The United States 1781 to 1789

DBQ Essay

Between the times of 1781 to 1789, the United States were governed by Specific articles called the Articles of Confederation, in which the government was somewhat powerless in a lot of areas. Plus a number of gaps were in this newly established, and many of those gaps kept increasing during the course of this government. These articles exemplified the need of yet another change, in which The A.C. identified that it was not an effective government.

The A.C. also once called the Article’s of confusion displayed how loose the new American government was and had been. Though their had been many problems that existed between the states while the U.S. was a confederation; their had been three major problems. They were that congress could not forcibly tax, there was no executive, and all states only had one vote per state in any matter. Congress not being able to tax assessed it inability to pay their national war debts, and that congress had to ask the states voluntarily for money, and the states had the power to refuse or subdue to congress’ request.

An example that exemplified how powerless congress really had been was when the Rhode Island assembly rejected the proposal of congress to tax imported goods. The R.H. assembly implied that the tax would have been an unequal operation. Also that the tax would effect the commercial sates the hardest, which Rhode Island’s main support came from commerce. Plus the R.H. assembly argued that granting Congress the power to collect money from the states that are mainly commercial states, they would become independent of their given constituents. Thus, they declared that the impost was repugnant to the liberty of the U.S.

As for the protectors of the confederation, such as the army, they had also felt the powerless vibe coming from the congress. For instance, the army was very discontent, for which their request for bonuses and back pay had been continually delayed. Particularly every class of public creditors had known about congress’ inability to pay their demands, unless financially assisted by several states. Also meaning that the Articles of confederation not only upheld a weak congress, but also revealed that congress could not support the troops efficiently.

Not only was the Articles of Confederation an ineffective government that provided a weak congress, it also decreased the market value in the United States exports. Within the years of 1770 through 1775 the average value of American exports to Britain was roughly around $4,000+. During the years of 1770 and 1775 the est. population in the U.S. was around 2,243 people. After the 1775 the market