After reviewing 11 of the weaknesses of the United States Government under the Articles of Confederation listed below, select the one that was the most significant to correct and say why you believe it to be true.
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 trade
8. National gov. did not regulate foreign trade
9.
National gov. did not have the power to make
treaties
10. No national Army and Navy
11. National Gov. could not collect taxes from States of Citizens
This link will display the actual Articles -------------->>
Transcript of Articles of Confederation: Just click the above link.
11. National Gov. could not collect taxes from States of Citizens
This link will display the actual Articles -------------->> Transcript of Articles of Confederation: Just click the above link.
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5. No powerful Chief Executive:
ReplyDeleteThis weakness where there is no powerful chief executive is the most significant to correct for these reasons: Without a president or executive leader, there would be no one to enforce the laws since it is their job to enforce them. If there is no executive leader to enforce laws, no laws would be enforced thus causing possible chaos and disorder. With no laws, the people would be free to do whatever they want with no limits no matter how wrong morally or constitutionally it is.
-Jenalyn Rembish
Something to add to strengthen my point:
DeleteSomeone like a powerful chief executive is needed to put their foot down and make decisions to help lead the government. If no one is willing to state what is wrong and right and puts their foot down to establish what should be allowed and what is not, how will our government survive. The people would be affected by this whether it is physical, financial, economical, governmental and various other scenarios. Without a powerful chief executive, how can any of our rights and laws be established in the constitution? Who would enforce these laws because not just anyone should have the power to say what should or should not be established as a law, bill or right? How would all the other rights and laws in the Articles of Confederation be established if there is no leader to enforce them?
-Jenalyn Rembish
5. No powerful Chief Executive
ReplyDelete- This weakness of the Articles of Confederation was the most significant because there was no law enforcement. Since the Executive Branch is in charge of law enforcement, and there was no powerful Chief Executive, the national government didn't enforce the laws. With no law enforcement, there was no threat to abide by the law since there was no punishment. If the people didn't obey the law, then it would create chaos, making the Articles of Confederation even weaker.
- Nicky Friedman
11. National Gov. could not collect taxes from States of Citizens
ReplyDeleteThis weakness would have been a major drawback for the American government. With no ability to collect taxes, the national government would have very little funds resulting in less out of state trading and communication. Without such necessities, the States would have been divided amongst themselves.
con law students did not have to answer this question--but you are always invited to comment on anything in my blog Greg.
Delete3. Unanimous vote needed to amend the Articles
ReplyDeleteThe Articles of Confederation had many other flaws in it that lead to its failure, but mostly because there was no easy way to change those flaws. The colonies had already begun to conflict over issues such as slavery and views on the British Royal Monarch reigning over the them. There with this third article forcing mutual agreement among all of the colonies was intended to protect colonies (especially the Northern and Southern ones) from going against each other, but failed because there was no way that all of the colonies were going to completely agree with each other. These opposing views eventually fed into the instigation of the American Civil War.
Wow Colleen--you have made me think of this weakness in a different way---well done!
ReplyDelete10. No Army or Navy
ReplyDeleteThe articles were made after the revolution as the first constitution of the United States. However, if any other country, had any intent of taking them for themselves, which Britain did, this new country would be defenseless. This would render the entire revolution useless because they would be back under foreign rule. If the United States is taken back, than the Articles of Confederation, and the other 10 weaknesses, would be irrelevant because the United States would be under foreign control. The weakness of #10 could be seen when the national government couldn't provide help to Massachusetts during Shay's rebellion. This caused the states to realize the need for an army and navy and was a major reason for the large turnout at the Philadelphia Convention.
-Tim Ernst
2. Each state had one vote and 9 states needed to pass any law
ReplyDeleteAmong the eleven weaknesses of the United States government under the Articles of Confederation, the fact that each state had one vote and votes of 9 states were needed to pass any law was the most significant weakness. It might have seemed like a good plan since it promised equality for all states, but, this was a contradiction since it did not bring equality among people. All states had different populations and this could not represent the people equally. In other words, people from certain states with low population had more power than those from states with high population. Furthermore, by giving each state one vote, this was automatically admitting the failure of the confederation in forming an effective central government. The confederation just became a group of 13 different countries with different opinions instead of becoming a single strong national government.
8. National Government did not regulate foreign trade
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Articles of Confederation are in essence weak, the National government's inability to regulate foreign trade was the most crucial weakness. Because of the nature of a Confederate government, the national government had very little power over the individual states, who kept their power to themselves. The national government could not regulate trade within the states, let alone foreign trade, which in turn caused poor foreign relations. The states were conducting foreign trade on their own, signifying that America was functioning as eighteen separate units as opposed to one united country. This conveyed to other countries that America was not functioning as a stable cooperative country, so they are not secure enough to do business with. America, being a newly founded country, did not need to be expressed as a weak unit, for it would make them vulnerable to attack from other countries.
6. No common currency
ReplyDeleteOf the many flaws in the Articles, this was the one that made the 13 states more like 13 different countries. This also impacted the people that had been part of the revolution but had been payed in confederation currency; this currency became useless after the states united and caused war veterans, such as Shay to rebell against the state. This also meant that if you were to travel around the country you needed to exchange your money for every state you crossed and since nobody knew how much a New York dollar was worth compared to one from Pennsylvania or Rhode Island, it was impossible to make fair exchange from one currency to the other. It also caused the great depression of 1784, when paper money was refused as worthless because of inflation in the states.
-Pedro Escobar
10. No Army or Navy.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Articles of Confederation were written right after the conclusion of the American Revolution, the Articles included eleven main weaknesses but having no Army or Navy was the biggest weakness of them all. Due to the fact that American citizens were scared to give too much power to the government because of what had just happened in England, they decided not to establish an Army or Navy, rather, have state militias. However, what they did not realize was that any country that wanted to take them over would have had a very easy task with only having to take out state militias and no federal Army. The bottom line was that America could not protect themselves from foreign countries and, had other countries taken advantage of that, America would have had their freedom that they just won taken away. Along with the other eleven weaknesses, the fact that the Articles of Confederation consisted of no Army or Navy drove the delegates of twelve states to meet in Philadelphia to write a new constitution.
11. National government could not tax states or citizens
ReplyDeleteI feel this is important as, in my opinion it is the part of the articles of confederation that would, if taken away today, have the biggest impact on our society, as without taxes, the government would have no funding to develop infrastructure or improve the economy, something which would drastically hinder the united states competitiveness in the international market. In comparison, other aspects such as the delegates being paid by the state (1), while being poor ways to build a country, could be managed and wouldn't hinder the country too much.
Of the eleven weaknesses of the United States's government under the Articles of Confederation, there was no greater weakness than the absence of common currency. Even though the economy was trying to better itself, the different currencies in each state made it difficult to do so. The value of the dollars that were used in different states would decrease since no other state besides the owner of that currency would use it. Due do this absence, the value of money started to decline, and the economy of the United States fell into a crisis. As the value of money deteriorated, the trade within the country proved useless. All the states, therefore, tried to trade with only European nations, causing a paucity of imported and exported goods to drop significantly–making it impossible for the American economy to grow. This cycle will continue until the currency within the country is unified.
ReplyDelete6. No Common Currency
Delete6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThe failure of the Articles of Confederation cannot be pinpointed to one article in particular, but rather each one negatively effected the field in which it was applied too. Article number six put a huge damper on the economical success of the colonies. It was extremely hard to make sales or trades between the colonies when each one had a different currency. This currency which was of value with in its own state but was useless and undesired out side the borders. If a citizen of Boston took a trip down to Virginia he would have no means of paying for anything. Beyond the state currencies there was also the continental currency, this paper money which was severely inflated was of no use to anyone and cost more to print than it was actually worth. This differentiation of currency not only caused immense confusion and chaos with in the United states but it also isolated each sate making them appear more as thirteen different countries rather than maintaining the unity they had just earned.
2. Each state had one vote and 9 states needed to pass any law
ReplyDeleteOf the eleven flaws of the Articles of Confederation this one had the most impact on it's failure. This article went against attempts of crating equality throughout the nation. It did not make sense for each state to have one vote, for the simple reason that some states were larger in population than others. Why should a state with 30 thousand people and a state with 450 thousand people have the same amount of say in whether or not a law should be passed. It is simple, a state with a larger population should be represented by a larger say in government. This article made the states unequal and truly infuriated many of the colonists. This article was definitely the Articles of Confederations major downfall. It is because of this flaw, that forced delegates to draw up a new constitution, which has been the skeleton to our government for centuries.
6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThe failure of the Articles of Confederation cannot be pinpointed to one article in particular, but rather each one negatively effected the field in which it was applied too. Article number six put a huge damper on the economical success of the colonies. It was extremely hard to make sales or trades between the colonies when each one had a different currency. This currency which was of value with in its own state but was useless and undesired out side the borders. If a citizen of Boston took a trip down to Virginia he would have no means of paying for anything. Beyond the state currencies there was also the continental currency, this paper money which was severely inflated was of no use to anyone and cost more to print than it was actually worth. This differentiation of currency not only caused immense confusion and chaos with in the United states but it also isolated each sate making them appear more as thirteen different countries rather than maintaining the unity they had just earned.
1. Delegates were paid by the states that elected them.
ReplyDeleteThe weakest part of the Articles of Confederation was the fact that the Delegates were paid by the states that elected them. This is because major corruption could occur. When a delegate is elected and paid by the state then, the loyalty of the delegate could be questionable; meaning that the "majority belief" that a delegate is supposed to interpret could easily be persuaded one way or another with the help of money from the state (employer). The state then, could potentially have the greatest influence in a delegates decision. This gave the state even more power considering the weakness of the national government already at the time.
-Michael Schiffer
10. No Army or Navy
ReplyDeleteThis article seems as though it was constructed without a lot of thought towards the future. This appears as the weakest link in the Articles of Confederation because when these articles were written, the United States had just been recognized as an independent country. It seems useless to not have an army or a navy, because in any particular instance of British strength, they could attack American land to take America back into the British Empire and Americans would have no defense. their lack of army and navy completely depletes any hope for a support system, which strongly decreases their strength as an independent nation. If there were to be an attack from any country, not just Britain, the lack of organization that comes with not having a navy or army would be reason enough for the failure to retain American independence.
-Emily Hubbard
11. National Government could not collect taxes from states of citizens
ReplyDeleteThis concept of not allowing the government to collect taxes from states of citizens is biggest flaw in the Articles because it inhibited the government of a major source of income. This revenue would have allowed better financing for the war and could support future public works or services. An example of how this failed was when the government did not have enough money to cloth or feed Washington's forces. In the end if Americans do not need to pay taxes to the national government, it makes citizens overall not contributing members to the whole which disconnects the unity our founding fathers wished for.
Number three of the Articles of the Confederation was the most significant to correct because of the necessity for the states to compromise; each state functioned as its own country, having its own set of laws, currency and morals, the nation would have never been able to unanimously vote on the laws of the nation, therefore it would be necessary to have majority rule (2/3) in order to amend the Articles.
ReplyDelete-Krissy Govertsen
*Number three of the Article of the Confederation was the most significant to correct because of the necessity for the states to compromise. Each state functioned as its own country, having its own set of laws, currency and morals (the right to own slaves). The nation would have never been able to unanimously vote on the laws of the nation, therefore it would be necessary to have majority rule (2/3) in order to amend the Articles. *
Delete6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThere were many flaws within the Articles of Confederation, yet one of the most detrimental ones was the lack of common currency. Each state was allowed to have their own type of currency, which was convienent if you were planning on never leaving your state or only doing business within that particular state. Another issue was that nobody knew whether the Rhode Island dollar was worth more than the Virginian dollar since there was no fixed currency conversion. That made inter-state trade and business difficult since there was no way of being able to price goods. Having no common currency hurt the country as well; America was in dept due to the American Revolution. Even if the national government could collect taxes they would have thirteen different dollars they would then have to deal with once they finally collected it. Those dollars also could potentially be rejected by European countries that America would be trying to pay back. With the different currencies the states were isolating themselves, making America dis-jointed and not as united as it could of been.
Francesca Ghi
6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThis law of no common currency in the United States would lead to conflicts between the states and an unsuccessful economy. The states would have no way of confirming the value of other state dollars. This would cause the states to be divided because people will have no way of making payments in different states. The different currencies would also make it hard for businesses to make money, as well as for farmers to sell and trade their crops. A different currency in each state would also lead to more paper dollars circulating causing the value of the dollar to decrease. This inflammation would lead to a great debt that people would have to take on because the paper dollars would become worthless; only gold and silver would be accepted for payments. A different currency created a chaotic and divided country.
-Isiah Nunez
10. No national Army or Navy
ReplyDeleteI believe the lack of an army and navy was the most important thing to fix when getting rid of the Articles of Confederation. All the other flaws of the Articles are very important, but number 10 was the most important because if the new and weak United States of America were to be attacked by any foreign nation they would be doomed. They had no national protection force that could fend off invaders. The United States could have been conquered quite easily by any country if they had desired. This was proven during Shays Rebellion. National forces were called upon in Massachusetts, but nobody showed up and Massachusetts had to deal with it themselves. This is what eventually helped lead to the Philadelphia Convention, and what proved to most colonies that it was urgent and necessary to show up.
5. No powerful Chief Executive
ReplyDeleteWhen the Articles of Confederation states that there is no powerful Chief Executive it is giving each state the power to rule its one state on its own. This creates a large problem because after the American Revolution creating individual states with no common purpose and no chief executive, it allows the states to have different laws and regulations, making it harder in the future to create one independent country instead of eighteen individual states. This weakness is more significant than the others because even though the Articles of Confederation created some laws that all states had to follow there was no Chief Executive to enforce those laws to each individual state. Therefore, the citizens never needed to follow these laws because no was going to be there to correct them. This weakness leads to issues in some of the other eleven weaknesses, including number six, no common curtesy, number eight, no regulation of foreign trade, number nine, no power to make treaties, and number ten, no army and navy.
-Alli Toffolon
3. Unanimous vote needed to amend the Articles
ReplyDeleteOut of all the eleven stated flaws of the Articles of Confederation, I feel that the need for a unanimous vote to amend the Articles was its great flaw. There were many problems within the Articles that led to an unsuccessful government, but the third weakness made it almost impossible to change those problems. A unanimous vote from every state was very difficult, since some states were very different in culture. So if it is impossible to change the Articles of Confederation because of this weakness, then the government will have no opportunity to improve upon itself. That is why the third weakness is the most devastating flaw of the Articles of Confederation.
-Austin Brandt
11. The National Government could not collect taxes from States of Citizens. Without any taxes, the government could not depend on a steady income. Although they were able to accumulate some profits from western settlement, this would only last for so long and give only earn so much. The Articles of Confederation needed to be able to tax the citizens because the income would be able to cover other weaknesses such as an army or navy. In order for the National Government to be effective, it needs money to pay for the politicians and more importantly the decisions they make. Without it, laws couldn't be enforced and problems would soon arise. They would be unable to pay for roads, courts, or any other public services that the citizens need.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Thompson
6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThe lack of a common currency under the Articles of Confederation proved to make both interstate and foreign trade extremely difficult. The fact that each state printed its own currency and that there was no set exhange rate discouraged different countries from even wanting to trade with the states. The lack of uniformity during the interstate exchange of currency also made the process of trading with other states a very complex process. Furthermore, each state was looking out for the good of their own treasury as opposed to the economic stability of the nation as a whole. An important component to a country’s success relies on the amount of revenue that it is able to acquire through both domestic and international trade and commerce, and without a commmon currency the national revenue did not amount to much.
6. No common currency:
ReplyDeleteI consider the lack of common currency to be the greatest flaw in the Articles of Confederation. This fact greatly restricts America’s development in various aspects. The most notable is economy, as not having a common currency can cause inflation. Thus, one of the results is that there are many people hoarding gold and silver. This flaw makes trading between states difficult, effectively diminishing American economy. Not only that, the difference in currency also leads to another problem for the national government, making the matter even worse since the national government is already having a difficult time trying to gain fund at that period of time. Furthermore, the disappearance of the unity of currency also separates the colonies from each other, showing that America is still not completely unified yet.
10. No Army or Navy
ReplyDeleteOf the eleven main failures of the Articles of Confederation, the fact that the United States did not have an army or a navy was an extremely important flaw that needed to be modified. The United States was very weak after gaining independence from England, and the lack of a defense system didn't help. Since the United States did not have an army, any country could take them over with ease. They were in an extremely vulnerable position, and they needed all the protection they could get. It was when Shay's Rebellion occurred that the government finally realized that the Articles of Confederation needed a change. When the angry farmers led by Daniel Shays came up to Massachusetts to protest, none of the called-upon officials showed up, and the state was left to defend themselves. After this conflict, the Philadelphia Convention eventually took place, at which delegates discussed the need to form a new Constitution.
6. No Common Currency. This Article of Confederation, I believe, was one of the most significant articles to correct because it regulated trade and purchase throughout the states inside the colonies, making the economy hard to manage, as well as the trade with the foreign countries. There was a different currency for every state, which made it difficult for settlers to purchase any item outside of its state. The states would have no possible way of confirmation for the value of each currency. It made the money each state had almost worthless and useless outside of it's own borders, which made it difficult for businesses to make real money. An example of the difficulty that the different currencies made is the issue of the Rhode Island dollar and the Virginia dollar, where the residents could not determined which was worth more, because there was no fixed currency statements or laws. The separate currencies were dividing the states and isolating them, contributing to the lack of togetherness and to become a united nation. This article needed to be corrected for America or else the economic system throughout the colonies and with foreign countries could not work because each one of the state's currency was worthless in another. It was needed to have one type of currency for the entire nation to be able to purchase and sell things successfully for America in the future and to unite the country as a whole.
ReplyDelete10. No national Army and Navy
ReplyDeleteThe most significant weakness of the United States Government under the Articles of Confederation was the lack of an Army and Navy. The United States had just become and independent country, and without any military protection they were an easy target. At any time a foreign country could decide to invade and take this independence away from them. The American Revolution inflicted major damage on the continental army and militias, who had disbanded and even at their peak were not that powerful. When Daniel Shay, a former captain of the Continental Army, led Shay’s Rebellion the mob of farmers had to be fought off by a state militia paid for by wealthy merchants because there was no nation military. A national Army and Navy was absolutely necessary and the most significant weakness because without it the United States could of easily been conquered by another country or lost to internal rebellion and independence would have once again been nonexistent.
-Tipper Higgins
Article 11. National government could not collect taxes from states of citizens
ReplyDeleteTo thrive as a country you need money. Article 11 states that the south could not collect taxes from states of citizens. The south never really had a good economy so article 11 was especially damaging to the south if they wanted to survive disconnected from the north. The government was only allowed to request for money so when several states failed to compile the money this hurt congress and their continental army. How could the south protect themselves sufficiently if they didn't have properly funded soldiers and how could congress run efficiently if they lacked money. I believe not being able to collect taxes is a huge flaw which affects many aspects of southern life that could lead them to fail as a separate entity.
11. The National Government could not collect taxes from States or Citizens
ReplyDeleteThe inability to tax citizens or the states is the biggest flaw in Articles of Confederation. The major concern for the citizens was to make sure the government did not become too powerful, and a way they thought they could prevent this was to not give money to the national government. If not changed, this could have proved to be detrimental to the existence of the "united States." If the government did not have a steady money supply, they would not be able to form and supply and army/navy. This would have made it very easy for and outside force to come in and take over the newly freed American people. Taxing the states and people would also fix the disparity of a common currency. Since no one knew the conversion rate of the one state's dollar to the next, it would have been impossible to tax the people. This problem would lead to a common currency being created.
the Articles*
Delete10. No Army or Navy.
ReplyDeleteOut of the 11 failures of the Articles of the Confederation I feel that not having a national Army or Navy was the biggest weakness. The new weak country was defenseless and completely vulnerable. I am actually very interested and question why no other country recognized this and took advantage. However, protection was mandatory for this new country and Shay's Rebellion was what made that mandatory protection relevant to the government. The Philadelphia Convention was called and a new Constitution was put into place.
10. No national Army and Navy
ReplyDeleteThe Articles of Confederation had flaws within almost every point, the fact that there was no national army or navy was the greatest of these weaknesses. America had just finished a series of wars, and to think that they were safe from enemies was naive. At this point in time, America was a relatively weak country, making it an easy target for other countries ambitious for new land. It is also an economic concern in that people are less likely to trade by sea if their shipments are getting seized without a navy to enforce protection.The citizens of America shouldn't be worried about being attacked and having no means of protecting themselves. Although war is the greatest insult to the intelligence of the human race, In this day and age the world is not peaceful enough for america to lack a nation army and navy and still prosper.
No. 5: No Powerful Chief Executive
ReplyDeleteThe greatest weakness out of the 11 weaknesses of the "Articles of Confederation" was that there was no chief executive. This meant that there was no powerful central government which would lead to individual states having too much power for any other state to try to govern or work with another state. There was also no law enforcement to make sure each state followed the rules that the Articles of Confederation tried to apply. This ultimately lead to war and arguments between the states and some of the other 11 weaknesses like, no national courts, no common currency, each state regulates its own trade, national government didn't regulate foreign trade, have the power to make treaties, or collect taxes from states.
-Pape
11. National Gov. could not collect taxes from States of Citizens
ReplyDeleteDue to the national government not being able to collect taxes from States of Citizen it hurt the economy in many ways. First, today the army, navy, military, and airforce are runed by the government. The government runs these groups by taxing people and if the government is not taxing people, that concludes that there is less money available to grow a strong army. Also, public schools run because of taxes, everyone in the town have to pay taxes and some of that goes to go schools. Without taxing, many groups would not be able to run because they can not afford it. Taxes also go to fixing highways and making the state a better state. Therefore, if national government could not collect taxes from States of citizens, it would be really hard to run the states.
6. No common currency
ReplyDeleteUnder the Articles of the Confederation the most damaging weakness in America was the lack of common currency in the States. Each State having their own type of currency made it hard for trading to go on within and outside of the States because each currency was worth a different amount in each state. The currencies also diminished the value of the "Continental dollar" to the point that the expression "not even worth a continental" was created. This weakened the United States economy exponentially. Having a variety of currencies also divided the States, the lack of one uniform currency isolated the States from each other because they did not have one accepted form of money to unite behind.
6. No Common Currency
ReplyDeleteThe lack of a common currency was the greatest weakness of the articles of confederation. This is because without proper and universal money flow and stability, dealing with all other weaknesses would be much more difficult. Money is needed to build almost all parts of a nation, from trade to supplying an army and navy. Without a common currency, there were no set values or steady trade rates, which would make the whole process of "business" more difficult as opposed to having a common currency. This would drive prices up. The varying currencies also made collecting taxes a problem, which was another major weakness of the confederation.
The biggest weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that there was no single currency established for the United States. Each state had its own currency, which was severely impractical and expensive. Every time someone wanted to use their money in another state, they would have to convert their currency, which ultimately costs more money. This discourages American consumers, negatively affecting the economy. Also, this turns off other countries from trading with the States since they would have to pay to convert their currencies for each state. The United States’ method of money was complicated and time and money consuming for both themselves and foreign countries.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest weakness of the Articles of Confederation was number 3; A Unanimous vote needed to amend the Articles. Never will every single person and every single state agree on one thing, there will always be controversy. Therefore, with this law, decisions will never be made within the country, whether they be beneficial or not. Also nothing else in the Articles of Confederation will be able to be changed if this law was not changed. For example, if only three quarters of the represented states agreed to the change the currency to make one common for all states, the law would not be passed because the decision was not unanimous. Moreover, great ideas and decisions regarding trade and the economy, and other factors that heavily impact the country would be looked over because not everyone agreed on them. This poses a huge threat to the developmental progress of the country.
ReplyDeleteEach state regulated its own trade
ReplyDeleteTrading is of the most important aspect of a nation. While each state was regulating its own trade, the national government could not gain profit or money that would support the whole nation. As a result of this weakness of the government, Tariff wars began among the states because they only care about their own interests. For example, MA and NY could be fight to get silk from somewhere while Georgia actually needed it.The North and South could not come together because the north did not want slaves while the south wanted. More importantly, each state was acting as separate nation because it can get goods and money or even slaves from the trades but not under the government, that was enough to be independent as a nation. Therefore, each state ruled its own trade is the most essential problem under the Articles of Confederation.
Number eleven on the list of weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation was the most significant because without taxes the national government could not fund itself, a military, and many other important things. Therefore, the national government was powerless without the ability to tax. At first, I thought that number ten on the list, no national army or navy, was the most significant but then I realized a national army and navy could not be funded without the ability to tax the people. Almost every action a government makes requires money, which is why the absence of the right to tax the people in the Articles of Confederation was the most significant and needed to be changed immediately if the national government was to ever to be successful.
ReplyDeleteThe Articles of the Confederation failed because it was compromised of several inadequate articles that were meant to prevent tyrannical government and keep independence, but ultimately set the states up for failure. The weakest article of the eleven is number six; No common currency. No common currency prevented unity between the states because there were no currency exchange rates. Without currency exchange rates no trade or business can happen beyond each individual state’s separate economies. With thirteen separate economies the currency becomes inflated and worthless. The worthless currency hurts each individual economy and results in struggling communities and jobs. The weak economy shows other countries that the “United States” is disorganized and vulnerable which discourages foreign trade and relations and encourages foreign attack. The absence of common currency also prevents the government from having the opportunity to tax its people or gain some kind of governmental foundation that can make up for the debt from the revolution. Each individual state having its own economy essentially leads to no progress or growth because it keeps each state separate from each other by having incompatible economies.
ReplyDelete- Hannah Cooke (e period)
The third article of confederation, "Unanimous vote needed to amend the articles," is the weakest article because it give one person too much power, whereas if they veto the article doesn't pass. If we look at our government today, amendments will rarely get ratified and accepted due to the fact that the process requires 2/3 votes of the congress, and 3/4 vote of the state legislators as well as vice-versa. If this article doesn't get changed the change that is needed throughout time to amend for the future generations will NOT be possible.
ReplyDelete-Fortenbaugh
1.Delegates were paid by the states who selected them
ReplyDeleteThere were many weaknesses that needed to be corrected in the United States Government under the Articles of Confederation. This being said, the biggest fault in the Articles of Confederation was that the Delegates would be paid by the states who selected them. The concern with this policy is not that the Delegates were to be paid, as they were working hard for our country, but more who they were to be paid by. If they were being paid only by the people in their state, the Delegates may have had a tendency to do what the people occupying their state wanted, for the purpose of their own financial benefit. It was crucial that the Delegates be paid by a Central Government so they were not tempted to prioritize the needs of only their state, and so that they would keep the Confederacy's best interest at heart. This is a major flaw mostly because it creates a sense of separation and potential tension between the states at a time when it was extremely important for them to be unified.