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 The US Constitution
The Articles of Confederation
In 1781, Great Britain signed a formal peace treaty with the newly independent colonies of North
America recognizing their independence. The war had been fought for various reasons, among
them to regain traditional liberties many Americans felt the British violated and to cease Britain's
onerous policy of taxation without representation. The state governments that emerged
exhausted but victorious from the Revolutionary War of 1776 to 1781 faced a formidable
question: What should their political relations to one another look like?
The first answer to this question was the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen states' first
attempt at government ratified in 1781. As the name of the document makes clear, the Articles
established a confederation, a form of government where sovereignty, or ultimate authority,
rested with the individual states. The Articles linked the states together as independent
countries under a treaty organization, in its own words "a firm league of friendship." Nothing in
the Articles prevented a state from leaving this loosely organized government and going its own
way.
Problems Under the Articles of Confederation
The Articles created a Continental Congress with the ability to conduct foreign diplomacy,
establish a national currency and post office, conduct relations with native Indian tribes, and
appoint military officers to a non-existent national army. There was no executive branch or
national judiciary. The very limited powers given to the central government under the Articles
reflected the relatively weak sense of national identity among the citizens of the states. Although
the Articles provided an important forum for interstate cooperation, giving organizational
structure to the aspiration for greater unity and helping resolve some problems such as the
settlement of Western lands, it ultimately failed to provide effective national governance.
Although there were several reasons for the Articles' failure, the primary flaw was its inability to
create unity and an effective government for the states. Most important was the document's
failure to equip the national government with the authority and resources necessary for it to
succeed. Each state exercised one vote in the Articles of Confederation Congress regardless of
population. The decision-making process was difficult, requiring nine of the thirteen states to
agree before the Congress could take any action. Important decisions, including amendment of
the Articles itself, required unanimity. Appointment and pay of Congressional delegates was
reserved to the states.
Under the Articles, the national government had no authority to impose and collect taxes.
Without this fundamental power the national government found itself chronically short of cash
and could only beg the state governments for funding. It therefore could not raise the money
necessary to pay off accumulated war debts or even run the government. The power to coin
money proved meaningless as states created their own currencies, complicating continental
trade. The national government's lack of power to regulate interstate trade resulted in states
creating beggar-thy-neighbor economic policies. With these policies, individual states sought to
gain economic advantages at the expense of other states by imposing tariffs and other
protectionist measures on each other. These policies contributed to a further depression of the
national economy.
The inherent weakness of the Articles, particularly the absence of a strong executive,
contributed to inconsistency and ineffectiveness in forging a coherent national foreign policy.
Finally, this latter defect meant that the national government failed to provide even the most
basic function of government: insuring domestic security. When a massive rebellion of debtburdened farmers broke out in Massachusetts in 1786, the national government proved
powerless to stop it. Instead, wealthy elites had to hire a mercenary army to put down the revolt.
Shay's Rebellion proved to be the critical event convincing key political elites that the Articles
should be revised to empower the national government.
Video: A More Perfect Union
The thirteen original states shared a common heritage as British colonies for almost 175 years
before the nation was founded, but they differed in politics, economics, and geography. Conflicts
over trade, commerce, monetary policy, and borders strained relations between the new states.
A solution arrived in the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789), America's first constitution, but
the Articles proved to be limited. This video analyzes the state of the nation under the Articles of
Confederation and why Congress was largely ineffectual during this period.
Video Focus Points
Look for answers to these questions when watching the video:
•
What is the distribution of power under the Articles of Confederation?
•
What are the main weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
•
What was the cause of Shay's Rebellion?
Video script:
Music introduction
Actor: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union. . .”
Mel Yazawa, University of New Mexico: I think too often we assume that the United States had
always been united from the period of the Declaration of Independence, if not earlier, we’ve
been united in opposition to Britain, in opposition to the other enemies of the American republic,
that we’d always been united, but actually it’s just the opposite.
Narrator: Without the all-consuming mission of war to hold the country together, regional and
ideological differences resurfaced. The Congress, trying to govern under the Articles of
Confederation, was largely ineffectual.
Jack Rakove, Stanford University: The whole theory of Confederation is that the Congress
would propose what the states ought to do, and I emphasize the “ought.” But Congress had no
mechanism or actually no authority or mechanism to enforce its resolutions, its
recommendations, its requisitions for supplies and for taxation. So there’s a basic problem of
enforcement under the Articles of Confederation. I mean, the States, I think were trying as hard
as they could but they had problems of their own and it came to be perceived that a union that
relied always on the voluntary good will of the states could not really last very long or function
very effectively.
Actor: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice...”
Narrator: With thirteen different political entities making laws, a whole new set of legal concerns
began to proliferate. If all the states were sovereign, who had the authority to arbitrate in
quarrels between the states? Conflicts over matters of trade, commerce, monetary policy and
borders were straining inter-state allegiances.
Actor: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility...”
Narrator: In the fall of 1786, a group of armed farmers marched on some of the county
courthouses in western Massachusetts. Led by a former army officer, Daniel Shays, they were
protesting excessive taxes imposed by the state legislature.
Gordon Wood, Brown University: Madison who is often considered the father of the Constitution
was not only concerned about the weakness, what he called the imbecility of the Confederation,
but he was concerned about the power of majorities in the state legislatures and the way in
which they were creating injustice, creating problems within the states. And for him, Shays
Rebellion confirmed his feeling that if Massachusetts couldn’t solve its problems, then what
state could?
Actor: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense...”
Mel Yazawa: Despite the promise of being bound to one another, to come to one another’s aid
should attacks occur, in spite of the promise of pledging themselves to providing for the costs of
this kind of defense through a common treasury, none of that was forthcoming when the Shays
Rebellion took place. In the end, Massachusetts pretty much had to raise the money on its own
to put down the rebellion.
Narrator: Providing for the common defense was not a minor concern in the United States in
the 1780s. Ongoing conflict with Indian peoples on the frontier, combined with the continuing
military presence of Britain and Spain on the continent, posed a constant threat to the security
of the young nation.
Actor: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare...”
Narrator: Perhaps the biggest threat to national security during this time was economic in
nature. The 1780s was a time of financial turbulence.
Mel Yazawa: Part of the depression is due simply to demobilization, a lessening of demand for
supplies and services as a result of the end of the War of Independence but also the
depression, the economic depression was due to actions taken by Great Britain, closing off for
example much of the trade to the British West Indies which had been important for the American
Colonies.
Narrator: Many British merchants also refused to extend credit, making it virtually impossible for
American merchants to conduct business overseas.
Mel Yazawa: Then one way of responding obviously would be that if Britain has restricted our
access to certain markets, then we should retaliate. I mean if they place duties on our goods,
shouldn’t we place duties on their goods?
Narrator: But under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had no power to establish a uniform
trade policy. Therefore, any state could and did pursue its own self-interest at the expense of
the other states.
Actor: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty, to ourselves and our posterity...”
Narrator: In the minds of the Founding Fathers, the way to secure the blessings of liberty for the
future was to gain control over the Northwest Territory and develop procedures for settling those
lands.
Mel Yazawa: The Northwest Ordinance provided the means for establishing a way of governing
the territories. Once you achieved a status of 60,000 inhabitants and apply for statehood and
are admitted, you’re a full participating member equal to the original thirteen, which is important.
So one major accomplishment is doing all of this in terms of political tutelage towards equality.
The second is that the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery from those territories in the old
northwest.
Narrator: The Northwest Ordinance was one area in which Congress under the Articles of
Confederation was able to be effective. Still, many leaders of the new nation agreed that the
Articles were insufficient and needed to be revised. Among these, a smaller group including
George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, believed that more drastic
measures were necessary; and they began quietly to push for a re-conceptualization of the
entire federal government.
End of video.
Articles of Confederation: Power Plays
Since the early 1600s, American colonists understood that forming a union of colonies
increased their capability to defend themselves against attacks from foreign forces. A union of
colonies could develop strategies for handling skirmishes, deploying troops, and securing
weapons. As the governments of the colonies evolved and established more power, they
continued to rely on unions for mutual defense.
In 1775, the Second Continental Congress was formed for the purpose of preparing for war and
providing mutual defense to the colonies. By 1776, Congress found itself battling the British
while still trying to govern a nation. Somehow, Congress handled these challenges without a
codified system of laws or constitution.
It was during this time period, the Second Continental Congress attempted to draft a constitution
on how to direct the affairs of the nation. Despite their experience in organizing unions for
mutual defense, Congress had no reliable source from which they could draft plans for their
government. While it was relatively easy to reach consensus on how to defeat the British,
consensus on how to govern the nation was almost impossible.
One thing was certain: the Second Continental Congress did not want to replicate Great
Britain's unitary system of a strong national government. The challenge would be balancing
power between individual states and a national governing body.
This activity focuses on John Dickinson as he leads his committee in drafting the Articles of
Confederation, the first written document that mapped out the structural form of US government.
Interactive Activity: Articles of Confederation: Power Plays
Follows John Dickinson as he and his committee draft the Articles of Confederation. The
Articles of Confederation established these provisions for a national government: (1) the
national government cannot infringe on a state's sovereignty, (2) citizens in one state have the
same rights as those in other states, (3) each state has only one vote in Congress, (4) states
cannot make war without Congress' permission, (5) each state collects taxes to add to the
common treasury, (6) nine out of thirteen states must agree before Congress can take action,
and (7) all states must agree to any changes to the Articles.
Articles of Confederation: Power Failure
The Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification during the
Revolutionary War. Many Americans feared the establishment of a unitary system of
government like the one they fled in Britain. Therefore, the government established and
approved by the people in 1781 consisted of a national congress with extremely limited powers
and thirteen independent state governments that held the balance of power.
The result, said James Madison, was that the Articles were no more effective at binding the
states into a nation than a rope of sand. When Massachusetts farmers led an insurrection
against the confiscation of their farms due to a failure to pay taxes, many Americans thought the
nation was falling apart. Clearly, a stronger national government was needed. In the summer of
1787, state delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Read James Madison's journal as he analyzes the weaknesses of the Articles.
Interactive Activity: Articles of Confederation: Power Failure
Analyzes the weaknesses of the Article of Confederation. Weaknesses include: (1) the states
have the authority to control trade with other states, (2) Congress cannot authorize a common
currency for the nation, (3) Congress cannot force states to comply with a treaty, (4) each state
has one vote regardless of population size, (5) all thirteen states must agree before any
changes can be made to the Articles, (6) states are not obligated to honor Congress' request for
troops, (7) Congress is unable to enforce decisions made by the courts, and (8) Congress does
not have the power to levy taxes.
Additional Resources
Websites
The Articles of Confederation Online
http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html
A hypertext transcript of the first constitution of the United States as written by the Second
Continental Congress. Includes a comparison of he Articles and the later Constitution.