How Did The Continental Congress Wrote The Articles Of Confederation

Taminder Anand 02-17-11
U.S History I Honors
The Continental Congress wrote the Articles of Confederation during the Revolutionary War. The articles were written to give the colonies an idea of a unified government. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States and specified how the Federal government was to operate. The government under the Articles of Confederation has been considered a failure. It is evident that the Articles of Confederation had a negative impact on the colonies. Many problems began to arise due to some of the laws in the Confederation. One of the major weaknesses was how it limited the national government's power and Congress' control over the citizens in the states. Next, the
trade agreements Congress made with other nations were not always carried out. Last but not least, the people felt that the state governments failed when it came to protecting their rights. If examined correctly, one could tell that according to the Articles of Confederation, the national government had no power over the state governments.
Simultaneously, Congress didn't have the ability to make and regulate laws regarding the behavior of the citizens. Congress didn't even have the right to tax people. Reflecting, Congress was not able to pay off their debt from the Revolutionary War. In addition, if a state legislature broke a law or regulation, or even disobeyed the requests made by the national government, the government or Congress could not do anything. They had no power over the state legislatures and the citizens, which led to many serious issues and problems in the U.S government. Many people soon started importing goods from other countries that they refused to pay for. They did this because trade agreements were not always carried out. Consequently, people in other nations soon became reluctant to trade with the U.S. Believe it or not, even Great Britain closed its commerce to it. All of these events resulted in the loss of a lot of money because of lack of trade. There was also competition among the states. They started imposing taxes on goods passing through them to other states. Soon another major concern came up, and it became another failure caused by the Articles of
Confederation. When it came to protecting the citizen’s property rights, the people believed the Congress failed in that as well; all due to the Articles of Confederation. The reason was that many people with common interest groups soon formed parties, and these parties sometimes became the majority of state legislatures. They made laws that benefited themselves at the expense of the common good, which soon led to inflation in the country, creating problems. People began claiming that majority rule did not adequately protect natural rights, the common good, or the individual citizen. They began losing their property rights and many began to revolt. While the state legislatures began pursuing their own needs it was soon clear that they were forming their own rule, like that of a controlling king.