The American Revolution Essay

Submitted By arbezz12
Words: 624
Pages: 3

After the American Revolution, America needed a new government. The Articles of Confederation became this government and was essentially the first constitution. Robert Henry Lee introduced these articles at the Second Continental Congress. Some people say these articles were effective on the nation, and in essence they were; they told our country exactly what they shouldn’t do. The articles were a stepping stone to the United States Constitution. They did not last long due to lack of problem solving on imperative issues. They attempted to revise them twice before the new constitution was created. These articles were a successful failure, and had very few accomplishments, but rather mistakes that would eventually help us learn how to run a country. There were multiple inadequate features of the Articles and one of those was the inability of Congress to tax. Our new country desperately needed to raise money. They issued a new currency was basically worthless and eventually they had to issue a certificate to repay domestic debts. Under this new gov't they had to ask each state for revenue and they had no right taxing the whole country. One of the biggest flaws, which contributed to the rejection and replacement of the articles, was the fact that the gov't needed a unanimous vote from all states in order to make an amendment. Also, actions in Congress required 9 votes. Considering our country consists of selfish people, it was very hard to change things because it was hard to agree. The Articles also only had a one house representative and didn’t have an executive branch, which means they didn’t have a needed leadership. This is why the articles were substituted and not revised. Another problem was that the articles couldn’t deal with domestic issues because the states had supremacy. Under the articles there was little to no central power in the federal gov't. One benefit though was that the central government did keep the Confederation together until it was replaced and also kept the nation out of war; which was exactly what we needed. Politicians and civilians feared a strong central government because of their experience with a monarchy in Great Britain. One of the accomplishments though was the Land Ordinance of 1785. This provided the sale of public lands in the West, which ultimately established new states in the future. Provisions included surveying lands, and providing education, which was very important.