Pedro Rodriguez Br. H.

Baker AP American History Period 4 24 September 2013 Articles of Confederation DBQ At the end of the 18th century the United States was a new and struggling country. Although the Articles of Confederation provided enough organization for the United States to win the Revolutionary War, it was too limited a framework of government to provide adequately for the new country. The Articles of Confederation did not help the fledging country deal with its economic or foreign policy troubles. The Articles of Confederation did manage to keep the United States together as a functioning country between 1781 and 1789. They were written by Pennsylvanian John Dickinson in 1777 (coincidentally mirroring many of the precepts of the Pennsylvania Constitution) but were not ratified until 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state agreed to recognize the others court rulings and marriages. They created a figurehead in the presider or president of the Congress; thereby demonstrating some degree of unity in the states. They were a basic organizational structure for the newly independent nations government. Most fearful of a tyrannical government, the Articles joined the thirteen states into a loose league of friendship, with each state a separate and independent entity. The Articles created a unicameral Confederation Congress which worked well during the time of war. During the war it orchestrated an agreement with France after the Battle of Saratoga which brought France into the war, ultimately crucially aiding in the patriot success. The British were finally defeated at Yorktown in 1781, but the Articles remained as the official organizational document of the United States until the Constitution was ratified by nine out of thirteen states following the Constitutional Convention of 1787. After the Revolutionary War the states turned over to the Congress their land claims west of the Appalachian mountains. Then the Confederation Congress passed the Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 which provided for the orderly admission of new states into the union. (doc. E) These ordinances bravely dealt with the issue of slavery as well, indicating that slavery would be outlawed in the Ohio valley. They also provided for the creation of local government and schools in these new states. A major weakness of the Articles of Confederation was its inability to deal with the economic crisis facing the new nation. The national debt was enormous and individual states owed war debts in the millions. The Confederation Congress couldnt raise taxes. They relied on the states to voluntarily provide the Congress with financial backing. The Confederation Congress wanted an import tax but Rhode

Island adamantly refused. Rhode Island was economically aggressive and dominated by an elite business class and they didnt want anything that would interrupt their commerce, nor did they want the Confederation Congress to have any such power. (doc A.) The Articles of Confederation did not allow the Confederation Congress to regulate commerce. It was very difficult to pass any laws to deal with these issues as well since 9/13 states were needed to pass a law and 13/13 to amend the Articles. Also, after the Revolutionary War, the script printed by the Confederation Congress was worthless. This led to inflation and the devaluation of most investments. The market value of U.S. exports to Great Britain understandably declined during the Revolution but in the 1780s did not remain proportional to the rising population. (doc. B.) In Massachusetts in 1786 when disgruntled Daniel Shay and his supporters rebelled, the Confederation Congress was so broke that they had to get money from private investors to call out the militia. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the Articles of Confederation was its basic inability to deal with the foreign policy nightmares plaguing the United States. As John Jay wrote in 1785, Great Britain refused to vacate its outposts (such as Fort Niagara) here in the states. They wouldnt leave after the war until the United States compensated the Loyalists for land taken during the war. The Confederation Congress couldnt do this. (doc. D.) In 1782 there was almost a military coup but George Washington was able to stop the Newburg Conspiracy. Army officers wanted to be repaid in gold instead of in worthless Confederation script or not at all. (doc. C.) A continuing nuisance was the problems with the Spanish. They were not letting the states use the Mississippi river and border disputes continued unchecked since the Confederation Congress did not have the power to raise an army. (doc. F.) Furthermore the Native American problem continued to persist and the Confederation Congress had no power to deal with them. Various leaders such as John Jay and Alexander Hamilton spoke to the necessity of revising the Articles of Confederation (doc. G.) It became clear that the limitations of the Articles of Confederation were crippling the development of the new country. After the failed Annapolis Convention of 1786, delegates came together again in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise (reconstruct) the Articles of Confederation. Then by 1788, there were people such as Rawlin Lordes, who were fearful of the changes that adoption of the new Constitution would bring. (doc. H.) The Articles of Confederation worked in the beginning to deal with the immediate crisis, but the economic and foreign affair issues remained because of the lack of power granted to the Confederation Congress. This was changed in the Constitution of the United States.