the most damaging to the unification and strength of the new country under our first constitution.  Explain how this specific weakness made the Articles of Government ineffective.

45 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Among the 11 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, I believe the most significant one is that the new government did not have a national army or navy. For several reasons listed below, this weakness exposed the newly established country under imminent threat from both inside and outside the country.
      Without a national defense system, the nation was especially vulnerable to foreign invasions. Britain was still eager to take back its old colonies, and other European countries were also watching closely what profits they could get from the United States. No national army or navy is an obvious sign that the nation cannot effectively defend itself. Therefore, foreign intrusion could easily take over the new power.
      Neither could the government suppress rebellions by force. The spreading of Shay’s rebellion effectively proved this point. When it broke out, the national government could not even suppress the rebellion with some 1500 people involved. Finally the Massachusetts government came to rescue and executed Shay, the head of the rebellion. At the beginning of a country, with all the uncertainty in economy and politics, a small rebellion can be expected, but the national government had no power to deal with it. This shows the government’s inability to govern the people.
      Moreover, a national army is an important sign of a united and independent country. Without a proper force, the new government could hardly establish power among the people. Colonies could not fully recognize a national government that lacked the basic function of a government. This strongly whittled the government’s reputation as a real political headquarter.
      Finally, when faced with disturbances from foreign countries, the states have to defend themselves on their own. This is bad for the alliance of the states, for they could seek help from countries of opposite sites. It creates a great danger for the country to separate.
      For the above reasons, I think having no national army or navy is the most terrible part of the Article of Confederation. While other weaknesses have bad impacts on the nation in a long term, this weakness exposes the country to direct danger of splitting.

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  3. Under America's first constitution, The Articles of Confederation, the United States had no national Army or Navy. I believe this was the most damaging of weaknesses to the development of America. I feel this way because if a country does not have a way of protecting the people the country will get taken over. In the Articles of Confederation each state had their own military. It would have been very easy to take over a new country that had thirteen different armies. In fact, Britain was expecting america to fail ( as they almost did ) so that they could take over the land they had just lost in the Revolutionary war. It would have been an easy feat for Britain because none of the states would have been in unison with one another, making it very difficult to communicate during a war.
    Not having one strong national military hindered the unification and strength of a young America. As Christine Qi stated in her blog post, “ A national army is an important sign of a united and independent country.” Without a united national army, america was not a united country. There was no unification between the states because each state had their own Army. National defense is a huge part of American government today and I believe this creates a pride in the people of the United States of America. American citizens are proud that they have a strong National Army and Navy that fight for their lives everyday.

    Mackenzie Lancaster

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  4. The Articles of Confederation is a written document that establishes the power and functions of the national government after United States declared independence from Great Britain. Each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern (except for special powers granted to congress), establishing a weak central government.

    The weakest article in the Articles of Confederation is the national government’s inability to collect taxes from states or citizens. “Taxation without representation” served as an impetus that brought the colonists to declare independence from Great Britain. Only states, not congress, had the authority to impose taxes and raise revenue. Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania stated that the national government was nothing but a “government by supplication”. Each state made its own decision as to whether it would fund the national government or not. The congress ended up begging states to pay for the national government.

    The problems of not being able to collect taxes soon arose. The Federal government plunged into debt. Congress struggled to pay off American’s foreign debts leftover from the war. The national government was incapable of managing both internal and foreign affairs. States could grant or withhold money and force congress to subjugate to their demands. Congress could pass laws but could not force states to comply to with them. The lack of economic unity resulted in congress’s lack of effective means to enforce its laws and regulate the economy. Seven of the thirteen states printed large quantities of paper money that were high in face value but low in purchasing power, completing wrecking the economy through hyperinflation. Establishing an effective national government was nearly impossible due to the lack of a steady revenue stream.

    Without the ability to collect taxes, one could explain the other weakness of the articles of confederation. The national government could not build a national army/navy because no one would pay for it. The national army couldn’t regulate foreign trade because the national government doesn’t have the money to pay for there was no national army. Hence, the inability to collect tax tightly restrained the abilities and powers of the national government.

    William Pang

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  5. The United States didn’t always have such a prosperous and great government. When our government was first united under the Articles of Confederation we believed that it was the perfect plan, however we soon realized it was not. With the national government unable to control its people and unable to communicate they understood there must be change.
    I believe that the weakest of the parts of the Articles of Confederation has to be that there was no Chief Executive. I do agree with Hang that without an army we had no way to defend ourselves, but If we have an army and no one is there to lead us what good would it do. Not only would the chief executive lead us in the military; he would also lead us in government.
    Without a man to make the final decision, it was very hard for the colonist to come to a centralized conclusion. Today our president helps us to get things done. Back then there was no one to say that he agreed and that the law or decision should commence. No one was there to say no, find a better solution. Having a Chief executive would have solved more problems than the other weaknesses
    If there was a Chief executive during the period then it would have been easier for the states to create a common currency, sign peace treaties, regulate trade, and make decisions more efficiently. To prove my point I take a step forward and talk about what did happen and what changed the Articles of Confederation into our present day constitution.
    George Washington, our first president and the greatest general of the revolution, proves my point. When the decision was made by the National assembly to hold a meeting, the first time only three states showed up. However, when the states found out that Washington would be attending the next meeting, people actually showed up because Washington was seen as a leader.
    Washington was seen by the states as a reason to pay attention. A heroic figure, an intelligent young man, would rally the people together. The whole reason something actually got done was because Washington was going to be there. See what having a leader could change. If the states had a chief executive things would have been simpler and much more unified.

    By,
    Dan Ives

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The United States didn’t always have such a prosperous and great government. When our government was first united under the Articles of Confederation we believed that it was the perfect plan, however we soon realized it was not. With the national government unable to control its people and unable to communicate they understood there must be change.
      I believe that the weakest of the parts of the Articles of Confederation has to be that there was no Chief Executive. I do agree with Hang that without an army we had no way to defend ourselves, but If we have an army and no one is there to lead us what good would it do. Not only would the chief executive lead us in the military; he would also lead us in government.
      Without a man to make the final decision, it was very hard for the colonist to come to a centralized conclusion. Today our president helps us to get things done. Back then there was no one to say that he agreed and that the law or decision should commence. No one was there to say no, find a better solution. Having a Chief executive would have solved more problems than the other weaknesses
      If there was a Chief executive during the period then it would have been easier for the states to create a common currency, sign peace treaties, regulate trade, and make decisions more efficiently. To prove my point I take a step forward and talk about what did happen and what changed the Articles of Confederation into our present day constitution.
      George Washington, our first president and the greatest general of the revolution, proves my point. When the decision was made by the National assembly to hold a meeting, the first time only five states showed up. However, when the states found out that Washington would be attending the next meeting, people actually showed up because Washington was seen as a leader.
      Washington was seen by the states as a reason to pay attention. A heroic figure, an intelligent young man, would rally the people together. The whole reason something actually got done was because Washington was going to be there. See what having a leader could change. If the states had a chief executive things would have been simpler and much more unified.

      By,
      Dan Ives

      Delete
  6. The Articles of Confederation, the US’ first constitution, was a document that outlined the power and authority of the national government after the colonies became free from the British. The establishment of this new constitution took about 5 years. Unity within the states by this time was definitely vital. But, the delegates at the Congress were frightened that the national government would have too much power, creating a tyrannical government. Therefore, the national government was indeed very weak while the state governments were very strong. There were many weaknesses to this government that led to its fall.
    The weakness that I think was the most damaging to the unification of the new country was that there was no national army/navy. As Mackenzie just stated, a country without any type of defense system and more specifically a navy or army is subject to an attack at any given time. Other nations that eventually find out that an enemy or another nation doesn’t have a way of protecting itself, if that nation feels that the unprotected land is very rich and arable, they will try to take it over. Instead of a national army, each individual state had its own army. Britain were still keen on taking the US back underneath its wing, and going against 13 different small armies,
    it would’ve been very easy to do.
    I also agree with Christine when she states that “Without a proper force, the new government could hardly establish power among the people”. This is true because the question that arises is “Who will the people listen to if there is no real enforcer of any rules or regulations?”. Yes there were governors and other people looking over the states but there were a lot more people than aristocrats. Those are the reasons why I think this weakness was the most damaging to the unification of the country. There are ten other main weaknesses that were arguably just as important and just as damaging, but the idea of having no national army/navy stands out to me as a problem that can tear a nation apart.

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  7. That last one was by: Justin Donawa

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  8. In light of the recent government shut down, the biggest mistake of the Articles of Confederation was requiring the unanimous vote to amend an article. The implementation of this article caused gridlock in the governmental process, and slowed down its effectiveness. Every representative was from a different geographic region and had a different political view, which meant they voted to support issues related to their region or political opinion. This caused the individuals of the legislative body to be at odds with one another because they were in favor of lobbying for their own constituents rather than compromising.
    Currently, Obamacare is the issue that has caused the partial government shutdown. Under the current system, 51% of the votes have to go in favor to amend the bill, and it still caused gridlock. The current failure of the United States government to be able to amend previously passed bills sheds light on the fact that the old system would have been impossible. If a unanimous decision is required, even more compromise will have to occur which was the case in the 1780s.
    Because land ownership equals power and influence in the United States government, from the 1780s to the present day, a major difference in opinion was started. The bigger states lobbied that the western territories, west of the old Proclamation Line of 1763 and east of the Mississippi, should be given to them because their large population should result in a bigger influence. The smaller states wanted the territory to go to the federal government to avoid the larger states gaining more power. Since these two ideas were so drastically different, it became impossible to be solved unanimously. The Land Ordinance of 1785 was passed by a 7/13 majority; any amendment to this bill would have been impossible considering these differences. This weakness caused the Articles of Confederation to be stagnant in their ability to amend bills.

    Colin Fuss
    Site: The history textbook

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  9. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States. It was drawn up by the Continental Congress – the very congress that achieved substantial success in the American Revolution; however, had the Articles existed any longer, the United States wouldn’t have been the United States that we know of today, for this first constitution had many weaknesses that could bring the country to downfall. Among these weaknesses, I believe the most important one is that there was no common currency.
    Without a common currency, different states couldn’t carry out business with each other; there was no interstate trade. In other words, each state had its own economy that had nothing to do with that of others. Then after the peace in 1783, Americans wanted to buy things that they couldn’t during the war. People imported a lot of goods from other countries, including England. However, they bought more that they could afford. At the same time, all the states issued different kinds of currency, thereby increasing the amount of money in circulation. This excess of currency led to the decreasing value of the dollar, causing a financial collapse in 1784. A country without an economy was like a dragon without its head. The government couldn’t even afford controlling all the separate states since it couldn’t pay the officials.
    Moreover, the dearth of a common currency made it extremely difficult for the American government to collect taxes from the states since one dollar in Virginia could be worth two in Georgia and nothing in New York. If the government were to collect taxes from people in different states, they would argue why one state was paying more than the other, and such a conflict would cause even a bigger problem to a nation like the United States.
    Lastly, no common currency meant that the United States couldn’t pay all the soldiers and generals who had fought intrepidly and selflessly in the revolutionary war. Furthermore, the lack of money not only put these soldiers into huge amounts of debts but also created a disappointment among those who thought about how they, the victorious soldiers, were treated after all those battles. As a result, nobody wanted to join an army or a navy since they knew they wouldn’t be paid whatsoever. They knew their efforts would bring them nothing but debts and loss and imprisonment. Hence, no national army was established, therefore making this newly-born country extremely vulnerable not only to attacks from outside but also rebellions and chaos from inside. A lack of common currency led to a lack of army, giving many nations, especially Great Britain, a chance to invade the United States.
    As illustrated above, the United States was unbelievably vulnerable due to the lack of a common currency. This lack led to not only a lack of a unified economy but also many other problems in establishing a national army or collecting taxes. As result, the nonexistence of a common currency was the most important weakness of the first constitution of the United States.
    - Son Nguyen -

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  10. After the Revolutionary war was over and the British and Americans had laid down their guns, America turned their attention to the future. The Americans recognized that they needed a government to oversee their new nation. In order to accomplish this task of creating a new government, delegate’s form each colony came together and the Articles of Confederation were created. Although these articles set a government up which was very needed for a developing country, there were many flaws. These flaws stretched over an array of subjects, but the single weakest flaw that made the Articles of Confederation ineffective was the fact that the national government could not collect taxes from states or citizens. This flaw made the articles because it led to a number of other flaws. Because the government could not collect taxes, the government was unable to fund numerous things. For example, an army or navy was incapable of being sustained because there were no taxes to pay the soldiers or buy any war materiel. The government was also unable to collect taxes and create a common currency because many of the states that were located in the states would not accept the money that was distributed by the government. The lack of a common currency eventually led to Shay’s Rebellion, which showed how bad these problems actually were. This issue involving the absence of a common currency was due to the incapability of collecting taxes. Other issues such as the American government not being able to pay governmental employees also came from the fact that the government was unable to collect taxes. This problem was the weakest aspect of what made the Articles of Confederation problematic because of how it led to a number of other issues.



    John Leasure



    Cite: William Pang, Kenzie Lancaster

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  11. The biggest weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that there was no powerful chief executive. Without a powerful chief executive, the United States of America did not have anyone to make important decisions. Some may argue that a group of people of equal power could make decisions and run the country, but as can be seen by the current lack of government, that does not always work. A powerful chief executive is also needed in order to make decisions for the betterment of the nation. If certain states are opposed to a decision that is desperately needed for others, an executive leader is needed to make the decision to help the states that need it. Many of the other weaknesses could have been addressed if there was a powerful chief executive. While not having a national military is also a weakness, without a powerful chief executive, there would be nobody to lead the military. If Britain had attacked, even if there had been a national military, there would be nobody but the generals to tell them what to do. In order for a country to win wars, there needs to be a chief executive to lead the military. This is just one example of how the other weaknesses could have been addressed by a powerful chief executive. A powerful leader could also have made a common currency, regulated trade for all states, or regulated foreign trade. By not creating a powerful chief executive, the Articles of Confederation created many other problems for themselves, including some of the other weaknesses.

    By Chris Bower

    Cite: Dan Ives

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  12. Among the 11 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, one specifically, the United States having no national navy or army, is the most important. The United Sates had just come out of the Revolutionary War and was vulnerable. European nations such as, Great Britain and Spain had little respect for the new nation that could not even pay its debts or take action in a crisis. If Great Britain attempted to gain back the colonies by force during the time of the Articles of Confederation, the country had no way of protecting itself. The lack of army the United Sates had is a clear indication that the country could not defend itself if attacked, putting it in a weak position. If other powerful countries discovered the news that the new country had no defense system, they could have easily taken over. Clearly powerful countries wanted colonies to help grow their economy back home and for farmland. Additionally, since there was no national army, each state created their own militia. Having state militias can make citizens of nearby states turn against each other and the importance of a unified United States was crucial. If foreign countries tried to invade, the states would have to protect themselves, which they could not do without help from outside sources, therefore separating their new country. A growing country cannot have tension between state lines when the country needs everybody to work together to become stronger. In 1786, Captain Daniel Shays led farmers in an uprising against imprisonment for debt and high taxes. The rebels stopped collection of taxes but in January 1787 when the rebels attempted to take weapons form the Springfield armory, the state of Massachusetts stopped the rebellion. By not having a national army there was nobody able to halt the rebellion by force. I believe that the most damaging weakness to the Articles of Confederation was not having a national army or navy because of the state tensions that arose in a time of unification and the country’s lack of ability to defend itself while vulnerable.

    Reilly Kennedy

    Cite: Hang Qi

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  13. As the United States was breaking free from the suffocating hold of the British Empire, they began to envision what their future government would look like through the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation emphasized power to the individual state governments with absolutely no real federal government. The Articles oozed flaws and perhaps the most abhorrent of these flaws was the fact that the new government lacked a national Army and Navy (There were state militias).
    A federal military is a vital part of the United States. First of all, a federal military is needed to fight off an attack from a foreign nation. Although the states had their individual militias, they weren’t nearly strong enough to ensure the safety of the United States. There was absolutely no unification or communication between the militias which means that if a foreign army invaded, there would be mass chaos from a military standpoint that would likely lead to an American surrender. Being mindful of national defense was especially important for the United States at this time because they were fresh out of the Revolutionary War and a new country that could prove to be an easy target for invasion for a traditional European power.
    Another reason why a federal, unified military would be important at this time would be to put down violent rebellions by Americans. It is a fact that Americans rebelled against the government, for example Shay’s rebellion against harsh debtor penalties. A unified military would be able to better control rebellions that moved across state lines because there would be less confusion and jurisdictional dilemmas.
    The United States original document outlining the powers of government was a work in progress. There were multiple points of weakness that could have proven devastating if kept. The worst weakness was a lack of a national Army and Navy. The lack of this essential part of a nation would leave the United States wide-open to both domestic and foreign violence. In summary, the Articles of Confederation contained many weaknesses, but the weakness in most need of addressing is the lack of a national military in the United States.


    -Vaughan Kavanaugh
    -Cite American History Textbook

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  14. The Articles of Confederation were formed as a set of governing laws that dictated how the newly formed United States Government would be run. It delegated much of the power that federal, centralized governments would normally hold to the states, thus creating a substandard and weak central establishment. This was likely due to the states’ fear of being governed by yet another tyrannical central government, and wide delegation of powers likely seemed to be the optimal choice at the time. However, this was not the case, and the government under the articles of confederation had many weaknesses. Out of all these weaknesses, government’s inability to create and enforce tax collection laws from was the direst, for an assortment of reasons.
    Under the articles of confederation, the national government did not have the ability to collect taxes from neither its states nor its citizens. The states held that power, implemented likely to prevent the abuse of taxation, and tax laws in each state varied widely. Being that taxes make up a major part of any government’s revenue, the inability to collect them led the national government into very rapid financial downfall. Post-war debt crushed congress’s ability to fund any projects, and any revenue the government did manage to bring in was largely funded by donation from the states, which was neither reliable nor mandatory. This resulted in congress having to beg for money from many of the states which refused to fund it, and seriously impeded much of the progress that may have been achieved. This also lead to certain states, which had more control over national government funding, having more power than states that were able to fund less, as they did not have the threat of cash flow loss at their hands. Overall, the inability to collect taxes not only decreased Congress’s ability to democratically operate, but also to function as a whole.
    As Congress repeatedly had very little reserves to conduct business with, many of the other issues with the articles of confederation were supplemented by this lack of funds. Congress did not have the funds to enforce the laws it made, nor did the states depend on the national government enough to mandate their cooperation. Under the Articles of Confederation congress was not allowed to create a national military, but because of its lack of funds a military would not have been able to be funded regardless. Even if the power to assemble forces was granted, it would have been useless without the proper assets to support a force capable of national defense, making the States even more vulnerable to foreign attack. Many other weaknesses of the Articles fall into this category, where even if the national government was permitted to conduct such business it would be incapable of being financed due to this one lack of essential power.

    -Jake Diamond

    Citations:
    - William Pang

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    Replies
    1. he Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses however the weakest article was most certainly the lack of a common currency. Not having a common currency acted as a barrier because it made trade significantly more complicated between states. Each state was acting as a separate entity witch made unity nearly impossible. Selling buying and trading was all occurring within individual states which had an adverse affect on the economy of the United states as a whole. This lack of a common currency not only acted as an economic barrier but also a cultural barrier due to the fact that each state had its own currency, so people from their own state would only do business with other individuals from their own state. This lack of a common currency is without a doubt the chief problem of the Articles of Confederation.
      ~ Katie Soper

      Sources

      Class notes
      textbook
      Breanna Sutton

      Delete
    2. The Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses however the weakest article was most certainly the lack of a common currency. Not having a common currency acted as a barrier because it made trade significantly more complicated between states. Each state was acting as a separate entity witch made unity nearly impossible. Selling buying and trading was all occurring within individual states which had an adverse affect on the economy of the United states as a whole. This lack of a common currency not only acted as an economic barrier but also a cultural barrier due to the fact that each state had its own currency, so people from their own state would only do business with other individuals from their own state. This lack of a common currency is without a doubt the chief problem of the Articles of Confederation.
      ~ Katie Soper

      Sources

      Class notes
      textbook
      Breanna Sutton

      Delete
  15. When first becoming independent, the United States wrote the Articles of Confederation. These Articles supporting strong, individual state government but weakened the overall country as a whole. One major weakness that the Articles created was that the national government could not collect taxes from the states or citizens. With no taxing, there was no money for the government to spend on any public works that help better the country.
    This weakness of no taxing the citizens or states came about when the United States were still declaring independence against the British. The men writing the articles did not want "taxation without representation." As William Pang stated "Problems soon arose, and debt started to build up." The debt starting to build continued to be a major problem, there was no way to pay it back. This soon caused major inflation in majority of the states who were printing their own money with very low value.
    The weakness of not being able to tax soon led to other weaknesses throughout the United States. Without any money in the national government there was no national army or navy because there were not sufficient funds. It also made the war debt of the American Revolution last for a long time, because there was no money to start rebuilding destroyed lands.
    Overall, The Articles of Confederation were not beneficial to the new country, but rather harmful to the many components in a government that need to be strong. Not taxing the people and citizens was just the start of the articles problems that needed to be fixed.

    Brooks Kiley

    Citations
    -William Pang

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  16. After the Articles of Confederation were established, trade became essential in everyday life. However, there was no interstate trade because of different currencies between states. Also, different values of money in different states caused foreign countries to pick and choose who they traded with. No common currency among the thirteen original states caused lack of trade and therefore led to an insufficient economy; this specific weakness caused foreign countries to pick and choose who they traded with, which was damaging to the unification of the United States.

    If foreign countries were choosing specific states only to trade with, this was an issue for the United States as a whole. Say France had something for sale, but only wanted to trade with Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts because they were the only currencies accepted by France. After France traded the product to the US, it could never leave that state, as the states could not trade with each other due to different currencies. This was an issue because different states had different products, but no way to acquire those different products from other states.

    The lack of common currency led to many other issues in the Articles of Confederation. First, with a lack of common currency between states, no national army could be established, as there was no national currency to pay the soldiers. So, this left the US very vulnerable to attacks from foreign countries. Another flaw that it led to was no establishment of national courts. This was also an issue because if anyone wanted to take a case to national court, it couldn’t happen. The court workers wouldn’t be paid, in the same flaw as the soldiers, because there was no national currency to pay for them; therefore, they could only be paid by individual states, and would then only be state courts, and not national courts. Additionally, no national currency also led to no powerful Chief Executive. Again, it is for the same reason as before; there was just no national currency to pay him with. Also, the lack of common currency led to the financial crisis of 1784 because different states were circulating different amounts and values of money.

    Finally, the greatest flaw that not having a national currency led to was not being able to collect taxes. Taxes are an essential part of any government, as they pay for day-to-day duties and physically pay the government officials. Consequently, not having a national currency led to no national taxes and therefore the states running themselves like individual countries. Despite this, the whole point of the Articles of Confederation was supposed to be to “unite” the states; instead, it ended up making them run themselves, defeating the whole purpose of the Articles of Confederation. Therefore, having no common currency was its biggest flaw, as it led to many others.

    --Sam Rusoff

    Cite: Son Nguyen

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  17. After the colonists had finally become independent, they needed to unify and create a national government. But the Americans were afraid of it becoming another tyrannical government. So they created a government that basically had no power. It was a confederation, which means that the national government is weak, and the state governments are strong. Although there were many weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation that made the new country weak, the fact that the country didn’t have a common currency was the weakness that damaged the new country the most.
    Having different currencies in one country is rare these days. In fact, some countries even the same currency as others, for example some European countries. It makes business between countries/in a country a lot less expensive if a common currency is available. Not having a common currency was the greatest weakness of the US government, because it made it difficult for states to do business with each other, due to the costs that accompanied the currency changes. Additionally, there was no real feeling of unity, because the states didn’t really want to trade among each other. This made the states feel more isolated from each other, and could have resulted in them separating.
    Furthermore, some Americans were very unhappy with the different currencies. Shay’s rebellion was due to the states not excepting money he got during the war. Soldiers had been paid by the national government, during the war, but the states thought these bills were worthless. Consequently the soldiers protested and wanted a common currency.

    Christopher Kreke

    Cite: Information is from the history textbook, and the Adv. US history class

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  18. In my opinion the weakest part of the Articles of Confederation was that the national government could not collect taxes from the states. This law dramatically separated the national and state government. It decentralized the government and distributed more power to the state government than the national government, strengthening the state government while weakening the national government. The Confederal system valued the power of the states over the nation, which created major separation between states, furthermore weakening the unity of the states. The government needed national funding to start up and for major projects such as expanding west. Because the national government could not collect taxes, the national government was forced to resort to printing their own money. Printing their own money created inflation, decreasing the value of money in the United States, ultimately weakening trade and the United State’s economy as a whole.

    Alyssa Cass

    Please note the majority of this information was taken from Prentice Hall's A History of the United States textbook and Mr. Gulotta's Adv. US history notes and presentation.

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  19. The Articles of Confederation: The Greatest Weakness.

    Of the eleven weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, I consider that the greatest one was the lack of a national army and navy. An army is a symbol of independence and unity in a nation. It is also a symbol of pride and protection. If a government does not have an army, the government becomes more vulnerable. For example, Shay’s rebellion in Western Massachusetts perfectly shows the vulnerability in the government when the necessity of a national force was not present due to the absence of an army. This event demonstrates the lack of control of the government of the United States. Hang Qi states, “No national army is an obvious sign that the nation cannot defend itself.” If an internal rebellion could shut down a government, then any country could easily overpower the United States. Therefore, the importance of an army is a necessity. Unity, pride and loyalty are the main factors that keep a country together. Today, the army and navy are two of the most honorable things Americans are proud of. For these reasons, I truly believe that the lack of a national force, an army and navy, was the most important weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

    Clementina Davila

    Credits to: Hang Qi and Bill Gulotta.

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  20. The most important weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that it did not support one powerful chief executive. Since colonies just got out of the monarch of England, they were strongly against another central government. Thus, the Articles of Confederation did not support one powerful leader that would be able to make decision on behalf of the whole country. Americans hoped that would help provide equality and give the power to people, rather than just one central politician. However, as it was proved later, it is not possible to rule the country without a chief executive. For example, since no one had the absolute power to make resolutions, it took government too long to react to any disputes inside their country, as well as in the relations with the others. It is no doubt that conflicts in the government were making it difficult to make a quick decision in case of an emergent situation. The lack of central leadership confused America and stopped its political development. I believe that the fact that the Articles of Confederation prohibited having one chief executive made them especially weak and caused their abolishment after eight years of being in action.

    Anna Kravtsova

    Cite: Mr. Gulotta's Adv. US History Class

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  21. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution written in the United States. This document made the national government week and promoted a strong State government. The biggest weakness of our government at this point was having no national army or navy. Having no protection for the United States made us a very easy target for opposing countries. Protection should have been a priority for US especially as a brand new country. This was also a problem because the national government had a hard time enforcing the law. The army was pretty much the police back then and with no intimidating enforcement crimes would continue to be committed.
    Spencer Cookson

    Credits: Clementina Davila Justin Donawa

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  22. A government with order and authority tends flourish with time; however, the United States government deliberately countered this belief in 1776. In June 1776 when Congress declared war on Great Britain, it was presumed that a central government had to be formed as well to unify the country for war purposes; thus, a committee of thirteen, with John Dickinson as chairman, prepared the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation were meant to be weak because the colonists had just broken away from what they considered a tyranny within the British government; therefore, a weak government was desirable so that the central government wouldn’t have absolute power. This idea soon rebounded upon the United States, when the government found itself with no authority over the country; therefore, the negative points outweighed the positive points of the Articles. One of the weakest aspects of the Articles was that each state had one vote and 9 states were needed to pass any law. This proves to be a weakness because some states such as Virginia, were much larger than other states, such as Rhode Island; therefore, the states that were bigger tended to have a larger population. It is not ethical to allow a small population to have the same say their government as a large population. The large states could become irritated with this because the population’s input is not being fairly represented to the government; thus, the vote a state has, should be proportional to the population within that given state so that the countries accurate opinions can be expressed. Additionally, it would not be in the country’s best interest to require nine state’s opinions to pass a law. This is because the individual states yearn for the prosperity of their own population; thus, if the law will benefit other states and the country as a whole, but not individual states, those other states will vote against the law. It would cost money for some states to benefit the needs of other states; therefore, laws would not be passed. This would weaken the overall well being of the United States because authority would not be enhanced by laws, and the success of individual states would be hindered because laws would not be passed to benefit their specific needs.

    -Molly Crabtree

    cites: Prentice Hall's A History of the United States textbook, Mr. Gulotta's US History class

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  23. After the American Revolutionary War, the American states wanted a new government. The government they wanted would be a government that would be able to aid them, yet not strong enough to completely rule them. Thus, the Continental congress wrote the articles of confederation, which declared a perpetual union of states and mutual friendship, while offering sovereignty to states. Since these articles were in favor of state self-government, many problems arose because of the lack of union between states; it was not after Jay’s rebellion when the states noticed they needed to unite in order to succeed.
    Of all of the articles of confederation, one specifically led to Jay’s rebellion, if it was not for the article of “no common currency,” the American colonies would have taken longer to unite or, perhaps, would have never joined together as a whole. The article that established no common currency within the American states ejaculated many problems for merchants and former military men. It was very complicated for merchants from one state to trade with individuals from other states because their state’s currency had no value in another state. After the war, most soldiers returned home to their previous work (most of whom were farmers), where they probably found debt from the time they had been in war. Even though these soldiers had been paid with continental currency, since the articles did not establish a common coinage, this money had lost all its value, thus these men were forced to suffer in order to pay their dues and provide stability for themselves and their families. Because of this problem, a former captain of the Continental Army, by the name of Daniel Shay, led a rebellion, in which he demanded more paper money, tax relief, relief for debtors, and an end to imprisonment for debt. These “Shaysites” protested, until they were put down. Despite their failure to gain exactly what they looked for, they opened the eyes to many American leaders to gather and offer a constitution that joined all states under a central power.
    All in all, if it were not for the article that established “no common currency” in America, Jay’s rebellion would have never occurred, thus the American states would have never joined under a central government that is what makes them so successful to this day.
    -Milton Martinez

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  24. The Articles of Confederation was document that was adopted by the by the Continental Congress in 1777. For the next eight years, it served as the United State’s first constitution. The Articles allowed each state to maintain its sovereignty and independence, which created a weak and fragile central government.

    The weakest part of the Articles of Confederation was the government’s inability to collect taxes from the states or the citizens that resided within them. This was a major flaw because the government had many problems after the American Revolution and had no money to help facilitate the recovery. For example, after the war with Britain, the colonies were left defenseless. Without the government being able to levy taxes, they had no money to support an army or a navy. This article also created problems for the working colonists. The government was unable to create a common currency between the different states. Without the government’s currency being distributed throughout all the states, many colonists did not accept the government’s money. This lack of common currency led to people not being able to trade amongst each other, along with many other issues. The Articles of Confederation had many flaws, all of which the colonies had to deal with for years. One of these main problems was that the government could not collect taxes from the states or the citizens. This was one of the main problems because it created a lot of other issues like a lack of common currency.

    Cite: US History textbook

    -Patrick Frey

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  25. The Articles of Confederation, while containing a few successes (such as the Northwest Ordinance), were primarily a combination of weaknesses in the colonies. Out of the many failures, the weakest was the fact that the National Government did not have an Army or a Navy. While the states had their own militias, they were weak, and their soldiers did not have enough experience to defend their states effectively. This was best shown during Shays Rebellion, where Daniel Shays led a group of about 1500 rebels to fight against the Massachusetts Militia. The rebels ended up overpowering the Militia, and when the militia requested assistance from the National Government, there was no help to be sent, as the National Government had no Army or Navy. Shays rebellion proved that America was unfit to defend itself, as it wasn’t even able to assist a state situated under its own rule.
    The fact that the American National Government had no Army or Navy also left itself exposed to attack from a foreign force. Without an Army and Navy, America would be unable to defend itself to any foreign country that wished to gain control of American Land. Thus, if an outside force did choose to attack, the safety and security of our country would be left in the hands of the state militias. The militias however would most likely defend only their state, which would make the United States no longer united in the face of imminent foreign danger.
    A national Army and Navy are essential to any power that wishes to stay in power. Whether a nation is offensive or defensive, a military is needed regardless of the circumstances. As Vaughan said, the lack of a military left the United States wide-open to both domestic and foreign violence. Had the States not soon changed the Articles, and created for themselves a National military, who knows what types of threats could have overpowered the States, whether form the outside or within.

    Evan Liddy

    Citations:
    - Vaughan Kavanaugh
    - American History Textbook
    - Mr. Gulotta’s Advanced U.S. History class

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  26. The most important weakness of the Articles of Confederation was the lack of an army or navy. Clementina states in her response, "An army is a symbol of independence and unity in a nation. It is also a symbol of pride and protection." This quote can sum up all of why a defense support is so significant. While an army and navy provides obvious protection from surrounding enemies, the sense of pride and unity is what makes a country powerful. The Untied States defense groups today are made of people who have so much pride in this country that they are willing to give up their own lives to serve us. Without an established army or navy, pride and unity are almost non-existent.
    As pride and unity are extremely important, the physical protection shouldn't be overlooked. Shay's rebellion in the mid to late 1780s is a prime example of the lack of national force causing problems for the government. If a rebellion within a country is able to be effective, why would it be difficult for other national forces to take over the United States?
    The protection, identity, and honor that a national army and navy bring to any country is insurmountable. The lack of a defense force was the most important weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

    PJ Webb

    Citation: Clementina and Mr. Gulotta's notes

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  27. The Articles of Confederation were a miserable failure. Although there were several weaknesses to the Articles of Confederation, the lack of an army or navy made the Americans extremely vulnerable. Especially coming out of the Revolutionary War, you would expect Britain to try to reclaim the United States. As Mackenzie Lancaster said, “It would have been an easy feat for Britain because none of the states would have been in unison with one another, making it very difficult to communicate during a war. Instead, the Articles of Confederation declared every state to have its own army” (Lancaster).
    An example of when a national army would come into use was during Shay’s Rebellion. A Revolutionary War veteran named Daniel Shay held a rebellion in Massachusetts. The rebellion turned violent and the United States government needed a force to shut it down. Due to the Articles of Confederation, there was no force to terminate it, which proved the Articles needed to be revised. It needed to incorporate a national army.
    It is clear without an Army or Navy, a country would have an extremely tough time trying to sustain a successful nation.

    Sources – Mr. Gulotta’s notes, Mackenzie Lancaster.


    MAx Way

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  28. The Articles of Confederation, the United States’ first written constitution was without a doubt a failure. While there were many weaknesses in the document, the most glaring weakness that undermined the unification and strength of the national government was that the majority of the power was given to the states. The central government was only given a minimal amount of control while the states were left to control nearly everything. The lack of control by the central government is most evident by the fact that it could not collect taxes from the states or its citizens. Without the ability to collect taxes, the national government did not have the capability to fund anything. Without the ability to raise money or have funds, the central government could not protect its citizens from foreign threat by constructing an army or navy; it also made having a common currency more difficult. The lack of taxing authority undermines the government’s ability to have a powerful chief executive or fund national courts. Also, with the inability to raise money from taxes, delegates were paid by the states that selected them, not the national government. The right to tax plays a significant role in forming, strengthening and unifying a country and permitting that country to govern its self. The Articles of Confederation needed to allow the central government to levy taxes from the states and its citizens. For the government to function properly and effectively it needs the power to collect taxes, and not just beg states for money. Additionally, the power to tax provides the central government with the ability to encourage behavior that unifies and strengthens the country and discourage behavior that weakens it. In the end, while there were many weaknesses evident in the articles of confederation, the weakness that was most damaging to the United States was the inability of the national government to collect taxes from its states or citizens.

    Aly Hall

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sources: Mr. Gulotta's notes

      Aly

      Delete
  29. The Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, was a document riddled with weaknesses. I believe that the biggest weakness in Articles of Confederation was that the delegates in congress were paid by the states who selected them rather than the country they worked for. This caused the delegates to be more loyal to the states and would work to improve their own state rather than working to improve America as a whole. In the early stages of a country where the states were very different and far apart, the country needed representatives who worked to improve America not the state that paid them. Since the delegates were focused on making their own state successful, in turn making themselves more financially sound, they missed the fact that the Articles of Confederation were not beneficial to the country. Had the delegates been paid by the country, the Articles of Confederation would have been abolished much quicker and ex-soldiers who fought in the colonial army such as Daniel Shays would not have lost their farms.
    Sources - Mr. Gulotta, Justin Donawa

    Will MacClarence

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  30. After the United States declared independence from the British, the state delegates created a confederation, which gave the national government very little power and the states most of the power. This system of government, written in the Articles of Confederation, had many weaknesses, the most damaging of which was that a unanimous vote was needed to amend the Articles.

    For most of the delegates, this was their first time creating a written form of government for a new country, so most likely the Articles of Confederation were not perfect and would need to be amended. The delegates were allowed to vote to amend an article and in order for the amendment to pass, the vote for it would have to be unanimous. Delegates from the northern states tended to have different opinions than delegates from the southern states, which would most likely lead to votes that were not unanimous. So in turn, not many articles would be amended.

    This is the most damaging weakness because it would essentially put the national government in a rut, where progress seemed unreachable. The national government could not keep up with a constantly innovating country because amendments would be too difficult to pass.

    Sam Mogul

    Citations:
    Will Pang
    Brooks Kiley
    Mr. Gullota

    ReplyDelete
  31. The Articles of Confederation were a miserable failure. Although there were several weaknesses to the Articles of Confederation, the lack of an army or navy made the Americans extremely vulnerable. Especially coming out of the Revolutionary War, you would expect Britain to try to reclaim the United States. As Mackenzie Lancaster said, “It would have been an easy feat for Britain because none of the states would have been in unison with one another, making it very difficult to communicate during a war.” (Lancaster) Instead, the Articles of Confederation declared every state to have its own army.
    An example of when a national army would come into use was during Shay’s Rebellion. A Revolutionary War veteran named Daniel Shay held a rebellion in Massachusetts. The rebellion turned violent and the United States government needed a force to shut it down. Due to the Articles of Confederation, there was no force to terminate it, which proved the Articles needed to be revised. It needed to incorporate a national army.
    It is clear without an Army or Navy, a country would have an extremely tough time trying to sustain a successful nation.

    Sources – Mr. Gulotta’s notes, Mackenzie Lancaster.

    Max Way

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  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  33. As the colonies struggled in the fight against the British for Independence, a call for government and order was shouted out. The colonist heard this and thus the Articles of the Confederation were born. The Articles of the Confederation were a set of governing laws that set the ground for how the government would run. The Articles of Confederation delegated a lot of the federal government’s power to the states causing the states to have more power and creating a weak central government. The reason that this type of government was the first thing that the American’s turned could be because of “the states’ fear of being governed by yet another tyrannical central government“ (Jake Diamond). Though they thought this type of government would lead to the creation of a prosperous nation, though they were gravely mistaken. The Articles of the Confederation in the end failed due to a series of weaknesses pointed out in class. Out of these weaknesses, the most problematic one was the central government’s incapability to tax the states.
    The central government was not allowed to impose taxes on the states that were under it, on the other hand the states were allowed to tax anyone who lived in the state, creating a further gap in power between central and state government. As we have learned, the central government was very poor and struggled to keep fresh supplies in stock for their troops. This led the government to go begging the states for money so that they could actually function as a government. Because of the inability of the government to tax the states they never had the funds to finance other governmental and continental improvements. Because of the lack of money the government could not pay people to enforce the law, another weakness in the Articles of Confederation. Another part of government that wasn’t able to be created were international courts, yet another weakness caused by this, there could be state courts, but the states were busy caring about themselves as if they were all individual countries, so courts were not a priority. This meant that people could run around doing what ever they wanted and there would be no repercussions. This weakness of the inability to tax caused a large amount of the other weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, thus showing that it was the most problematic weakness.

    Sources: Jake Diamond, Mr. Gulotta

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  34. The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. Its drafting by the Continental Congress began in mid-1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. This first constitutions’ aim was to provide its citizens with freedom and to limit to power of the national government to prevent a tranny government like the one that had formed in England.
    In efforts to limit the power of the national government the greatest mistake they made was not allowing the national government to tax states and citizens (Mark Choe). This is the greatest weakness because by not taxing the states and citizens the national government became so poor that it was not able to protect it states. The fact that national government could not tax the states simply showed that the national government had no power over anything. Without money from taxes the government was not going to have money to start an army and for other expenses. The inability of the national government to tax the states made it poor hence the United States were vulnerable as a nation.


    Another Kushaina

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  35. After the American Revolution there were many weaknesses in the US Government that was run under the Confederation. I feel that the most damaging article to the unification and strength of our young, new country was the fact that there was no army or navy under the articles of confederation. I feel this is a huge weakness to the development and unification of our young country. Our lack of a military was a huge weakness for the security of our country. When Shays Rebellion occurred the United States saw how vulnerable they were without a military. If Britain or Spain invaded the United States would no longer be in existence.
    ~Luke Amero

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  36. The Articles of Confederation was the first real sign of American Government. They had several ideas of how to run the government but a few things were missing. Above there is a list of the 11 biggest weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Of these weaknesses, one stands out the most. The lack of an Army or Navy is absolutely crucial for any country; it is needed for protection and safety. Also, without a national Army or Navy the nation completely lacked unity. The United States were left vulnerable to attack after the Articles of Confederation. Though they were never attacked in a serious manner, there was a single close call. Shays rebellion showed that it is easy for a group of people to get together and revolt. A strong Army and Navy are useful to reinforce laws within the country and also useful for protection in case any form of attack were to occur.

    Andre Bogdanovics


    Credit to Max Way, Mr. Gulotta and Mackenzie Lancaster

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  37. One of the biggest failures of American history before the 1800’s was the Articles of Confederation. The Confederation however was not particularly the problem, but more of what it is consisted of. There where eleven weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, despite these weaknesses however, there is one in particular this is significantly more damaging than the rest. Not having a navy or an army was a struggle in this time period. Having no navy or army, the United States was vulnerable to attacks; foreign countries that are against then could strike at any moment and the US would have no way to defend themselves. This changed however, when Daniel Shay realized how defenseless the United States. Daniel Shay was the leader of Shay’s Rebellion. This rebellion was a battle in which farmers were brought together to fight in Springfield Massachusetts to show the rest of America that we need a navy and an army, this lead to exposing the weaknesses of our foreign countries that may attack us.

    - Haleigh Sullivan

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  38. The Articles of Confederation had many flaws; however, I believe the greatest weakness was the fact that the National government could not tax the colonist. Without the ability to tax, the government has no money, power, or control. Instead of taxing in order to pay government officials, they begged for colonist to lend them money. When the government is forced to beg, it immediately becomes at the mercy of the people. This gives the people total control of the government and the country. Although this does not sound like a bad thing, you must give the government some power to keep balance and order. If the government is at the mercy of the people they have no way of stopping them from breaking laws and corrupting the government. These weak articles gave the national government and state no separation of power. Without the national government having the ability to tax its people, it becomes every state for themselves

    Henry Manley

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  39. The Articles of Confederation was the first set national government in the newly found United States. It was the constitution that the states and its people were going to follow. Being the first ever set laws for the United States it did have many major flaws. This weak central government was not something a country was going to be built off of. Out of the eleven given weaknesses, there are more then one that really stand out as being the most damaging to the country, but the one that stands out more then all the others is that the national government could not collect taxes from the states or the citizens (Mark Choe). The colonists fought for their independence because of taxes brought on them by the British. Now they were trying to stray away from making nation wide taxes. Only the states could tax the people and this funded them but not the congress and the things it needs to do. The congress needed money to pay off debts from the war to foreign countries, and to advance and improve the country as it started to grow. The Congress was often forced to ask and beg the States to give them money, and soon enough the congress was in debt. This was also contributed to the fact that each state had is own currency and without a common currency there was no way for the congress to use the money from one state because it would be almost worthless somewhere else. Not being able to tax the states and citizens was a huge weakness and could have lead to many worse things if it was not stopped, the government needs money to succeed and grow and as the United States grew it learned and fix things like this so it would become a successful country.


    Dan Driscoll




    Credit:
    William Pang
    Mr.Gulotta
    A History of the United States

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  40. The Articles of Confederation was undoubtedly one of the most significant documents of the 18th century. The articles were what unified a large amount of the colonies as a confederation, and obtained a majority people with the necessary rights to a healthy lifestyle. However, with all great things come tradeoffs. The Articles of Confederation had various weaknesses that had a strong impact on the government. There is often debate as to which weakness was the most destructive at the time. In my opinion, I believe the inability for the government to collect taxes had the highest impact on the governmental economy.

    Without being able to collect the necessary taxes from citizens, the government would be very financially limited. The 13 colonies were recently united as a confederation, and it was crucial they created stability. They needed to form a dependable navy to keep their nation safe from any future harm. In addition, the government needed ample amounts of money for “major projects such as expanding west.” (as stated by Alyssa Cass). Without being able to collect taxes, these necessities would be highly impossible, and the confederation would not be able to create any progress.

    Not only did the lack of taxes influence the present time for the confederation government, but it left a lasting impact for the future. The lack of taxes led to instability, and if the money were to be suddenly needed, it would not be available. The government would likely spend the money they do not have, which would result in debt. Any debt would create a bad template for the future as a confederation.

    It is therefore concluded that lack of taxes would leave many short term and long terms effects on the government. They would not be able to maintain a dependable navy, create funds for expanding out west, and the confederation’s economy would likely result in debt.


    Amy Rowland

    Citation:
    Alyssa Cass

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  41. The biggest weakness of the Articles of the Confederation was the inability of the federal government to levy taxes. Without being able to levy taxes, the government could not fund their federal activities and staff, so an army or a navy would be impossible to have (since the government wouldn’t be able to pay the soldiers or for the equipment). Law enforcement and national courts wouldn’t be able to exist either because they would need money to being running, too. The only way for the government to receive funds would be for the government to ask the colonies for money, and most colonies would not donate what they were asked to contribute, and as a result all federal government activities suffered. This weakness was so important, that delegates agreed at the Philadelphia Convention that the new Federal Republic would need the power to tax. Government taxes are crucial to a strong national government.

    Sarah Kinney

    Citation: Mr. Gulotta's notes, Dad

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