Freedom
In the year 1776, a new nation was born. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the colonies declared freedom from Britain and started developing a life by their own rules. In its first years of freedom, the United States was very much like a newborn baby. The nation was weak and inexperienced and just starting out. Once the United States separated from the country that brought it into existence, it faced developmental issues. One thing was clear: the United States were independent of Britain as established by the Declaration of Independence. However, what the Declaration did not do was set up a system of government because it was not a legal document. Thus, a new system of government was underway.
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The beginnings of government
In the earliest years of the United States government, the colonies were ruled by their individual state governments and by the temporary national legislature, the Continental Congress. However, people knew this style of governing should not last and therefore on November 15, 1777, the Continental Congress voted to accept a new plan of government called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. (3) This new plan for government was developed with the British tyranny of the recent past in mind and was ratified by all 13 states in 1781. (4)
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The Main Conditions of the articles
The national governing system of the fresh new nation was deliberately weak due to the desire of Americans to keep their government under control. The states wanted to ensure that under the new system of government, their own interests would not be tampered with by a strong central government which would be influenced by the more populous and prosperous states. Therefore, the main measures of the Articles of Confederations were constructed as follows. (5)
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Under the Articles of Confederation, the Federal Government had the right to:
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Under the Articles of Confederation, the Federal Government could NOT:
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Under the Articles of Confederation each state:
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A weak federal government seemed to be a good idea in the beginning, but over time, weaknesses of the government set up by the Articles of Confederation proved to be problematic. The major issues were the federal government's inability to intervene in cases of state disputes and the reliance on states to tax themselves, with no option of a federally mandated tax. Without these abilities, the federal government could not control the tax situation in Massachusetts while it quickly spiraled out of control, and was further unable to do anything about the uprising that began as a result.
(1) - The Declaration of Independence, photograph, Charr Crail, accessed April 25, 2014, http://charrcrail.org/category/inspiration-2/.
(2) - The Articles of Confederation, photograph, The Articles of Confederation Questions, accessed April 25, 2014, http://mrkash.com/activities/images/ArticlesofConfederation.jpg.
(3) - Richard Haesly, ed., The Constitutional Convention (San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2002), 14.
(4) - Haesly, The Constitutional Convention, 15.
(5) - Articles of Confederation, Doc. (1781). Accessed April 23, 2014. http://www.ushistory.org/documents/confederation.htm.
(6) - Haesly, The Constitutional Convention, 192.
(2) - The Articles of Confederation, photograph, The Articles of Confederation Questions, accessed April 25, 2014, http://mrkash.com/activities/images/ArticlesofConfederation.jpg.
(3) - Richard Haesly, ed., The Constitutional Convention (San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2002), 14.
(4) - Haesly, The Constitutional Convention, 15.
(5) - Articles of Confederation, Doc. (1781). Accessed April 23, 2014. http://www.ushistory.org/documents/confederation.htm.
(6) - Haesly, The Constitutional Convention, 192.