The Articles of Confederation :: essays papers

The Articles of Confederation Adopted in congress in 1777 and ratified and in force in (1784?) Adopted for: a) unify in defense and war b) Foreign policy basic principle of articles for states to maintain control under central government assigned specific powers Organization of government: 1) one legislative house - unicameral legislature - passes laws 2) 2-7 delegates per state 3) 9 votes required to pass law 4) 13/ unanimous votes needed to amend Articles Powers: defense - army, navy, and treaties with Indians Foreign affairs - war Money - borrowing, spending, printing, determining value, coining Internal affairs - Judge disputes in special court hearings between states Enforcement laws determined by state therefore enforcement was selective to state desires and rarely done State restrictions - states could not: make war, treaties, international tariffs and coin money Duties of state - states must provide money/army? When requested by congress States must pay taxes based on land Weaknesses of Articles - I. trade regulation - congress had no power to regulate trade - done by states - caused: a) tariffs on imports and exports established by states b) states competed over control of waterways c) Foreign trade was diminishing; interstate trade was also stopping because of tariffs on each other making trade difficult II. Enforcement a) Central government included no enforcement/ executive branch b) Rules mostly ignored 1) taxes decided by congress based on land ( to be paid by states - didn't pay - congress had no income and had to borrow- land basis bad for south - few people and lot of land 2) no income for army - regulated number soldiers per state not given - kept for own defense result - SHAY'S REBELLION - Begun by Daniel Shay - farmer in Massachusetts wanted to begin own government and revolted - Mass. didn't have enough army to quell rebellion - soldiers also farmers and on other side - asked congress for help but appeal to no avail - states didn't list4en to congress cuz didn't care - continued for 6 months 3) Treaty of Paris not enforced - states refused to compensate loyalist for property lost and collect debts owed to British merchants - money all used for war effort Therefore England also violate and move troops to Northwest Territory (fur trade) Spain and England restrict trade on Mississippi and right of deposit in New Orleans III. Money - each state illegally made their own currency- congress could not prevent it - 14 forms of currency causing it to be worthless and inflation - made congress and states suffer - foreign countries unwilling to trade and