America's first form of government was under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was written after the Revolutionary War, compiled of ideas by the Continental Congress. Under the Articles of Confederation its powers included conducting foreign relations, settling disputes between states, controlling maritime affairs, regulating Indian trade, and valuing state and national coinage. It purposely did not give the national government all the power in fear of tyranny like in Britain. In the end, the Articles of Confederation proved to be both inadequate in economic conditions and foreign relations.Under the Articles of Confederation the national government was not allo ...view middle of the document...
The government then asked the states to amend the Articles of Confederation and allow the Congress to levy duty of 5% on imported goods. Robert Morris had put national finances on stable balance, but the customs that Congress asked for were never adopted. The states' had resisted in fear that the central government would become too powerful.As the war was ending Congress had to face major diplomatic problems. In the Articles of Confederation Article 4 had promised repayment of prewar debts, most of which were owed to by Americans to British merchants. In Article 5 it stated that states should allow loyalists to recover their confiscated property, which aroused considerable opposition. The state governments passed lass that denied the British subjects the right to sue for the recovery of property or debts in American courts. Since Congress had no power under the Articles of Confederation to overturn the decision, many loyalists were unable to get back what had rightfully been theirs to begin with. With this decision it gave the British an excuse to main their military posts on the Great Lakes long after when troops were supposed to have withdra...
