Free Sample Essays > United States History
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
The Articles of Confederation were adopted in the year 1781. However by 1787, only six years later, they were revised. The reason for such a short period between its adoption and its revision was due to the many problems that occurred.
Firstly, one of the most important problems was that congress had no control over taxes. The states refused to give the government the money it needed. This led to many other problems. As a result of the government having no money, it could not pay off its debts of about $70 million from the revolution. This included paying soldiers and also citizens who had provided supplies. It was also unable to defend its borders from the British and Spanish because it could not pay for an army when the states would not. Congress was unable to maintain an army or navy because it could not pay for them. The falling value of bonds and notes used to finance the war also led to widespread unhappiness. In addition the different states engaged in tariff wars, almost stopping interstate trade.
This is linked to another important factor, of the congress having no power over foreign or interstate trade. This is another factor that led to the different states imposing taxes on goods from other states. American merchants also had a hard time competing with European rivals. This led to an unsound economy were states set up their own rules, made their own money and taxed each other.
Another problem was that there were no federal courts. Disputes between the states could not be settled and they often refused to recognize or enforce the laws of other states. This led to fugitives and criminals being able to escape prosecution by crossing state lines.
The one vote rule also contributed to the problems. Each state, regardless of its population, had only one vote in Congress. This led to the larger states with the bigger populations arguing with the smaller states, saying that it was unfair and that they did not have enough representation.
Other problems include, the fact that congress could not pass important measures because of the nine-state (Two-Thirds vote) majority required to make laws. Congress lacked the authority to enforce its laws, and could not, for example, prevent states from negotiating with foreign nations. This is linked to the fact that there was no authority to act directly upon individuals, or states. Most of the power was retained by the different states, and these states largely ignored congress. This led to congress being powerless to enforce cooperation and so was unable to carry out its duties of creating laws etc. An example of this is when congress could not force the states to agree to the terms of the Treaty of Paris 1783, to end the American Revolution. This was humiliating to the new government, especially when some of the states started to do their own negotiations with foreign countries.
Leaders like Alexander Hamilton of New York and James Madison of Virginia [next page]