The Articles of Confederation

According to the people of the New America the Articles of Confederation were not effective. The Articles lacked central government. They couldn't impose taxes. The unanimous voting caused problems and they had no control over commerce. So basically the Articles of Confederation did not provide an effective government from 1781-1789.

The Articles were not respected by the state themselves or other countries. John Jay writes to Washington in (Doc. G) that he is worried the U.S. is doing wrong and that another Revolution might happen again. He also says that the U.S. needs to offer the "better kind of people" security of property. John Jay also gave a speech to Congress in (Doc. F) saying that Spain does not want the U.S. to use the Mississippi River. He complains about the negotiation with Spain for control of the Mississippi.

Another problem the Articles caused was that they did not establish a strong economy. There was no consistent currency. Each state had their own currency which shows no unity in America which they wanted. Joseph Jones was a delegate that wrote a letter to Washington in (Doc. C) stating that Congress was treating the army/armies poorly. He complained that the troops were not being payed. Congress said they couldn't pay creditors. The army was very unhappy about this. The Estimated Market Values in the (Doc. B) table shows that the exports to Great Britain stayed flat with the population increasing. This meant that the Articles were failing to expand the economy.

The Articles of Confederation were also unable to support an army. As I already mentioned earlier was that in (Doc. C) the letter from the delegate was a complaint that said that Congress was treating the army poorly. Congress wasn't paying the armies couldn't pay its creditors. This angered the army. In (Doc. D) John Jay gives instructions to the United States Minister tell the U.S. Minister to ask Great Britain for all the territory within the U.S. area. It was instruction to envoy to Britain to get out of the western forts, to quit hassling the trading, and to respect us.

The Articles of Confederation fail to support an effective government. To have an effective government it has to be long lasting, workable, secured, and respected. According to the Articles of Confederation it showed none of this. The government came across many bumps in the road.