Articles of Confederation
By Shaiann Edmondson
Advantages
Some of the advantages with our new government under the Articles of Confederation are as follows. The states now have a unified army, with this army we can better protect ourselves as a whole and it should be harder to use specific state's armies against each other's. We have created a legislature and each state gets their own vote. With this legislature in place everyone gets to voice their opinion and help decide which laws are implemented and which laws should never be passed.
Disadvantages
Some of the disadvantages with our new government under the Articles of Confederation are as follows. The government can not tax us, even though this seems like an advantage this means that our country doesn't have any source for funds. Without taxes we can't afford to do anything or support anyone as a country. Also since the states can tax they keep taxing one another and hurting trade. With all these random taxes by the states trade is more complicated, more expensive, and hurting the country as a whole. People will get confused and frustrated with the traders due to the increase in prices with so many taxes. These taxes are also once again only benefiting groups of people within the country and leaving the country as a whole without any sort of funds or support.
Taxes
The reason the creators of the Articles of Confederation did not give the government the power to tax the people was because of how harsh the British were to the colonists. The people were starting a rebellion against the British government that had the power to tax. Therefore the writers probably assumed that they could keep the citizens happy if they knew that the government would have little to no power, and could not force taxes they didn't agree with upon them.
Representation
The Articles of Confederation also state that the only way to amend a law is with all 13 states agreeing. After going through the process of protesting the fact that the British didn't let them defend themselves, the writers wanted to prevent such chaos again. They wanted all the people and the states as a whole to be able to express their thoughts on each amendment. They also wanted everyone to agree so that no state could protest the amendment. The writers were very smart for solving the current problems citizens despised and wanted to avoid.
Force
Under the Articles of Confederation the national government could not enforce the laws that were ratified. The reason the writers most likely included this guideline was because the British had sent their soldiers to force the colonists to follow their laws. So with the people's fear that the new US government would use the army against them as well, the writers subsided their fears by not allowing the government to do so.