Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were adopted to formally unite the newly independent states in America and provided a central, however weak, government for the former colonies. The United States of America were not so "united". Although they were joined together in a war against common grievances, the states were not united as a country. Many states resented one another and each had their own different constitutions. The Second Continental Congress then created the Articles of Confederation, to serve as a loose union of these differing states. They joined the states' common portions in their constitutions to form a weak central government.

The Articles of Confederation, although a significant step towards a strong federal Constitution, were, in itself, a very weak structure of central government. However they were an effective form of government in the sense of catering to the newly indepedent states' wants and needs. These Articles did not give Congress much power and lacked the ability of national control of commerce regulations and taxation. Despite these failures, the Articles were very useful in beginning to unite the states. These former colonies had just fought a war against a strict and harsh government. What they wanted least was to fall under another strict and harsh government. The Republic under the Articles was loosely regulated, but very content. They kept alive the unity of the states and provided a new movement for a stronger federation.