Articles Of Confederation And Tyranny Essay
Shortly after the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress formed a committee composed of one representative from each state to create a document that would provide for the a union of the thirteen independent states. Most of the states had ratified the Articles of Confederation by earlybut Maryland refused to do so until the question of Western Lands was settle.
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Once this was done, the Articles were ratified approximately two years late. They provided for a permanent national Congress that consisted of delegates from each of the thirteen states. The size of the delegation could be no less than two members and no more than seven members. Regardless of the size of the delegation, each state had only one vote.
Articles of Confederation
This provision provided the larger states with an opportunity for more representation in the Congress and its debates, link protected the smaller populated states from being dominated by the more populous states. Congress was given authority over foreign policy, declaring war against foreign nations, making peace, and maintaining an army and navy.
Congress also managed Indian affairshad to power to regulate coinage, was authorized to establish a post office, was permitted to borrow money and settle disputes between the states. Conspicuously absent was the authority for Congress to levy taxes.
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All powers not exclusively reserved for the Congress were retained by the states. All amendments to the Articles of Confederation had to be passed by the Congress unanimously Johnson, The Articles of Confederation were written with a view toward straddling the fine line between the rights of individual states and the need for national control of some aspects of government.
The United States was involved in a war against a country with a strong central monarchy. Therefore many of the people were concerned about giving any power to a central authority. In the case of the Articles of Confederation, the young nation erred in the direction of caution by giving too little power to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation did not provide for an executive branch nor a judicial branch. As a consequence, there was no federal power to enforce any of the laws or directives Congress passed.
Since Congress lacked the power to levy taxes, it was unable to implement any Articles Of Confederation And Tyranny Essay or policies that required money without going into debt.
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These deficiencies became apparent almost immediately. One example was the Essau of funds to pay for needed arms and supplies during the war with England. Instead of trying to address this issue with the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was go here elected not to provide for federal taxation and Congress was reduced to borrowing money and relying on the states for the needed funding. Bythe limits of the Articles of Confederation were well-known. Congress met with the intention of revising the Articles into a more workable document. However, after debate it was determined that a better course than repairing the Articles of Confederation would be to write a new constitution.]
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