(EQ1) Was the new United States in a crisis under the Articles of Confederation, or was the crisis exaggerated

by the Federalists to justify their movement?

The United States was in poor shape with the Articles of Confederation. Although not in immediate harm, the Articles were strangling and prevented an effective form of government from occurring. States rights were too powerful for a unified country and the federal government had little economic impact. However, although the Confederation may have been weak, its leaders still had good insights and created some excellent provisions, rendering the Articles not a complete failure. States were given much more power than is typical today, and Confederation was taken to a literal meaning. States were the final authority on matters, as the federal government lacked a judicial branch. Between states, boundary disputes were common, as surveys often mismarked land boundaries and states were unwilling to concede to their neighbors anything. Even when a crisis such as Shays Rebellion broke out, it was a private army that was raised to meet the problem, pointing to a lack of ability for the new head government. Had the instigators been addressed by the federal government, they would have still been tried within the state they were captured in, as there was not a federal court to try people in. Within the legislature, states were given one vote apiece, a practice tipped toward small states, such as the lowly populated Rhode Island, while sidelining Virginia, New York and Massachusetts which contained a greater percentage of the overall population. Economically, the Articles of Confederation provided a scourge that hindered economic growth in a period that should have allowed for unbridled expansion. States

acted independent of each other, with some negotiating entire deals with countries, as if they were a separate entity (which, in effect, they were). Even within the country, states regularly taxed each others goods in an effort to boost their own economy at a hindrance of the national one. Further prohibiting interstate trade was the lack of a single national currency. States printed their own money and would often have varying and arbitrary exchange rates. Combined with a stifled trade with Great Britain, the United States economic situation was plighted to such a high degree it could not even pay back many of the French loans that it was given during the Revolutionary War. However, not all the occurred under the Articles was terrible; one of the most forward thinking federal decisions was made during this time, that of the Northwest Ordinances. These Ordinances laid the ground for future states and well planned communities, which would be vital to expansion in the uncharted west. A point that appears obvious but warrants mention is that the Articles also kept the states together, a simple task that may appear simple, but was incredibly difficult for such factionalized regions. Additionally, the Barbary pirates were engaged and defeated, evincing that the US military had at least a chance at becoming practical. Although abysmal in comparison to the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation were a necessary step in a jigsaw puzzle without a picture to compare to. Without them, however horrible, many of the more detrimental ideas would have limped on, slowly crippling the United States. In effect, it took one concise, sharp blow, rather than a slow poison draining its health over the course of time. Little doubt exists that the Federalists wished to exaggerate the condition of the Articles to create a government that

was a new form of aristocracy. However, they also saw that there were serious flaws in the current system that upset a balance of state and federal rights.