The Articles of Confederation and Their Weaknesses

The History of the The Articles of Confederation

It was in the year 1783, in the month of November, the American diplomats sent the final version of the Treaty of Paris to Congress. This formally ended the war between America and Great Britain. A quorum of nine states was present for the Congress to make the treaty officially valid with their formal consent. Now, with each passing week, as the treaty settled down, the Congress however remained unable to act upon the treaty in the way it was supposed to be. Even though Congress tried to strengthen their base and the Articles, the problems still persisted with no major improvement down the line.

With delays and frustrations building up, the situation led many delegates to pay more attention to their home states and their personal matters than to the legislative body of the nation. This should not have been the case. This even went in the history of US-UK treaty as one of the failed attempts where the Articles of Confederation were bugged by multiple weaknesses and notable loopholes.

The Weakness of The Articles Of Confederation

Now that you are eager to figure things out and know about the Articles of Confederation and their Weaknesses, read this piece for a elaborative insight and overview.

Here’s everything you need to know.

· There was no central leadership

In every political treaty or formation of a political body, one needs to ensure that there is a strong role of a central leader. Ands the Congress failed this time in this particular matter. The fact was, there was no central leadership or a visionary the Congress could follow. This, as a result, led to a disorganized movement with the delegates and other political personnel going haywire with their ideas and visions.  Had there been a strong role of a central leadership, things would have taken a different turn in the pages of world history altogether. Having a strong central leadership could have led the Congress pave their way constructively and attain success at the end of the tunnel. As mentioned earlier, lack of communication and a concrete structure made the delegates drift away from the legislative body of the nation. With the right leadership, the delegates could have focused more on their key actionable points, thus making the Confederation Articles a success. It goes without saying, a strong central leadership is unarguably the heart and soul of a successful political treaty and other similar establishments.

· Had no power to enforce its laws

This is yet another point of concern and definitely a red flag that kept the Congress away from functioning well. The fact remains, Congress had no power to enforce its laws and as a result, they failed to function in the right manner or at least in the way it was supposed to be. With powers and provisions.

Congress could have implemented the right laws and brought the changed they aimed for. Since there was no power assigned to the Congress to enforce its laws, things apparently fell out of the context and suffered in the hands of a weak leadership, misguidance, inappropriateness of the plan of action and the likes.

· Had no power to regulate trade

No political treat or plan of action can have a long, successful run if the governing body has no power to regulate trade. As per the Confederation Articles, Congress lacked the power to regulate trade and commerce. This, as a result, led the Congress facing concerns and backlashes as they failed to standardize, mediate and protect trades between various states and foreign nation.

It was more of an ornamental body with no power and provision to regulate a stabilized commerce with the firing nations and other states. As a result, with each passing day and year, things started taking a backseat as Congress failed to keep up with a successful commercial venture with other states and foreign countries.

This, again brought a negative impact on Congress and their whereabouts and of course the long-term political goals.

In the year, 1785, the month of February, the committee recommended an amendment of the Confederation Articles so that could have the power to regulate trade between foreign nations and other states. Even though it is said that Congress sent a proposal for amendment to the State legislatures, along with a letter requesting immediate action, only a few states responded to the proposed amendment.

Later, it was stated that the amended article was so much powerful and that it gave so much power to Congress that the states were scared to respond or act. So, it was never a win-win situation for Congress as their urge to amend the article had only put things in a wrong way and it backfired as the other states were afraid to sign up for commercial ventures or get into a trade down the road.

· It had no judicial branch or national court system

No political formation or establishment can function in the right manner if it lacks a judicial branch or a national court system. The same fate hit the Congress hard as they failed to secure an organized national court of justice and judicial branch in the long run. This means that the entire judicial branch was solely dependent on the states.

As a result, things didn’t work out in the way they were supposed to be. Legislative inefficiency and a lack of strong judicial system both led to the political body face unfavorable consequences in the long run.

If there was a strong judicial branch or national court system, things could have been different for Congress. Alas! Such was not the case. However, these events and loopholes came with a silver lining? Wondering what were those?

It taught us the importance of having a judicial branch, an authoritarian body that can back a political system, their visons, long-term goals and agendas. And a political treaty or a formation will not last long or function seamlessly if they lack judicial insights, a strong plan of action and the right legal suggestions from time to time.

· They had no power to impose tax

This is said to be one of the biggest weaknesses that kept Congress away from functioning in the right way. It has been stated that the national government had no power to regulate tax. As a result, things took a different turn altogether for the Congress associates and their goals. So much so that the national government had to request the states for money in order to pay for its expenses. Now, considering this facet and what went wrong, it seems that Congress was bugged by with not just one, but multiple areas of weakness and shortcomings.

As days passed by and things started taking a backseat, it became difficult for national government to function without tax imposition or opening up avenues and sources of revenue generation.

Parting Thoughts,

So, all said and done, it seems that the Confederation of Articles certainly left a few things for us to learn and implement down the road. As you can see, no political treaty, formation or government can function without the power to impose tax, a proper judicial branch, power to regulate trade and most importantly a central leadership – things didn’t work out well for Congress.

For a stable government, it is crucial that the body is able to raise funds, lean on a strong judicial system and regulate things with determination and the right visionaries.

So, the next time you are asked to write assignments on such similar topics and subject matters, always make it a point to keep referring to more such write-ups and never miss out on embracing absolute academic excellence. After all, developing an elaborative insight into political subject matters and events will help you lead a responsible life as a law-abiding and knowledgeable citizen.

Cheers and good luck!