The Articles of Confederation

The purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to keep the new nation unified for joint action in dealing with common problems, such as foreign policy, until the states were "mature" enough for a constitution and a sturdy government. The Articles can easily be seen as a failure, but their accomplishment lies in the fact that they outlines the general powers that were to be exercised by the central government, and paved the road to our present day constitution. Congress was purposefully designed to be weak because americans had no desire to give up their newly acquired privileges, even to a 'parliament' of their own making. And so it was that the states had too much individual power, thus, congress was unable to regulate commerce or to enforce its tax-collection program. The goal was to keep the states unified, and the Articles of Confederation did accomplish this, but thats about all it did. Times would eventually call for the states to give up their sovereignty to a federal government and, for the most part, only deal with local affairs.