Written in advance as a response to an exam question for college history.

Q> Under the Articles of Confederation, the government of the United States faced several problems both foreign and domestic. What problems did the country face and what effort was made to solve them? After the colonials realized the articles were too weak, what did they do? Did the changes solve the problems after they were implemented? Be specific.



“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” These words are from the Preamble of the United States Constitution: the foundation of the modern government, the supreme law of the United States, and one of the most famous and revolutionary documents in history. However, before the Constitution was written, there was another, less well-known document called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles, proposed in 1777 and ratified in 1781, were a response to the realization of the necessity of a unifying central government by the newly independent American colonies. However, the Articles had many flaws, including the lack of an executive branch and federal court system, the inability to regulate trade, no power to tax, and worst of all, they needed unanimous consent to be amended. These flaws were made worse by the American Revolutionary war and its aftermath, as well as problems with foreign diplomacy.

The Revolutionary War formally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. However, problems with the British were far from resolved. Despite the terms stated in the treaty, the British refused to withdraw their troops stationed in a number of forts along the Canadian border. From these forts, the British maintained a profitable fur trade and were also suspected of inciting Indians to make attacks on American settlements. In the Atlantic, the British also frequently impressed American sailors and forced them to serve in the Royal Navy, a practice that was virtually kidnapping. The British also turned the system of mercantilism used before the war against American merchant ships, strangling their ability to trade goods with Europe.

Britain was not the only foreign power to cause problems for the new confederation; The Spanish refused to acknowledge the southern boundary of the United States declared in the Treaty of Paris and claimed some of the territory as its own. The treaty also gave Americans the right to navigate the Mississippi River to its mouth. This right to navigate and ship goods down the Mississippi River was vital to the wellbeing of the settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee. However, in 1784 the Spanish governor of Louisiana closed the river to American commerce. In addition, the governor, like the British in their northern forts, began to provoke the Indians to attack American settlers.

The innate flaws of the articles stemmed from the fact that the central government the established was too weak to be of any real use. This weakness was a direct response to the tyranny the colonies had faced under the rule of Great Britain. Fearing the development of another tyrannical monarchy, the central government under the Articles had no executive branch. While this effectively removed the possibility of a tyrannical leader, it also led to a large lack of authority in the government as a whole. This, and the lack of a federal court system, meant any laws that congress did pass would be virtually impossible to enforce.

The central government under the Articles also did not have the ability to regulate trade, tax, or mint currency. In fact, the only way for the central government to acquire any money at all was to request money from the state governments, who had absolutely no incentive to aid the central government. The lack of a centralized regulation of the nation’s economy wreaked havoc on the nation. America, from the central and state governments, to most citizens, was laden with debts from the Revolutionary War and earlier. In order to try to solve the problem, many states began printing more money, causing a huge inflation. To top it all off, the lack of regulation in commerce meant that the value of one state’s currency in another state was extremely volatile, causing large problems in interstate trade.

The economic crises were beginning to take a toll on the nation, and especially on the average American. Soldiers who served in the Revolution, most of them small farmers, still had not been paid for their services, and were in danger of losing their land. Many of these farmers had also sacrificed property to the war effort; an IOU given by the government their only assurance they would be repaid. With the people losing faith in the ability of their government to secure their wellbeing, anarchy was looming on the horizon.

The fear of anarchy became reality in 1787, when a group of about 1,200 farmers led by Daniel Shays advanced upon the federal arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts. This event is known as Shay’s Rebellion, and although it was successfully repressed, it shocked the country and raised concerns everywhere. Fearful of prospect of more rebellions, anarchy, and the loss of private property, the people cried for something to be done to the Articles, some way to fix them. Unfortunately, one particular portion of the articles, perhaps its greatest flaw, would make them virtually impossible to change. In order for the Articles of Confederation to be amended, the change must have unanimous consent from all the states. This meant that if even one state did not support the change, it could not pass.

Knowing that something had to be done, lest the nation be torn apart either from the inside or foreign powers, The Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia in mid 1787. Their goal was to form a new government that might lead the nation to prosperity. The fruit of their labors was the United States Constitution. The Constitution established a government that was the first of its kind; remarkably strong, yet incredibly flexible, a strong government, yet kept in check by itself and the people.

This new document was the first step in solving the problems of the nation, a process that is still going on today as the Constitution is constantly changed and improved. The inclusion of an executive and judicial branch dissolved the problems the Articles had enforcing their laws. The power to tax, regulate trade, and mint a national currency solved most of the monetary issues that were widespread under the Articles. Most importantly, the greatest weakness of the Articles – the near impossibility to change them – was eradicated. This Constitution could be amended by a simple two-thirds majority vote in congress, and then a three-fourths majority vote by the states.

The outcome of America’s foreign difficulties was mixed. The problems with Spain were solved by Pinckney’s Treaty in 1796. Under the Treaty, Spain acknowledged the southern border of the United States and agreed to allow American shipping on the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico. Both countries also agreed to stop inciting the local Indians, to protect each nation’s vessels when within their jurisdiction, and not to embargo one another. In effect, it produced a harmonious trading relationship with Spain. On the other hand, the difficulties with the British – impressment, mercantilism, and the northern forts – were not completely solved until after the War of 1812.

In all, the early years of the central government were rocky. Both foreign and domestic problems abounded in the early years of the new republic. It was partly to be expected, of course. The policies the nation was trying to implement had never been tested before. In effect, the new government was flying blind, groping ahead of it, not knowing whether its next step would reach success or send it plummeting into chaos. Spurred by their recent memory of tyranny, they were pressed into overcompensating, creating a national government too weak to support its citizens. However, despite all the struggles, all the problems, and all the mistakes, the United States eventually created one of the most revolutionary documents of all time, the United States Constitution.