Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, written in 1777, ratified by the colonies March 1, 1781, established the United States of America. Signed by John Dickenson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and other future Framers of the U.S. Constitution, the Articles instituted a perpetual union of the thirteen colonies into a confederation that could operate unitarily in times of war. The new national government consisted only of a Legislature, with one vote per state. A 3/4 vote was required to pass laws, and amendments required unanimous voting.
The Articles of Confederation invoked spiritual guidance:
- Whereas the delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of Our Lord 1777, and in the second year of the independence of America agree on certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States ...
- The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force ... or attacks made upon them ... on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense. ...
- It has pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation.
the articles of confederation was good
Weaknesses and Failures
Though the Articles did have two early successes, its weaknesses were far greater. It established no executive to enforce laws, no army or navy, no judiciary, no national currency, could not regulate trade, no way to collect taxes, and foreign policy was impossible. At the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, George Washington called together elite statesmen (including Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Mason) to discuss the Articles. At the Conference, they decided they were a failure and needed to be rewritten, calling for an Annapolis Convention the next year. At the Convention, only five states sent delegates. They proposed to meet in Philadelphia the next year.
none of this is true