The Articles of Confederation

Prior to the American Revolution, the United States had been governed by the heavily centralized, tyrannical Great Britain. This form of government, being hated by the colonists, was the exact opposite of the government instilled into the Articles of Confederation in 1777. However, despite the colonists efforts to develop a successful decentralized government, the Articles of Confederation were ineffective in improving their economy and foreign relations.

The Articles of Confederation restricted the national government and gave the most crucial rights, taxing and commerce, to the states to do with as they wished. The Articles failed to establish a national currency, therefore each individual state had its own form of currency, making trade between states nearly impossible. The lack of intranational commerce gave way to British interference, who flooded American markets and depleted the economy. The inability to tax the nation without approval let war and national debts build into near depression. The Articles also lacked an executive branch to enforce laws and personal rights, which allowed uprisings such as Shays Rebellion to occur, another example of a failed economy. In addition to these flaws, the Articles of Confederation only permitted the passing of new laws and bills if approved by unanimous decision. These decisions were extremely uncommon at best and prevented new bills beneficial to the economy to be enacted upon.

The Articles of Confederation were developing a nation based upon independent, self reliant states, instead of instilling the national unity needed for the nation to survive. The promotion of state