The Articles Of Confederation And An Effective Government

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To say that the Articles of Confederation provided the United States of America with an effective government would be quite an over exaggeration. For most people in modern day, an effective government would be one that can govern mass numbers of people and still be politically correct in overruling decisions on matters while keeping the law in mind, yet keeping the benefit of common good front and center. But, the Articles of Confederation were not written in the present day, so these ideals of a competent government were not quite applicable. For most people, an effective government was one that could govern mass numbers of people, still giving the states and the people many rights, while still being able to keep all under control. This would have eliminated any possibility that a federal government could become too strong or resemble a monarchy. However, the Articles of Confederation did few of these things. The Articles of Confederation were ineffective because they provided a weak central government, did not give the authority to settle boundary disputes, and eventually led to civil unrest which included incidences such as Shays’ Rebellion. Other countries did not give the United States of America respect because they had not established a strong central government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the government was restricted in what it could actually do. The Articles of Confederation set up a government that consisted of a one house body of delegates, with each state having a single vote, acting collectively, could make decisions on certain issues that affected all states. There was no president or judiciary so any decision required nine of the thirteen states’ votes. At this point in time the United States of America ... ... middle of paper ... ...o consider the charms of liberty as imaginary and delusive.” John Jay in this document expresses his fear of the good hearted workers will lose confidence in prominent social figures thus causing civil unrest. He shows his concern on the fact that before they had a purpose or cause, ie independence, and not they are just going with the flow. Daniel Shays was an American soldier, revolutionary, and farmer, famous for being a leader of Shays ' Rebellion, an uprising against oppressive debt collection and tax policies in Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. Instead of addressing the matter formally and politely they went straight to the source: the courts. Shays’ Rebellion shut down courts, stopped proceeding and stopped courts from collecting bankruptcies. This proved to the working class something needed to be done about the government or there would be constant revolts.

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