Articles of Confederation DBQ
No government is perfect, and no government is completely efficient; all governments have at least some problems and inefficiencies. The Articles of Confederations, which formed the American Confederacy, was no exception. The Articles of Confederation were transformed the United States into a more united America and gradually changed America for the better of its constitution. It also established some of the significant principles for the future, such as in the Constitution. Though it was not perfect, the Articles were able to address and solve many major problems regarding state inequality and western expansion during its reign. The Articles of Confederation were effective in maintaining proper order within the government and forming a government able to expand the growth of the United States.
The Articles of Confederation helped unite the individual states of the United States. There was much debate over westward expansion in the Post-Revolutionary War era. The Treaty of Paris granted Americans access to the trans-Appalachian West and set up a method of government within the western territory and the system which granted statehood to territories. When states had to cede Western land claims (Doc. E), equality was husbanded: the states with no land claims in the West were on a more equal footing with the other states. According to the letter from Delegate Joseph Jones of Virginia to George Washington in 1783, the Articles did not provide a method in which Congress could levy taxes and comply with the requests of the Revolutionary War soldiers. Because though states were not forced to give money to Congress, few voluntarily did so, and, therefore, Congress was unable to pay bonuses and back pay to the veterans. Though this may have been a factor in the formation of Shay’s Rebellion, that rebellion awakened Congress and allowed it to address the peoples’ needs, creating more equality. This lack of funds allowed the idea of...