Yueh-Ting Tsai

Period 3A
1/31/2015

We the People Question #2

The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Second Continental
Congress on November 15, 1777 and were ratified by all the states by March 1,
1781. It was a written document that established the functions of the national
government in the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain.
There were several notable achievements under the Articles of Confederation. It
established a weak central government that mostly prevented the individual states
from conducting their own foreign diplomacy. Also it was under the Articles of
Confederation that the U.S. successfully prosecuted the Revolutionary War and
concluded the Treaty of Paris in which Great Britain formally acknowledged U.S.
independence and gave the U.S. all land north of Florida, south of the Great Lakes,
and west of the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The other notable
achievements were the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of
1787. We will be discussing about the Northwest ordinance and the strengths and
weaknesses of the articles of confederation
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted July 13, 1787, by the Second Continental
Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method
for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights
guaranteed in the territory. The following three principal provisions were ordained in
the document: (1) a division of the Northwest Territory into "not less than three nor
more than five States"; (2) a three stage method for admitting a new state to the
Union with a congressionally appointed governor, secretary, and three judges to
rule in the first phase; an elected assembly and one nonvoting delegate to Congress
to be elected in the second phase, when the population of the territory reached
"five thousand free male inhabitants of full age"; and a state constitution to be
drafted and membership to the Union to be requested in the third phase when the
population reached 60,000; and (3) a bill of rights protecting religious freedom, the
right to a writ of habeas corpus, the benefit of trial by jury, and other individual
rights. In addition the ordinance encouraged education and forbade slavery. The
Northwest Ordinance set guidelines for how the Northwest Territory would be
governed and how new states could enter the Union as equals to the original 13
states. This is important because it established the idea that the U.S. would grow
as a republic, and not as an empire with new colonies. This idea helped the 13
colonies to form a base for their rule of governing.
The articles of Confederation had many faults and weaknesses. Firstly, it had
a unicameral legislature to one vote per state. A 2/3 majority needed to pass
legislation and vote to amend Articles. The unicameral legislature left the states
with one legislative or parliamentary chamber. This left the 13 states and the
central government with no separation of powers. The central government had no
national executive or court system. Along with those problems the central
government had no power to collect taxes, raise an army, or even regulate trade.

Yueh-Ting Tsai
Period 3A
1/31/2015
With one vote per state to change or amend the Articles a unanimous agreement.
This left the 13 states and the central government with no separation of powers.
This intern left the central government weak since the states maintained a majority
of the power. With a 2/3 majority need to pass laws made change to the articles
difficult. In order to pass any major laws they needed 9 of the 13 states to approve
which was very difficult. I believe the Articles were created weak because many of
the states and citizens believed and felt that they were separate entities. They were
suspicious of a strong central government because of the British rule. In essence
the Articles created a loose confederation of individual states. The government had
little power over the states which they keep to themselves. With no power to raise
funds by taxes the government could not raise an army. Or even regulate monies by
creating universal money; they couldn't regulate trade between states or even to
other countries. This also led to poor foreign relations. In conclusion the articles left
a loose central government. With little to no power to execute executive powers like
trade, commerce, and foreign affairs the ability to amend the Articles or even vote
when a majority was needed, which a majority vote was need when states seemed
to worry about just themselves. Without the states identifying themselves as a
nation and as Americans the Articles were bound to fail.
Even though the Articles of Confederation were weak they had some good
effects. These include making the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and Land Ordinance
of 1785 possible. These were very important because without these ordinances we
wouldnt be the United States of America. But overall the Articles of Confederation
are very weak and they basically failed. Because it wouldnt form a good
government that was fair and strong.