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The Articles of Confederation

American Constitution. The First American President.

Was the American Revolution a "conservative revolution?" It was not a typical "revolution" because it did not attempt to overthrow and replace King George III, who ruled for 60 years (including nearly 40 years after American Revolution). The American Revolution was not motivated to establish a brand new future with its own revolutionary leader, because for the first few years after the Revolution the colonies (then states) refused to have a president at all. Instead, the American Revolution was an attempt to restore natural God-given rights (such as life, liberty and pursuit of happiness) and self-governance to the colonies, a "conservative" result.

State Constitutions

Soon after the end of the Revolution, all but two of the states adopted new constitutions. Rhode Island and Connecticut continued to use their charters, after removing all references to Britain.

All state constitutions then, and now, contain references to God.

Many colonists were fed up with kings, and their opposition to concentrating power in one person was reflected in the states' constitutions by concentrating power in the legislative branch rather than in a single executive officer like a governor. New state governors typically lacked the power to veto any legislation. Instead, a bill became law as soon as the legislature passed it, without needing the governor's signature. In many states, the governor was even elected by the legislature.

Short terms of office were also used to limit the power of governors. Some state constitutions used only one year as the term of office for governor.

The state courts lacked power too. In Pennsylvania, the general assembly could remove judges at any time for vaguely defined "misbehavior". The situation was similar in Rhode Island. When one judge decided that Rhode Island's attempts to force citizens to use paper money was unconstitutional, he (and other judges who agreed with him) were then dismissed by the legislature.

The Articles of Confederation

Before and during the war, the Continental Congress met repeatedly to organize war efforts and try to resolve some issues for all the colonies as needed. This Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and proposed the Articles of Confederation in 1777. The Declaration of Independence, which Americans honor on July 4th, first coined the name the "United States of America" as follows: the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America." On November 15, 1777, this name was formally given to the new country when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. Its first Article states: "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'" Thus it was the Articles of Confederation, not the Constitution, that first established the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation were ratified by all 13 colonies in 1781, which converted them from "colonies" into "states". But due to flaws in the Articles of Confederation, they lasted only eight (8) years, and were replaced by the Constitution in 1789.



The Articles provided for a unicameral (one body) Congress to govern the states. There was no president (imagine that!), but rather a committee formed of one representative from each state who wielded executive authority. There were no federal (national) courts (imagine that also!).

The Articles of Confederation created a very weak national government, with the states retaining most of the power for themselves. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was given the power to declare war, raise an army and navy, make commercial treaties, borrow money, control currency, and levy assessments against the states. But Congress lacked the power to impose taxes on the people to pay for any of that. It could ask the states for money, but could not force them to pay. The power to raise an army is almost meaningless without the means to raise money to pay the army.

In sum, the Articles of Confederation created a very weak national government, too weak to accomplish what needed to be done. Several serious problems below illustrated the defects in this national government. A new convention would be needed to fix the Articles, but instead it decided to create a whole new system of government.

The federal government under the Articles did not have enough power to operate effectively in its foreign policy. After the war, the British continued to impose trade restrictions on America, and America was powerless to do anything about it. Americans continued to buy English imports at a furious rate, and this caused money to drain out of America.

In the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War, America had agreed to treat Loyalists fairly and return their belongings. Congress then asked the states to do this, but several refused. The new Congress had no way to make the states obey the nation's commitment.

The Spanish claimed the territory west of the Mississippi and exclusive navigation of the Mississippi River, which was a key trading route for the new land acquired by the United States west of the Appalachian mountains. Spain knew that the United States was too weak to fight for its territory. Although the United States attempted to negotiate but nothing could be achieved without some strength.

Across the ocean in the Mediterranean, American trade was interrupted by piracy off of the Barbary Coast (modern day Tunisia). Previously, America had been protected from the pirates by England, but now America was obliged to pay its own way. But the new American government had no money for bribing or fighting the pirates.


Date: 2016-04-22; view: 888


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