Most Significant Downfall To The Articles example essay topic

After the Revolutionary War, the United States government was in a state of frenzied disillusion. In an attempt to solve the problem of a lack of a functioning government, the Articles of Confederation were formed. Often times called the 'Articles of Confusion'; , the Articles of Confederation paved the way to our modern system of government. Out of the unreliable and unstable Articles, the Constitution was formed. Though the Articles instilled a seemingly well functioning governmental establishment, the Articles were far from a flawless governing mechanism. In the early days of the new British-free America there was a great fear of the new system of government being of the same mold of their former, a monarchy, or even a dictatorship.

There was one group of revolutionaries that supported a monarchy being formed. This faction was a section of the Continental Army called the Society of the Cincinnati. They urged the rise of George Washington, a veteran colonial general, as the country's new king, but Washington refused. In an effort to subside the uproar of the common folk, and to prevent eventual isolation of sovereignty of national affairs unto one person, the Articles granted each state exclusive governing powers over it's own political matters. By doing this, the Articles prevented the new-formed states from revolting against their own government, and they also gave the states absolute control over their own local and regional matters and political conflicts. In an effort to create a greater sense of unity and national pride in the States, the Articles forced most states with western land claims to forfeit their claims to the federal government, so that the smaller, less populated states would join the union.

This did not make any of the states with western territorial expansion content. They felt that the government was starting to take too much authoritative control. With this in mind, the representatives in congress made the promise that when specified parcels of the lands had a population of sixty thousand or more, they would be eligible for statehood. The requirements that were used for birth into the union are the same that are used today. This helped to suffice the desire to extinguish the current government, and contributed to a greater feeling of pride and unification amongst the states. A piece of the Articles that was very popular with most of the public was the inability of the government, or congress, to enforce taxes on the general public, or individual states.

This may have been pleasing to the masses, which still held resentment against the British and King George, the then British king, but it rendered the central government scraping and begging for tax revenues. The most that the government could do to try and collect taxes was to ask the public; of which they only received one fourth of the entire population's sympathy in money. Even though this led to a weak governing body, it still pleased the general public, and seemed like the fair and correct means of collecting money from the public. A lesser known contribution of the Articles was the invocation of the United States Postal Service. This provided the people of America with a quick and reliable way to transfer information, for a reasonable price. The USPS provided the government with some sort of income, but it still was not sufficient.

The same postal service is still in effect today, but in a more advanced and practical form. Before and during the Revolutionary War, the colonies had a stable and reliable governmental force. Although they were taxed to the extreme, there was still a sense of stability among the people of the colonies, and the separate colonies themselves. After the war, the Articles failed to reinstate that same feeling of structure throughout states, leaving the common folk of the country uncertain of their new freedom and liberties. This made the leaders in the public eye and legislatures consider altering the Articles, and somehow create a feeling of security in the United States.

The most significant downfall to the Articles, however, was the inability of the congress to enforce taxes upon the public. Without taxation, which the Americans hated with a passion, the central governing body of the United States had almost no way to collect taxes, and next to zero power over the rest of the nation. In fact, the most that congress could do to collect any revenues whatsoever, was ask people kindly for 'donations'; . The states also felt that if they allowed taxes imposed upon them, that the taxes would be distributed unequally. Without a source for a substantial amount of money for the government, congress could no longer afford to pay the Continental Army. The army felt that the government had the desire to do dis justice to them when they asked for more pay, and congress said that they could not afford to.

This led to a breakdown in morale, and a weakening of defense forces for the United States. The lack of tax collections also resulted in the lack of ability of congress to enforce trade and trade ethics. In the years following the war, Britain had a mass surplus of goods that they needed to dispense of. Rather than selling it for a low price in Britain, the British shipped their products over to the States, and sold them for the cheapest price available. This, along with the restrictions placed on American goods in an effort to repay war debts, hurt the growth of American exports to Britain, and seriously hampered the economic growth of America. Resulting in another financial loss for the United States, and more than just a financial gain, but more importantly a psychological gain that Britain still had some control over the States.

This showed that America still hadn't achieved total success in forming an independent nation. The Articles of Confederation was a hastily written document made with the goal of setting up a functioning empire that would totally please the people, and that could be easily put into effect as soon as possible. This was an unrealistic goal that the writers of the Articles tried to achieve, and succeeded minimally on. The Articles were dignified by their ability to hold the states together and to unify them enough to get a stable government set up.

The Articles helped lead to the development of the Constitution by means of showing what flaws to avoid, and what was necessary in all governing documents. The Articles of Confederation provided the United States an effective system of government, but it was obvious that there were loopholes in the Articles that needed to be fixed. That is why the Articles were almost completely done away with, and the Constitution was put into effect.