Articles of Confederation DBQ 9/8/11

            One of the greatest causes of post-American Revolution dilemmas came from the Articles of Confederation. The Articles created a giant sinkhole in the power of the central government and led to quarreling among the individual states. Also, not only did the Articles not unite the American people, it caused rebellions among the citizens against their governments. With all the turmoil the Articles caused, it is safe to say that they did not provide the United States with an effective government.

            From the beginning, problems emerged. The central government was given little power by the Articles. It could not regulate national commerce, therefore its taxing plans soon failed. This caused the debt to continue to pile up, as the government couldn’t garner enough money to pay it off. For example, in Document A, Rhode Island writes about how it can not agree with the Congress on the newly proposed tax on imported goods. This highlights an instance where Congress fails to impose a tax due to its lack of power. This lack of power is a direct result of the Articles not providing the central government with enough authority. Also in Document D, there is a tone of urgency and stress, as the letter tells John Jay to convince Britain to stop pressing them “…for the payment of debts contracted before the war.” This is because the Articles failed to grant the national government the ability to collect taxes; therefore America did not have the money to pay Britain. Congress, the most powerful body of Congress, was also slow and disorganized. In Document C, James Jones states that payment to soldiers will be slow because Congress is “…of so mixed a body.” Congress’s lack of power to tax and incompetence can be traced to the fact that the Articles were insufficient in granting the central government with effective power to operate.  States also bickered among each other over territory, some instances involving small armed clashes. In Document E, it is reasonable to say that the boundaries for each of the new western territories sometimes overlapped with each other. As a result, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was formed, partly to ensure peace between eastern and western states. The Northwest Ordinance is one of the few accomplishments of the central government under the power of the Articles. Yet, it does not compensate for the economic problems the country experienced at this time. During the 1180’s America underwent a depression. There was a monumental amount of national and state debt accumulated from the Revolution. There was also a lack of currency to be distributed, which caused much unrest among the citizens. The lack of power to create a national army was also of great concern. In Document D, John Jay is instructed to go to Britain and tell them to move out of the American territories that the US had rightfully won as a result of the Revolution. Britain initially did not give up its fort holdings in the Northwest and the US could not do anything about it because it had no national army, let alone the finances to make one, to urge Britain out.  The Articles also considerably restricted the government’s power over trade and foreign affairs. It was up to each state to regulate its foreign trading. Since each state acted independently, countries had difficulty trading with the US because each state had its own set of laws regarding foreign affairs. In Document B, it is evident that there is a lack of export value to Britain during trade, even though the population in the US is increasing. This can be noted as an outcome due to the lack of governmental control for what to produce and what to export. Each state minded its own business on trading, therefore they did not realize that they were in fact inhibiting the growth of America by not working together. Foreign affairs were also a burden with such a weak government. In Document F, Spain refused to give America the right to sail up and down the Mississippi River. Because Congress was so weak domestically, it could not win respect in foreign policy. Being the little fish in the big sea, Spain stepped all over America; it closed New Orleans to American commerce. Also, Congress lacked the necessary authority to negotiate treaties and such because that was mostly in the hands of the states. John Jay, the man sent to negotiate the right to use the Mississippi with Spain, did not accomplish this aspect and instead gave trading rights to merchants in the northeast. But, the northerners feared that opening the west would draw away too many people. Therefore they wanted the Mississippi to be closed down; a direct opposite of what the central government wanted as made evident of Document F, which implied that the goal of the central government was to win back navigating rights on the Mississippi. This closing of the Mississippi angered the southern states because they needed to use the Mississippi for trade. Thus, some states even considered breaking away. The lack of power from the central government to stop interstate arguing and keep the nation as a whole showed many that more power should be granted to the government to make not only foreign relations easier, but also domestic ones. The Articles of Confederation constricted the power of the central government to the point where it was very feeble.

            The failure of the government to unite the people under the Articles of Confederation was also evident. The disproportionate amount of power in Congress given to the smaller states by the Articles caused the bigger states to resent the smaller states. Due to the lack of currency and subsequent heavy taxes, rebellions and unrest among the people transpired. In Document C, James Jones writes about how there is much anxiety among the soldiers. They were unpaid and felt as if “…justice (was) not intended to be done to them…” The little money the soldiers did receive was worthless due to inflation. This led to the Newburgh Conspiracy, where officers in the Army discussed forcing the states to give up more power to the national government. This way, there would be a more organized approach to decrease the national debt and bring in the much desired paychecks to the soldiers. In Pennsylvania, the threat became so severe that soldiers forced Congress to move temporarily to Princeton, New Jersey. Possibly the biggest wake-up call to the Articles ineffectiveness came from Shay’s Rebellion. Shay’s Rebellion demonstrated how the central government needed more rights to create fairer taxes and to protect the people from those that were of threat. During the rebellion, wealthy merchants from the New England area had to invest in the creation of a militia to quell the rebellion because the central government did not have power over an army. Shay’s Rebellion exposed the government’s inability to handle a crisis. The Articles of Confederation evoked much vexation among the American people and once again revealed the ineptitude of the central government.

            All things considered, the Articles of Confederation did not provide the post-Revolution American government with enough power to successfully lead a country. Yet, Americans knew better than to keep the Articles. In 1786, the Annapolis Convention was held to make the necessary repairs to the Articles. The report generated from the meeting would serve as a template for debate at the Philadelphia Convention. As a result, one of the most important documents in American history was signed; the United States Constitution.