OK, read pages 220-225 and answer the following questions here on the blog:
1. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
2. What problems do you think were the most important ones after we won the Revolutionary War? Be specific and explain your answer
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Strengths that resulted because of the Articles of Confederation were coin money, an army/navy, some sort of union with foreign affairs, war could be declared, and treaties could be negotiated. Some weaknesses were... taxes could not be imputed, commerce was not regulated, there was no sovereignty, there was only one legislative branch, and no balance between small states and large states.
ReplyDeleteAfter America had won the Revolutionary War, I think the most significant problem they had was the fact that they now, on their own, had to support a successful nation. And in order to do this, government needed to establish proper laws and proper sanctions so that people would abide to the laws. Also, the fact that the British were so far away was another problem for the colonists. It was probably a good idea to maintain some sort of relationship with them for trade purposes and allie purposes; however, having Britain miles away certainly did not help the Americans.
The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was that they had no power to tax, commerece in each state was different, they could not produce an army, and there was only one branch of government. On the other hand, there were not many strenghs. The Articles of Confederation said that government can declare war and could resolve issues with the west.
ReplyDeleteI think the problems that were most important after the Revolutionary War would be what to do with slavery and how to unify all the states. Slavery caused a lot of controversy and was also a huge part of the new country's economy. If the government got rid of slavery then the economy would fail before it ever really got started and if they kept slavery, it would be hypocritical. The problem of how to unify the states and how to represent the citizens of the states would be tough as a new nation. New laws had to be created since they are no longer under the control of Britain. Taking these steps and making the right decisions was extremely important to build a new successful nation.
The main faults that the Articles of Confederation preserved led to a fragmented country with many distant states ruled by a frail government. The US was fragmented because not much of it was unified, even after the victory in the war. Most states had their own forms of commerce and they were still seen as the south, the north, and the middle, not just the United States. Also, the Articles failed to allow the government to build an army, leaving it defenseless and unable to cease major rioting. On top of the latter, the government did not have a system of checks and balances because it only had one branch. This system was essential for a country that was built like the US, consisting mainly of individual states that have varying populations.
ReplyDeleteThe Articles did have some strengths, but not many. The government had the ability to declare war even though it would be ridiculous to without an army. Also, it was able to explore and sell land in the west, something that would lead to a ,ore successful economy later on.
I believe that the biggest issue after the war was how to spread the power throughout the country. The government spent months, even years attempting to evenly disperse power among multiple branches of government that they had to develop. Also, as the country was expanding to the West, it had to worry about how much power to allow the newly forming states. As a result, the government was even more hesitant to expand, grow in power, and gain potential to become a threat to others.
I agree with Peter. There were many faults of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation led to the broken up country with separate states doing their own thing. I also agree with what Peter believed as the biggest issue. Deciding how the power would be split among the government and the people caused much controversy between the delegates.
ReplyDeleteWith the Articles of Confederation, the states were running the nation. This means that we weren't quite unified yet and just like Courtney said, separate states could do their own thing. Each state was different...this was not the "United" States of America yet. Not only were we still different, we were also powerless. We could declare war, but there was no point of that because we could not tax or raise an army! Since each state could only get one vote, there was an imbalance of power between the larger and smaller states. Also, another weakness included that each state could get as many delegates as they wanted. Yet, like Peter said, we could explore and sell land in the West, which was beneficial for our future. At the end, there was an unanimous vote to change the Articles from all 13 states, as it would not work out so well.
ReplyDeleteA humongous problem in unifying the country was setting up our government. We needed to know how our system would run and what rights citizens would get. Not everyone agreed in how our country was going to run. Ideas that came up during the Convention included the Virginia Plan, New Jersey/Small State Plan, Hamilton's Plan, and the Great Compromise. Also, we were so used to Britain controlling us, but now we needed to learn how to be dependent from them.
Some weaknesses with the Articles of Confederation were, there was no strong government, no set currency, the states were still independent, they had no power to taxes, congress lacked the power to control trade between the states or with other countries, each state only had one vote in congress no matter how big or small the state was, and lastly 9 out of 13 states had to agree in order for it to be passes on to congress to vote on. Some strengths were that they were allowed to declare war and negotiate treaties. After America had won the Revolutionary War, I believe the most important problem they faced was their ability to sustain a country as a whole. Like Alexandra said, the government needed to create proper laws and sanctions so that the people could follow them.
ReplyDeleteThe strengths of the Articles of Confederation were coin money, ability to declare war, and an army. The weaknesses mainly revolved around the independent states. There was no taxes and congress lacked power because there was no unification between the states. Since each state only had one vote there was an unfair balance of power between large and small states. Nisha makes a good point in the fact that we needed a stable government so we could form a country and grow. The states would have to become an actually country if they wanted anything to come out of their fight for independence from Britain. This was a rough start for a new country but a couple right decisions will set them on the right track.
ReplyDeleteAfter its initial establishment, the Articles of Confederation for the most part left the country’s government and economy in a weakened state. The varying currencies existing among states along with the government’s inability to tax was some of the Articles weaknesses. Moreover, the single branch government system in addition to congress being limited in overseeing trading affairs between states further restricted the government’s power. Nonetheless, the government was permitted to declare war; however, this privilege is virtually meaningless being that they were not allowed to assemble an army.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Revolutionary War, problems in regards to the west arouse. Management of these new lands was highly disputed until the formation of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Under this document the areas west of the Appalachia trail up until the Mississippi River, were divided into 3 to 5 states that were equal to the original 13 and welcomed into the Union. Furthermore, the ideals of the constitution along with provision for public education and prohibited slavery within this territory were instated.
The strengths of the Articles of Confederation were ability to declare war, coin money, and the fact that it had an army. Weaknesses were basically involved with the independent states. Since there were independent states there were no set taxes and congress didn't have power because there was no control over all the states. After America won the Revolutionary War, the biggest problem they came across was their ability to control and maintain the country as a whole.
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