What Is The Critical Period

The Critical Period
During the time after the Revolutionary War, the United States of America was plagued with many issues that left them wondering whether or not their country would survive as a nation. This time was coined as the critical period by John Fiske in 1888 with his book 'The Critical Period of American History'. It refers to the 1780s, a time right after the American Revolution where the future of the newly formed nation essentially a coin toss as to whether or not it would “make it” (America’s Critical Period). The war had given the residents of the colonies something to fight for and to work toward. After they succeeded in their independence their feelings of unity seemed to dissolve. They no longer had a common cause, resulting
in problems creeping into existence, marking a critical time for America indeed. First, the United States dealt with economic distress as they tried to find their footing as an independent nation. One main contributing factor was the Articles of Confederation. The Articles caused America grief due to its weaknesses and inability to provide a government strong enough to guide the country. Following the Revolutionary war, America was plagued with hard times economically. According to The Brief American Pageant, independence had its drawbacks. Due to the bad blood between Britain and America, American merchants were ostracized from the British West Indies and lost their position in English markets (Kennedy et al, 122). The general economic picture was bleak. War had generated demoralizing extravagance, speculation, and profiteering among some citizens. Profits for some were as high as 300 percent. Inflation, however was ruinous to many residents. Because Congress lacked control over issuance of money, each state printed its own. Some states printed large amounts of paper money that had no metal money to back it up. This caused inflation, or, the value of the paper money to fall while the prices rose. This lack of a uniform currency made businessmen very reluctant to deal beyond their state borders (Gordon, 46). A newly rich class of profiteers emerged, but the average citizen was left worse off financially at the end of the war than they were before (Kennedy et al, 122). These economic storms continued to rage into the mid 1800’s. They caused conflicts such as Shay’s Rebellion in 1786 which flared due to Western Massachusetts debtors seeking lower taxes and an end to property foreclosures. Although it was quickly put down, the riot inspired fears of “mob” rule (Kennedy et al, 127). In addition to the economic issues, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation lended to the obstacles America had to face as an infant nation. Adopted by Congress in 1777, the Articles of Confederation was the first American constitution that established the United states as a loose confederation of states under a weak national Congress.
The Articles of Confederation provided for a loose confederation or “firm league of friendship.” Unfortunately a clumsy Congress was the at the helm of the ship that was America. The Articles put no executive branch into place because King George III left unpleasant memories to the new independent states. Although Congress was dominant, it was severely impaired due to its limitations. The Articles of Confederation added to the financial problems, could do nothing to alleviate domestic problems, was unable to deal with diplomatic problems, and caused commercial problems both at home and
overseas. The Articles of Confederation did not relieve any of the financial burdens that the country was facing. In fact, due to the fact that Congress was so weak, it only added to the burden. Congress was able to issue money. Yet, it had no power to prevent each state from issuing its own money (Gordon, 47). This allowed the matter of inflation to continue throughout the 1780’s among the thirteen states. Because it could not levy taxes, Congress had no other way to make money for the country, thus leaving them in economic distress. This economic distress caused tensions among citizens across the country. It seemed that everyone and every state was in need of money yet no one was able to make any that was worth enough to get the country out of debt. Due to the fact that there were not any provisions for a chief executive, all law enforcement was left to the individual states. This problem became very evident during uprisings. Shays’ Rebellion is a prime example of the inability of Congress to act. Unable to raise an army by directly recruiting men, Congress could only request for states to supply troops. The states seldom provided men and the government stayed helpless (Gordon, 47). When Shays led debtors in the armed rebellion in 1786, the debtors seized a number of courthouses and attempted to seize the United States arsenal in Springfield. With a weak central government standing aside, the Massachusetts state militia was responsible for putting the rebellion down (Kennedy et al, 127). Diplomatically, Congress was essentially unable to enact laws. Each state only had a single vote and all bills dealing with important subjects required the support of at least nine states. Unfortunately, when issues of importance came up, all states were rarely represented, making it hard for any decisions to be made (Gordon, 47). A nullifying weakness the Articles of Confederation possessed was the requirement that any amendments that needed to be made required a unanimous vote amongst all thirteen states (Kennedy et al, 125). This was nearly an impossible feat and Congress was at a standstill because not all the states would join together at the same time to vote, and when they did they found it difficult to agree on anything. This allowed all of the problems throughout the country to continue throughout the 1780’s. In addition to financial and diplomatic problems, issues of commerce were also a thorn in America’s side. Because the Articles of Confederation were purposefully designed to be weak, Congress was essentially paralyzed in regards to regulating both domestic and foreign commerce. As mentioned before, each state was free to establish conflicting laws about their monetary endeavors. This meant that there were contrary laws on tariffs and navigation across the country. In result, Congress did not have the ability to control interstate commerce. Therefore, states disputed heavily over taxes on goods and resources. Because there were no central courts to handle disputes between citizens of different states, the disputes continued throughout the decade (Gordon, 47). Congress was also completely powerless to levy taxes against the residents of America. Congress attempted to raise funds by requesting funds from the states by setting a tax quota. However, over 75 percent of these requests were ignored leaving the United States in a quandary. According the The Brief American Pageant, the new nation was seen as the world’s ugly duckling during this critical period. The weak American Congress commanded very little respect abroad and was quite inadequate in dealing with foreign governments. For example, after the American Revolutionary War, foreign relations, especially with Britain continued to be troubled. Britain refused to send a minister to America in order to make a commercial treaty, or to repeal its ancient Navigation Laws (Kennedy et al, 126). Spain was also openly unfriendly to the Republic in closing the lower Mississippi to American shipping. Spain knew that the settlers on the western frontier were dependent upon lower Mississippi for the transport of agricultural goods. They hoped that in closing lower Mississippi, western settlers would secede from the United States and accept Spanish rule. America was the victim of this bullying throughout the critical period because both Britain and Spain knew that the American government had no power to stand up for itself under the weak Articles of Confederation (Gordon, 48). Overall, the critical period was a great trial that the United States of America faced as an infant nation between the years of 1783-1789.
Disunity seemed to be a prevalent issue that led citizens unsure about how to go about starting a new nation. Economic problems seemed to haunt the citizens of the country. Accumulated war debts loomed over the country as they tried to make a start without their mother country. With Congress having little control over money and each state regulating its own economy inflation skyrocketed, leaving citizens with empty pockets. The Articles of Confederation contributed greatly to this critical period. The Articles added to the financial problems, could do nothing to alleviate domestic problems, was unable to deal with diplomatic problems, and caused commercial problems both at home and overseas. As a country, America had very little respect among other nations causing them to be seen as the “world’s ugly duckling.” All in all, the 1780’s were very disheartening for the newly independent nation as it dealt with critical issues and tried to succeed as an independent
nation.