Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation Purpose

The purpose of the Articles of Confederation is simple: After declaring independence from England in 1776 and starting the Revolutionary War, the states needed to have a framework for running their new country.

Inspiration for the Articles of Confederation

Before the Revolutionary War even started, Benjamin Franklin created a framework called the Albany Plan in 1754. His goal was a union between the thirteen colonies. Franklin had observed the political systems of the indigenous people who lived in the area (especially the Iroquois, Susquehannocks, and Delawares) and how they created peace through a confederation.

The Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress started in May of 1775 in response to the outbreak of violence between the colonists and British soldiers. The Second Continental Congress served as the de facto government throughout the Revolutionary War.

During the Second Continental Congress in 1775, Franklin updated the Albany Plan and called it the Articles of Confederation. However, at the time, most people were focused on whether they should declare war than how the new country would actually run.

Fighting for a country that didn’t exist yet

The Revolutionary War officially began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. The colonists were united in their desire to be free from British rule, but they didn’t know yet what kind of government they DID want to live under.

In order to fight a war together, the colonies needed to band together around things like providing soldiers with weapons, food, and pay, and financing Congress. Since the colonies relied on British currency, they needed to figure out what currency they would use.

Committee to draft a Union for the States

The Second Continental Congress created the Committee to Draft a Union for the States. Thirteen delegates (one from each colony) sat on the committee. John Dickinson from Pennsylvania chaired the committee and wrote most of the draft. The committee met many times, but their work was frequently interrupted by invasions from the British and needing to relocate.

The committee faced intense debate about the following controversies:

• Maintaining state sovereignty and making sure that Congress wasn’t strong enough to force the states to do anything.
• Avoiding a strong central government that would impose taxes similar to the ones that the colonies started a war over.
• Managing westward expansion and settling disputes between states with western borders and states without western borders.
• Whether slavery would be allowed to continue or not.

This map shows how states with western borders wanted to claim all lands to the west, while states like Maryland and New Jersey had no westward expansion options. Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

Ratification of the Articles of Confederation

Dickinson presented his draft of the Articles of Confederation to the Second Continental Congress in 1777. After debate, Congress passed the Articles on November 15, 1777.

However, getting all thirteen colonies to ratify the Articles was not so simple since Maryland refused to sign. Going back to the debate about westward expansion, Maryland was upset because the policy of allowing states with western borders to essentially expand. As a state without a western border, Maryland felt like that policy gave those states an unfair advantage, especially their neighbour Virginia.

Finally, in 1781, they reached a compromise that involved Virginia giving up its claims to the north of the Ohio River and agreeing that Congress would manage those lands instead. On February 2, 1781, Maryland ratified the Articles and they officially became law.

Articles of Confederation Summary

In summary, the Articles of Confederation included 13 different articles. Below is an overview of what the articles accomplished:

• Named the country the “United States of America.”
• Affirmed the sovereignty of each state.
• Appointed one vote per state in Congress.
• Declared that expenditures by the central government will be paid with funds raised by state legislatures.
• Affirmed that the new Congress will pay back all of the bills and debts incurred over the past few years.
• Affirmed the purpose of the Articles was to enter into a “league of friendship” for common defence, security of liberties, and mutual welfare.
• Established free movement between the states.
• Gave Congress the power to declare and conduct wars.
• Affirmed that the new Congress will pay back all of the bills and debts incurred over the past few years.
• Gave state legislatures the power to appoint ranks of colonel and below for the army.
• Allowed a “committee of the states” to conduct business if Congress is in recess.
• Allowed the province of Quebec to join the union if it wanted to.
• Declared the Articles to be “perpetual” and can only be changed if Congress and the states agree.

Articles of Confederation Strengths and Weaknesses

While the Articles of Confederation had some strengths that helped unify the new country, it also had some significant weaknesses that almost caused the new union to fall apart.

Strengths of the Articles of Confederation

The Articles and the ideas behind unity and freedom helped provide a unifying rallying call that helped the states work together to win the war. The Articles of Confederation had some important successes:

1. Signing the Treaty of Paris, 1783: While they struggled to get the necessary number of delegates to sign the peace treaty with England (called the Treaty of Paris), they were able to officially sign the treaty in 1783.
2. Land Ordinances: The issues of westward expansion were a continual problem. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established policies around land surveying and property ownership to alleviate the concerns.

An image depicting George Washington praying for strength at Valley Forge. Source: Wikimedia Commons CC-PD-Mark

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

While there were some important successes, history ultimately showed that there were far more weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.

1. Funding the War: The Articles gave Congress the authority to create an army but specifically did not give Congress the authority to force states to pay through taxes or any other means. The most Congress could do was make a “requisition” (request) for money. But the states were busy trying to raise their own funds, so most states ignored Congress’s requests for funding.
2. Participation: Many delegates stopped showing up. The journey was long and difficult and there was no requirement to be there. Unfortunately, without a quorum of nine states present, Congress couldn’t vote or pass legislation, which stalled many decisions. The problem only got worse as time went on.
3. Currency Failures: Congress had no authority to tax or demand money from the states, so it had no money to conduct foreign policy, purchase land, pay for administration, or fund an army. As a result, Congress started printing its own money. Unlike the British pound, the Continental currency wasn’t tied to silver or gold. Printing mountains of Continental dollars that were essentially worthless led to the saying "as worthless as a Continental."A one-third dollar in Continental Currency. Source: Wikimedia Commons CC-PD-Mark
4. Other Weaknesses:As time went on, the Articles of Confederation also showed their weaknesses in a few other areas:

   1. Each state had one vote, regardless of its size or population.

   2. Congress had no authority to regulate foreign or interstate commerce.

Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution

Eventually, the problems in the Articles of Confederation became so severe something needed to be done. The Constitutional Convention, which met in 1787, scrapped the Articles of Confederation and created the Constitution.

Ratified in 1789, the Constitution shifted power to the federal government while still providing strong authority to the states. Below are some of the main changes that the Constitution provided:

• It created two new branches in addition to the legislative branch: the Executive branch and the Judicial branch

• It split the legislative branch into two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate

• Rather than each state having one vote in Congress, each state's Representatives and Senators would have one vote each.

• It gave the federal government the authority to tax the states