Advantages and Disadvantages of the Articles of Confederation

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Articles of Confederation From their landing in the New World in the early 1600s, the British subjects, or colonists, were under the rule of the British King. Some colonies had more power with their own legislatures, but the British King and/or Parliament always had the final rule. Some of the British Kings tended to be more lenient than others, but when the Restoration occurred in 1660, Charles II was restored to power in England and he planned on ruling with a complete monarchy. This would cause further conflict between the colonies and England and eventually in the 1700s, a Revolution. Through this revolution, since the colonies weren't going to be ruled by England, a new, central government had to be drawn up. This new government, however, couldn't be too powerful due to the Americans' fear of tyranny. The Articles of Confederation was the perfect government system for the 11 years that it held America together for. It was too weak, however, to last any longer than that. During the time of Revolution, the Articles of Confederation was the right form of central government for America, but its weaknesses in state control led to its rejection and the creation of the U.S. Constitution because they didn't allow the federal government to control taxation and they were too weak. The Articles of Confederation was satisfying in its' role as the central government in America during the Revolution because it held the states together and it signed the Peace Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. The Articles of Confederation was too weak, however, due to the fact that there was no hard currency and unruly state taxation which caused a group of farmers led by Daniel Shay to rebel against it. This rebellion, deemed Shay's Rebellion, led to the passage of the U.S. Constitution. The Articles of Confederation was the government that allowed the states to finally centralize their government. This Confederation was very