Fully discuss the nature,strengths, and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederstion

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The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America . It was the first governing document adopted by the country . Its final draft was written in 1777 and was used from that time by the United States Congress even though its ratification wasn 't made until 1781 . The Articles served both as a document that showed the ideals and philosophies of the Revolutionaries and as a document that stressed the realistic problems

of a democracy . Although it served a primary role in the thirteen states ' attainment of nationhood , the articles had , with its strengths , a number of weaknesses

The Articles were strong , however , in that it was able to keep the states together until the writing of the Constitution . The policies for the development of western land as provided for in the document were also considered to be fair . The end of the Revolutionary War could also be attributed to the Articles ' successful negotiation of peace with Great Britain . The Constitution 's executive cabinet was also based on the Articles ' successful Congressional departments

However , the weaknesses of the Articles were also very salient which is why the Constitution was eventually written to take its place . One weakness was that the government was not allowed separate power and most of the power was left mostly up to the different states . The two greatest problems from this was the lack of a taxing authority and the lack of an executive authority . Congress could not , therefore , generate funds for its campaigns . It also could not implement the laws passed The states were free to ignore the supposed highest governing body of the country . Thus the greatest problem of the Confederates was not an exhilarating sense of freedom but rather an inability to collect tax and to gather resources (Rakove , 230

Works Cited

Jack N . Rakove , The Collapse of the Articles of Confederation ' in The American Founding : Essays on the Formation of the Constitution . Ed J . Jackson Barlow , Leonard W . Levy and Ken Masugi . Portsmouth NH :Greenwood Press . 1988 . 225-245 (Surname Here ) PAGE 2...