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 The Articles of Confederation were successful to a little extent of solving the problems that faced the new world, but ultimately in the end they failed as a document. There were many weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, and if anything it may have caused more problems than it solved.

 One successful thing that the Articles of Confederation did was basically bind the colonies together; it kept the idea of unity alive. This was the best thing for the colonists at the time because their economy and social atmosphere was unhealthy. It gave them hope that the government they had wanted was still possible (Barefoot). They were thirteen states linked together for dealing with common problems (Bailey).

 One of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was that the national government could not collect taxes (The Articles). This caused yet another problem in the colonies, due to the Articles of Confederation. Something that played into this was that they couldn’t control commerce. Every state could establish their own navigation laws, and different laws regarding tariffs. Also, every state could use a different currency which made it close to impossible to collect taxes. This hurt the new world’s economy. These were considered “voluntary” taxes. They received a maximum of one fourth of the money that they needed. This put the colonies into financial distress, yet another problem caused by the Articles of Confederation.

 The Articles of Confederation were designed to be weak, it was a “firm league of friendship” (Bailey). They had just received independence from England so they didn’t want to have a harsh government. Colonists and states in general feared that they would lose all newly gained privileges if an American Parliament was to be formed. It could not command, coerce, or control. There was no executive branch because of the way that England treated them before the Revolutionary War (Barefoot). The judiciary branch, which is extremely important, was almost completely given to the states. Congress was considered the “chief agency of government” (Bailey).

 Another reason that the Articles of Confederation didn’t solve problems was in the ratification process. Any amendment to be made to the articles needed a unanimous vote, and with thirteen states that was obviously nearly impossible (Bailey). Any bills dealing with the state’s issues required nine out of thirteen states to agree, which was difficult enough. It has been said that the colonists should be fortunate for this because if it wasn’t so hard to pass amendments they might have tried to fix the Articles of Confederation, rather than totally eliminating them.

 In conclusion the Articles of Confederation were successful to a little extent of solving problems facing the new nation. This document caused many more problems than it solved. All in all it was more of a hindrance than a help. Although, it was a stepping stone in American history.

"The Articles of Confederation - 1777." //Barefoot's World//. Barefoot's World, 27 Dec. 1997. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. . "The Articles of Confederation." Web. . Bailey, Thomas Andrew, David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen. //The American Pageant//. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Print.
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