Why Are The Articles Of Confederation Effective

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The Articles of Confederation served as the first written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. The people preferred a limited government because they distrusted a strong, distant central government. It was followed for less than 10 years before the problems became too apparent.

The delegates realized they needed a unified authority to engage in international trade, foreign affairs, and defense. The articles created only one governing body, a congress, and each state determined how its congressional delegates would be selected. Each state had from two to seven delegates. The article did not create a judicial branch, an executive branch, or a president. The delegates selected one of their members to …show more content…
It addressed all of the problems that needed to be fixed, as well as additional needs for civil liberties. The framers created an innovative system of government with dual sovereignty, which ultimate governing authority is divided between two levels of government; a central government and a regional government, which is what we now call a federal system of government. Now congress has lawmaking authority on everything the states previously did separately. The framers separated the primary governing functions among three branches of government, referred to as the separation of powers. Each branch of the government has specific powers that allow it to operate independently of the other branches: the legislative branch formulates policy; the executive branch implements policy, and the judicial branch resolves conflict over the law. Once the primary functions were separated, various mechanisms were established for each branch to monitor the functions of the other branches to ensure that no branch gains too much power. These mechanisms form a system called checks and
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