Articles of confederation
Which states supported the Articles of Confederation? Why do you think each state's name is listed in the introduction to the Articles?
All existing states at the time of the signing supported the Articles of Confederation. The reason they're all listed is to promote unity within America. Leaving out any single state would ruin any attempt at national unity.
According to Article XIII, describe how the Articles could be amended. In your view, would this be a workable way to change the Articles?
Article XIII states that any of the Articles could be amended if congress and the legislatures of each state confirmed the alteration, however, this would not be a workable way to change the Article. This is because the way the article was written implies if one state's legislature disagrees with the alteration, then the "amendment" would have to be completely dismissed, regardless of its possible positive affect on the overall condition of the union.
Article II states that "each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence." What do you think this implies regarding the stability of the union?
It implies that the union was in a fragile state. By promising the preservation of freedom and independence, we can presume the states were concerned that the government would restrict or even take away their limited power and possibly even take control of the state.
Speculate why it was important that the Articles of Confederation be written and in place before the British granted independence to the United States.
It was important that the Articles of Confederation be written and in place before the British granted independence to the United States so that the states, and eventually the colonies, could get used to how the structure works. Under the rule of the British empire, they could technically experiment with whatever government they created. If the Articles of Confederation did not function well enough, then the states would have time to create a better constitution before they were left to entirely fend for themselves.
Article V deals with the legislative branch of government. How many delegates would each state be entitled to? How many votes would each state be entitled to? What sort of problems might this cause?
No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor more than seven members. Each state is entitled to one vote. This was not an effective way to properly represent the views of ALL the people, due to the fact it the representations and votes of the state to such a small number doesn't effectively cover the opinions that "the people" have.
Article X notes that nine of the thirteen states would need to vote for any bill before it became law. Form a conclusion about why the Articles included this provision. Who might this provision have handicapped the central government?
The Articles of Confederation included this provision in order to add restrictions to the state's freedom without entirely taking away their rights. This would also prevent single states attempting to affect/change the country, as they needed all the states to agree. This would have handicapped the central government by adding even more reasons for states to conflict with each other.
The framers of the Articles decided not to include an executive branch or a federal court system. Why do you think they did this? Do you think this was a good idea or a bad idea? Explain.
The framers of the Articles decided not to include an executive branch or a federal court system because it would remove the focus on independent states with freedom. This was not a good idea either, as it upset the natural balance of the newly formed government. Without an executive branch and a federal court system, the structure of the entire government is unbalanced and not unified, which unfortunately is the opposite of what they were initially trying to accomplish.
