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The Effectiveness of Articles of Confederation

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The definition of the word "effective" is to be successful in producing a desired or intended result, in which the Articles of Confederation did achieve by all means. Its primary purpose was to establish, for the United States, a form of national government and set laws, did it not? All thirteen of the states, united as one, ratified the articles in 1781 before the Revolution War ended. However, it was the way in which the plan was executed, that revealed to Congress and the American people, the current Articles would only lead to routes of complete chaos for the newborn country. With the form of united government in the mind, the Articles did fail to handle important issues such as legislative disorganization, control of power, and economic turmoil, which set the frame for a strong central government to take place. The greatest accomplishment of the Articles of Confederation was to prepare the country for the notorious U.S. Constitution to take root and prosper. During the period in which the U.S. was thrown into war, fighting for the freedom against their former ruler Britain, American citizens were in such a state of eagerness that the Second Continental Congress quickly wrote up the Articles of Confederation out of need for a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States. Yet, when the war ended with an American victory, Congress realized and nationalists complained that the Articles were too weak for a substantial government and there was only one branch of government. Government consisted of a single legislative branch lacking fundamental judicial and executive influence. All amendments passed required a unanimous vote of all thirteen states, making it a rare phenomenon. As stated in Document H, the sole object of appointing a convention was to inquire what alterations were necessary in the Confederation, touching on the subject that the whole purpose of a convention is to make changes to the Articles but that cannot be fulfilled due to the fact that a unanimous vote had

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