Unit 3 LEQ - Grade: B+ PDF

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LEQ on teh effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation in 18th century. Explaining if it helped the issues of expansion and how it gave too much power to the states. Not enough federal power....

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Paige Nelson Popovich Period 2 6 November 2020 LEQ Rewrite: Effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation In 1783 the American Revolution came to an end with the Treaty of Paris. The Articles of Confederation were then created and was the first written constitution of the United States. It was made in a time where Americans were skeptical of the government after the war with England. The Articles of Confederation were intended to help organize land and to avoid a tyrannical government. The Articles of Confederation did relatively deal with the issues of expansion; however, it gave too much power to the states, creating a fragile federal government - failing to deal with the economic and social crises. The Articles of Confederation did effectively help organize the expansion of land in the new nation. From the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance of 1789 was adopted. It helped territories to gain statehood in the northwest, feeding the needs for them to become states. It also banned slavery within them. This helped to oversee the land it obtained and was crucial for establishing an organized and new nation. Although the Articles of Confederation was thriving under the Northwest Ordinance at first, the central government did not have much power to confront the nation's economic problems. The Articles were made after the war, and the United States' economy was stagnant. Thus, debt incurred, and because of the Articles, the government could not tax the states or the people within the states. Therefore, they had to borrow money, burying them deeper into an economic recession. Furthermore, all the states had different currencies, and paper money lost all

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its value, giving the federal government no power to help this vast economic issue. Simultaneously, the British were taking over the market with their goods, so American manufacturers were struggling. These financial issues caused discontent, and the Articles of Confederation had no ability to handle. With Congress unable to act under the Articles, the states had to figure their economic policies to withstand this recession. This resulted in workers' rebellion like Shay's Rebellion in 1786, proving that a central government was essential to ensure their private liberties. Daniel Shays led a group of furious workers to revolt and threatened the elite class of the government. The problem with this rebellion was that the Articles of Confederation did not have a military to protect themselves. There was distress among the nation, people were acting out due to the economic issues, and the government was powerless. The states had to figure out their solution separate from all the other states, weakening the nation's unification more and more. Overall, the Articles of Confederation was essential in bringing the new nation together to be a point of independence from Britain and building a foundation for creating a new constitution. But, it was a fragile document and brought more harm to the new nation than good. They had no power to defend the people in any way and therefore determined to be ineffective economical and socially for the nation, at the time, but led to the inspiration for nation-builders like Madison and Hamilton to restart and build a new nation with more substantial national authority....