Aleeya VueProfessor Natalie MelnyczukPS1010February 17, 2017Why did the Articles of the Confederation Fail?The articles of confederation was America’s first constitution. It was approved in 1777 by congress after the Revolutionary war that had occurred. They needed to form a new government among the 13 states that would satisfy the demands of the people and guarantees the unity of their nation.
Even though the Article of Confederation was made to ensure the success of their nations, among the 13 states were several reasons as to why the Confederation initially failed soon leading the Constitution to be adopted in 1787.One of the hugest reason for the failure of the Confederation is that fact that the government had place the power onto the states. With this decision, Congress had the power to make decision but without the approval of the 13 states, a final decision cannot be made. This action, lead to many financial problems. The government did not have the power to tax, eventually leading to inflation because of money printing.
This made a negative impact on the government nonetheless an even worse impact for the people. Congress had no power to stop states from printing their own money and the people of the United States face difficulties repaying their debt. Above all of this, The Article of Confederation did not give congress the power to place tariffs on foreign goods also hurting the American business. Laws were unable to be passed because the United States government lacked a Chief executive. In 1787, a decade later, the Constitution was adopted.
The Constitution of the United states, addresses many of the issues that were created by the Article of Confederation. The constitution helps the government become a more powerful unified nation. Some of the benefits of the Constitution that helped strengthen the U.S government is the creation of an executive branch which helps pass laws without the approval of the states. A Federal court system was also created with three main levels as of U.
S District, Circuit, and Supreme court. The Constitution also offers the government the opportunity to tax and draft troops along with the opportunity to control interstate commerce whereas the Articles of Confederation was wholly unsupportive of. With so much power the government is given by the constitution, the systems of checks and balances was created to separate powers among, legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Nonetheless even though the Articles of Confederation wasn’t the best approach to take, there was aspects that might have been worth keeping.
One of the aspect of the article is that it has served as an agreement among the states becoming the first constitution of the United States. This help the states form a government as a whole. Another aspect that was worth keeping was the friendship that was strengthen among the states. Through the article, the 13 states created a nation that was united to fight against those who invade the peace of the nation.
Most importantly, even though, the Article of Confederation soon led to failure, it also led to the new revised U.S constitution. In conclusion, the Articles of Confederation was ratified to help the country form a strong government but, in the end, failed and was replaced by the U.S constitution a decade later. It was very weak and lacked many things from sufficient funds to a stable trading system and the growing of a central government, etc. Through all of this, it has opened up an opportunity to a new constitution that addressed the issues provided by the article of confederation. Works Cited”10 Reasons Why America’s First Constitution Failed.” National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.
org, constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-reasons-why-americas-first-constitution-failed.”Comparison of Constitution and Articles of Confederation.
” Comparison of Constitution and Articles of Confederation – Free Online Course Materials – USU OpenCourseWare, ocw.usu.edu/university-studies/u-s-institutions/comparison-of-constitution-and-articles-of-confederation.html.
Connectusfundadmin. “8 Fundamental Pros and Cons of the Articles of Confederation.” ConnectUS, 13 Jan.
2017, connectusfund.org/8-fundamental-pros-and-cons-of-the-articles-of-confederation.
