The Articles of Confederation
Advantages, Disadvantages, & More by Clarissa Ward
Advantages
-Included a unified army with heavy control
-Legislature was set up
-Foreign affairs dealt with on state level
-Congress had power to deal with Native American affairs
-Department of Treasury established
-Postal Service established
Disadvantages
-No Judicial or Executive branch
-National Government could not tax citizens
-Different currencies and trade between states
-All 13 states needed to amend a law
-9/13 states approval needed to pass a law
-Each state, no matter the size, had 1 vote in Congress
-Lacked solid leader without Executive (President)
Why?
The creators of the Articles of Confederation created a government with a weak central power because they did not want a repeat of the government of England. They feared a monarchy without freedoms and certain rights. Smaller states also feared this because they believe a smaller population would make them have less power in a central government. There was also the fact that a central government would make centralized decisions best for the whole nation rather than the needs for the individual state.