Articles Of Confederation Essay

The Articles of Confederation became officially effective on March 1st, 1781. At this point, the congress became the Congress of the Confederation. The articles largely supported the organization of the Continental Army and allowed the 13 states to unify in the battle against the British. The articles consisted of an introduction, 13 articles, and a signatory section.

While many view the articles as a failure, it without a doubt took some actions that have had a lasting impact on the states. The articles were our first Constitution, and at least allowed us to see our mistakes so we could understand what was needed to be done in order to fix them. The Land Ordinance of 1785 helped us expand our territory west of the original colonies and also helped us establish a way of funding public schools. It also allowed congress a way of gaining revenue seeing they were not given the power of direct taxation, they could sell these townships. The Northwest Ordinance created the Northwest Territory, which was established as our first organized territory. It consisted of the land south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River.

While it may of helped establish a few ordinances that have had a lasting impact on the states, it definitely had many downsides. The congress was not given the power of taxation, and could only request money from the states. In order to make any modifications to the articles, congress had to have a unanimous approval of the modification. Without proper funding, it became near impossible to maintain a strong military, so the military began to wither away. It also went with the one state, one vote rule which would not allow larger states to contribute any more to the congress then any other state.

So, while the articles may of helped us take some of our more important steps early in our newly independent nation, it was more of a learning experience for our congress. While the congress