Articles of Confederation

With the birth of the Articles of Confederation, ultimately came the birth of economic, social, and political instability. The new loosely organized confederation proved very early on its lack of effectiveness in several aspects. Congress, the government's chief agency at the time, often proved its weakness in dealing with matters such as foreign affairs and land disputes. While many suggest that this was a model confederation, the troubled times of 1781 to 1789 truly called for a closely bonded federation, and for this reason, the Articles of Confederation did not provide the United States with an effective government.

The economy of the United States at this time dealt with ongoing tension between the state and central governments. In the Letter from the Rhode Island Assembly to Congress, the Rhode Island lower house of assembly expresses its disapproval of the central government having the ability to collect money from=states whenever it may please. The Rhode Island Assembly also argues that taxes would press hardest on commercial states, thus creating inequality among the states. In the Letter from Delegate Joseph Jones of Virginia to George Washington, Jones addresses the inability of congress to meet the demands of public creditors. He notes that the only way to meet these demands, was for Congress to collect money from the states. The discontent between state and federal government led to more disputes and created a lack of economic resources.

In John Blum's map of Western Lands Ceded by the States, one can observe the vast stretches of land many of the states forfeited in order to pay off debts. Unfortunately, many states were less land-blessed, and therefore they were forced to tax their citizens heavily in order to make up for this disadvantage. The need to sell these lands was ultimately brought on by the confederation's