Analyzing the Weakness of the Articles of Confederation

As weak as it was, the Articles of Confederation surprisingly addressed a couple of issues that were crucial to take care of at that time. Somewhere in between the ideas of Independence and Unity, there were a couple of features that needed to be dealt with. Out of the many kinds of problems that had to be confronted, two of the most crucial ones were western lands and economic conditions.

The western lands were debated upon by many people. If anyone wanted to open a settlement in the new lands, it would have to be at least 6 square miles, and there would have to be a special area set aside for schools. Congress took steps in the 1760's to develop a process a land would have to go through to be admitted as a state of the United States of America. This rule applied to land above the Ohio River, and the slave policies in these new lands would be determined by the population majority of that land.

The conditions of the economy were very depressed. Inflation rose immediately after the end of the revolutionary war, and the states were already in war debts. To pay their war debts off, the states rose taxes and created problems for common citizens. Then there was the first United States major depression. The causes included high taxes forced to finance the war debt, the tightening of credit, and a short growing season that kept crop yields low. Eventually, there would be rebellion, as one can witness by Shay's Rebellion.

Overall, the Articles were weak and all these issues that had to be confronted were dealt with poorly due to a poor government structure. This would result in the creation of the Constitution.

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