Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

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Scale of Depreciation
This chart shows the declining monthly value of two emissions of paper dollars from January 1777 to October 1781 as stipulated by the government of Massachusetts. In January 1777, 105 paper dollars were equal in buying power to $100 in silver or gold. In April 1780, 4,000 paper dollars were needed to equal the buying power of $100 in gold or silver. Such a chart was needed when debtors and creditors settled accounts contracted at one time and paid off later in greatly depreciated dollars. Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society.

IN 1783, THE CONFEDERATION government faced three interrelated concerns: paying down the large war debt, making formal peace with the Indians, and dealing with western settlement. Lacking the power to enforce its tax requisitions, the congress faced added debt pressures when army officers suddenly demanded secure pensions. Revenue from sales of western lands seemed to be a promising solution, but Indian inhabitants of those lands had different ideas.

From 1784 to 1786, the congress struggled mightily with these three issues. Some leaders were gripped by a sense of crisis, fearing that the Articles of Confederation were too weak. Others defended the Articles as the best guarantee of liberty because real governance occurred at the state level, closer to the people. A major outbreak of civil disorder in western Massachusetts quickly crystallized the debate and propelled the critics of the Articles into decisive and far-reaching action.

CHRONOLOGY

1783

  • – Newburgh Conspiracy.

1784

  • – Treaty of Fort Stanwix.

1785

  • – Ordinance of 1785.
  • – Treaty of Fort McIntosh.
  • – Congress calls for large requisition.

1786

  • – Shays’s Rebellion begins.

1787

  • – Shays’s Rebellion is crushed.
  • – Northwest Ordinance.

CHAPTER LOCATOR

What kind of government did the Articles of Confederation create?

How did the states define citizenship and freedom?

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

How did the Constitution change how the nation was governed?

What were the objections to ratification of the Constitution?

Conclusion: What was the “republican remedy”?

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