aRTICLES OF cONFEDERATION: eFFECTIVE?

The Articles of Confederation were created to allow the 13 states of America to present a unified front when dealing with European powers such as Britain.
Yet they were largely a failure when it came to building a centralized war-making government. The Articles allowed Congress to make important decisions, but the latter had no power to enforce them, and there was also a requirement for unanimous approval before any change in the Articles was to be made. Congress was also denied the power of taxation, for it could only request money from the states and not impose it as law. Most of the time, the states didn’t pay in full, which left the confederation short of needed resources. The war had left the states and Congress in debt, further complicating the matter in finances.
However, the Articles of Confederation proved to be a vital part of what was to be the ratified constitution: it allowed politicians and congressmen to see what kind of power the constitution needed and what kind of power was needed to enforce that Constitution.
In the end, the Articles were largely ineffective yet provided a stepping stone for the things to come.