The Articles of Confederation

by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn why the American colonies established a confederal form of government
through the Articles of Confederation. You will discover how the Articles created such weaknesses
that it brought the new nation to the point of crisis. Specifically, this lesson covers:

1. The New Government Established Through the

Articles of Confederation
Waging war against Great Britain and becoming an independent nation required that the individual colonies—
now sovereign states with the authority to self-govern—form a unified nation with a central government
capable of directing the country’s defense. Gaining recognition and aid from foreign nations would also be
easier if the new United States had a national government able to borrow money and negotiate treaties.

After declaring independence from Great Britain, the journey to gaining independence and forming a new
government took years. Each of the states had adopted its own state constitution. In light of their experience
under British rule and their new reality as an independent nation, some colonists believed there was a need
for a strong national government. Others opposed the formation of a strong national government and
infringement on the power held by state governments.

 EVENTS TO KNOW

Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)

In 1776, the Continental Congress established a committee to draft a governing document for the new
nation. In 1777, a draft of the document called the Articles of Confederation was proposed for adoption
(Figure 1).

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 (Figure 1) The Articles of Confederation.

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 The Articles of Confederation PDF

The final draft of the Articles of Confederation, which formed the basis of the new nation’s government, was
accepted by Congress in November 1777 and submitted to the states for ratification. It would not become the
law of the land until all thirteen states had approved it. Within two years, all except Maryland had done so.
Maryland argued that all territory west of the Appalachian mountains, to which some states had laid claim,
should instead be held by the national government as public land for the benefit of all the states. When the
last of these states, Virginia, relinquished its land claims in early 1781, Maryland approved the Articles.

Americans wished their new government to be a republic, a form of government in which the people hold
power and elect representatives to govern according to the rule of law. However, many feared that a nation
as large as the United States could not be ruled effectively as one large republic. Many also worried that even
a government of representatives elected by the people might become too powerful and overbearing. Thus, a
confederation was created—a form of government in which independent, self-governing states form a union
for the purpose of acting together in areas such as national defense.

In the arrangement under the Articles of Confederation, the states remained free to govern their residents as
they wished. The central government had the authority to act in only a few areas of common interest. This
arrangement was meant to prevent the national government from becoming too powerful or abusing the
rights of individual citizens. In the balance between power for the national government and liberty for the
states, the Articles of Confederation favored the states.

Powers given to the central government were severely limited. The Confederation Congress, formerly the
Continental Congress, had the authority to exchange ambassadors and make treaties with foreign
governments and Indian tribes, declare war, coin currency and borrow money, and settle disputes between
states. Each state legislature appointed delegates to Congress. Regardless of its size or the number of
delegates it chose to send, each state would have only one vote. To prevent a class of elite professional
politicians from developing, delegates could serve for no more than three consecutive years. The nation
would have no independent chief executive (president) or judiciary. Nine states’ votes were required before
the central government could act, and the Articles of Confederation could be changed only by unanimous
approval of all thirteen states.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Sovereign (sovereignty)
The authority to self-govern or govern another entity.

Confederation
A form of government in which independent, self-governing states form a union for the purpose of
acting together in areas such as defense.

2. What Went Wrong With the Articles?

The Articles of Confederation satisfied the desire of those in the new nation who wanted a weak central
government with limited power. However, it soon became apparent that, while the Articles protected the
sovereignty of the states, the document created a central government too weak to function effectively (Table
1).

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Table 1 Weak Central Government and the Articles of Confederation

Weakness of the Articles of

Why Was This a Problem?
Confederation

The national government could not Requests for money were usually not honored. As a result, the
impose taxes on citizens. It could only national government did not have money to pay for national
request money from the states. defense or fulfill its other responsibilities.

The government could not prevent foreign countries from

The national government could not
hurting American competitors by shipping inexpensive products
regulate foreign trade or interstate
to the United States. It could not prevent states from passing
commerce.
laws that interfered with domestic trade.

The national government could not raise

State governments could choose not to honor Congress’s
an army. It had to request the states to
request for troops. This would make it hard to defend the nation.
send men.

Each state had only one vote in Congress

Populous states were less well-represented.
regardless of its size.

The Articles could not be changed without

Problems with the Articles could not be easily fixed.
a unanimous vote to do so.

Judiciaries are important enforcers of national government

There was no national judicial system.
power.
One of the biggest problems was that the national government had no power to impose taxes. To avoid any
perception of “taxation without representation,” the Articles of Confederation allowed only state governments
to levy taxes. To pay for its expenses, the national government had to request money from the states, which
were required to provide funds in proportion to the value of the land within their borders. The states, however,
were often negligent in this duty and the national government was underfunded.

Without money, the government could not pay debts owed from the Revolution and it had trouble conducting
foreign affairs. For example, the inability of the U.S. government to raise sufficient funds to compensate
colonists who had remained loyal to Great Britain for their property losses during and after the American
Revolution was one of the reasons the British refused to evacuate the land west of the Appalachians. Foreign
governments were also, understandably, reluctant to loan money to a nation that might never repay it,
because it lacked the ability to tax its citizens.

The fiscal problems of the central government meant that the currency it issued, called the Continental, was
largely worthless and people were reluctant to use it. Furthermore, while the Articles of Confederation had
given the national government the power to coin money, they had not prohibited the states from doing so as
well. As a result, numerous state banks issued their own banknotes, which had the same problems as the
Continental. People who were unfamiliar with the reputation of the banks that had issued the banknotes often
refused to accept them as currency. This reluctance, together with the overwhelming debts of the states,
crippled the young nation’s economy.

The country’s economic woes were made worse by the fact that the central government also lacked the
power to impose tariffs on foreign imports or regulate interstate commerce. Thus, it was unable to prevent
British merchants from flooding the U.S. market with low-priced goods after the Revolution, and American
producers suffered from the competition. Compounding the problem, states often imposed tariffs on items
produced by other states and otherwise interfered with their neighbors’ trade.

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Finally, the national government also lacked the power to raise an army or navy. Fears of a standing army
under the control of a tyrannical government had led the writers of the Articles of Confederation to leave
defense largely to the states. Although the central government could declare war and agree to peace, it had
to depend upon the states to provide soldiers. If state governors chose not to honor the national
government’s request, the country would lack an adequate defense. This was quite dangerous at a time when
England and Spain still controlled large portions of North America.

3. Shays’ Rebellion
The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, already recognized by many, became apparent to all as a
result of an uprising of Massachusetts farmers known as Shays’ Rebellion. In the summer of 1786, many
farmers in western Massachusetts were heavily in debt and facing imprisonment and the loss of their lands.
They owed taxes that had gone unpaid while they were away fighting the British during the Revolution. The
Continental Congress had promised to pay them for their service, but the national government did not have
sufficient money. Moreover, the farmers were unable to meet the new tax burden Massachusetts imposed in
order to pay its own debts from the Revolution.

Led by Daniel Shays (Figure 2), the heavily indebted farmers marched to a local courthouse demanding relief.
Faced with the refusal of many Massachusetts militiamen to arrest the rebels, with whom they sympathized,
the governor of Massachusetts called upon the national government for assistance. However, with no power
to raise an army, the national government had no troops at its disposal. After several months, Massachusetts
crushed the uprising with the help of local militias and privately funded armies, but some wealthy Americans
were frightened by this display of unrest on the part of poor men and the possibility of similar incidents taking
place in other states. To find a solution and resolve problems related to commerce, members of Congress
called for a revision of the Articles of Confederation.

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 (Figure 2) This contemporary depiction of Continental Army veteran Daniel Shays (left) and Job Shattuck (right), who
led an uprising of Massachusetts farmers in 1786–1787 that prompted calls for a stronger national government,
appeared on the cover of Bickerstaff’s Genuine Boston Almanack for 1787.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that the new government established through the Articles of
Confederation was a weak, confederal system. Many things went wrong with the Articles, leading to
a government that could not impose taxes, raise an army, regulate foreign trade and interstate
commerce, and could not be easily reformed to address emerging problems. As a result, the economy
tanked, and the national government was unable to defend the states against both internal and
foreign threats. In the end, Shays’ Rebellion compelled the states to renegotiate the type of national
government that they would have.

Source: THIS CONTENT AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM OPENSTAX
“AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 3E” ACCESS FOR FREE AT openstax.org/details/books/american-government-
3e

 ATTRIBUTIONS

The Articles of Confederation | Author: United States National Archives | License: Public Domain

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  TERMS TO KNOW

Confederation
A form of government in which independent, self-governing states form a union for the purpose of
acting together in areas such as defense.

Sovereign (sovereignty)
The authority to self-govern or govern another entity.

 EVENTS TO KNOW

Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)

The first constitution of the United States.

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