1 mars 1781 - 1781 - Articles of Confederation in effect

Description:

Separate colonies needed to learn to become a bigger entity (during the Revolutionary War, Congress had no legal basis)
Colonists didn’t agree on a document until 1781
Maryland was the final state to accept after they needed help with a British fleet
Almost no power to the national government
Can’t tax the states but could request money
No coercive power
No changes to the Articles of Confederation unless all the states agreed
Single-gouse government (no executive or judicial branches)
Each state gets one vote no matter its size
Articles of Confederation were very weak and were essentially just a compact of states (i.e. 13 independent nations with a bond)
COULD declare war and peace (individual states could not)
People started ignoring them because they were weak
States pass laws and essentially ignore the Treaty of Paris
Articles of Confederation said that Northwest Territories would belong to the United States as a whole