Articles of Confederation

Any country in the world is run by a government, judicial bodies and its citizens. The constitution serves as the backbone of the country without which the law will eventually fall. The constitution is the embodiment of essential principles according to which the state and its people are supposed to operate. In the United States, for example, the articles of confederation were used to run the country. However, they failed due to reasons such as lack of taxing power by the confederation government, Shays’ rebellion, jealousy and arguments among states and tariff wars.

Lack of taxing power by the confederation government played a pivotal role in the fall of the Articles of Confederation.  There were financial problems that made it hard for the government to repay its debts. The government, therefore, opted to print a lot of money which triggered inflation in the country (The Federalist Papers Project. 7). The people experienced hard economic times which influenced the leaders to come up with another piece of law to govern the operations of the country. Besides, the war over tariffs played a substantial role in the fall of the articles of confederation. The federal authority lacked the influence to regulate regional trade. Additionally, states imposed rates on goods from other states which interfered with regional trade.

Shays’ rebellion also played a substantial role in the fall of the articles of confederation. There arose a tax protest by farmers from western Massachusetts which exposed the government’s weaknesses of not dealing with domestic revolt. Such an event triggered the founding fathers like James Madison and George Washington to delegate a meeting on possible changes to the articles of confederation (RICHARDS 145). Led by Madison, the delegates suggested that an assembly of all the thirteen states be held in 1787 which ended the era of the Articles of Confederation.

An individual would prefer the articles of confederation over the constitution because unlike the articles of confederation which had the will of the people at heart, the constitution was influenced by individuals with selfish interests (The Federalist Papers Project. 7). For instance, the issue of slave ownership was never properly addressed as some of the founders feared losing slaves who worked in their plantations. The articles of confederation, on the other hand, unified people in the fight for independence from Great Britain and the government effectively conveyed an end to the American Revolution in the treaty of Paris in 1783

Unlike the Articles of Confederation that could not deal with hostile economic behaviour among states, the constitution had the powers to enforce some of the issues that the Articles of Confederation intended (HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 345). The new government performed better compared to the many states that worked individually. Besides, the Articles of Confederation had welded the states into a perpetual union that kept their supreme authority as separate small countries that led to identity crises. However, the constitution brought the country together as the supreme law in the land.

In conclusion, the Articles of Confederation was used in the United States. It unified the people in the fight for independence from Great Britain but the states remained independent and congress was given the powers to make treaties and associations. As a result, the Articles of Confederation failed necessitating the need for a new constitution.

Works Cited

HARPER & BROTHERS, P UBLISHERS. . “History of the Constitution of the Uited States of America.” HARPER & BROTHERS, P UBLISHERS. (1885): 1-667.

RICHARDS, LEONARD L. “Shays’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle.” University of Pennsylvania Press (2002): 1-204.

The Federalist Papers Project. “The Articles of Confederation .” The Federalist Papers Project (1777): 1-16.

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Articles of Confederation

Paper details
1) Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? What reasons might explain why someone would prefer the
Articles of Confederation to the Constitution? What were the biggest benefits of the Constitution over the
Articles of Confederation?
2) Many participants at the U.S. Constitutional Convention had something at stake in the formation of the
Constitution. Focus specifically on the Three-Fifths Compromise. Which groups had things at stake in this
compromise, what did they have at stake, and how did each try to get what they wanted?