What are the Articles of Confederation?

After the Revolutionary War ended, the United States needed to develop a plan of government. The Articles of Confederation was the first plan of government we had after the Revolutionary War.

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress made the laws. Each state had one vote in Congress. However, because the people were afraid of a strong federal government, the power of Congress was limited. For example, Congress couldn’t levy taxes or control trade.

A three-person...

After the Revolutionary War ended, the United States needed to develop a plan of government. The Articles of Confederation was the first plan of government we had after the Revolutionary War.

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress made the laws. Each state had one vote in Congress. However, because the people were afraid of a strong federal government, the power of Congress was limited. For example, Congress couldn’t levy taxes or control trade.

A three-person executive branch ran the executive branch created under the Articles of Confederation. The people limited the power of the executive branch because they were afraid of one person having too much power.

While the Articles of Confederation was designed to be a weak form government, it did have some successes. The Land Ordinance of 1785 was an excellent way to divide the western land and sell it. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a good way to establish a process of how territories would become states.

Unfortunately, by creating a weak federal government, many problems developed. There were financial issues. The government had a hard time paying its debts because it couldn’t tax its citizens. Also, because both the state government and the federal government printed money, people weren’t confident in the value of the paper money. Another issue was the lack of a court system. The states had no place to take their disputes. Finally, because the federal government couldn’t make people join the army, there was little the federal government could do when other countries interfered with our trade or created border disputes.

These weaknesses led people to decide to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to discuss writing a new plan of government. That meeting, known as the Constitutional Convention, led to the development our current plan of government, which is called the Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation was our first plan of government after the Revolutionary War ended.