What powers did the AOC give the national government?

Answer 1

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As you have learned, the Declaration of Independence was a document that stated our reasons for separating from England. The Declaration of Independence did not provide a new government for the new nation. In 1777, while the Revolutionary War was still going on, the Continental Congress drew up a plan for our first official government. This plan was called the Articles of Confederation. It was accepted by the 13 states and began operation in 1781.

Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was to have equal powers and in most ways, were independent of one another. The national government had very limited powers. The people of the 13 states did not want a strong national government. They felt that a strong national government might try to limit the powers and freedoms of the individual states.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government was made up of a one house (unicameral) called Congress. Each of the states sent representatives to Congress. Regardless of the size of each states population, each state had one vote in Congress. There was no president or an executive branch to carry out the nation's laws. Under this plan of government, the states had the power to enforce the laws made by Congress. A great deal of this setup was due to the people's fear of strong leaders like King George III of Great Britain. The Articles did not establish a national court system as well. In other words, there was no way to interpret laws or punish those that break the laws.

Even though the 13 states were willing to work together during the Revolutionary War, things changed after it was over. Many suffered hard times following the war, American property was destroyed, trade with other nations slowed down, and businesses suffered. The new nation ended up being in a lot of debt. This government tried to deal with the problems of the new nation but it was too weak to solve them.

There were many weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation. Congress had trouble passing laws due to the fact that 9 of the 13 states had to agree before any laws could be passed. Since there was no president or an executive branch, there was no way to make sure that laws passed by Congress were carried out. There were no courts to interpret laws or to judge those that broke them because a national court system did not exist. To make matters worse, changing the Articles of Confederation was nearly impossible. A unanimous vote of all 13 states were required before any changes could be made.

There were some other problems associated with the Articles of Confederation. Congress did not have the power to collect the taxes needed to pay for the expenses of the national government. Congress could ask for money, yet it had no power to force the states into paying them. Without money, Congress could not pay the nation's debt nor could it provide government programs and services.

Under the Articles, the national government could not control trade between the states or with foreign nations. Each state regulated its own trade, which resulted in many disputes among the states and with other nations as well. In addition, most states issued their own money. Without a uniform national currency, trading was a difficult process.

Each state acted like a small, separate nation. The people of each state saw themselves as citizens of their states as opposed to citizens of an entire nation. The people felt this way due to the great distances between states and the primitive transportation conditions during that era. In other words, the nation was an "ununited" group of states. Most of the times the states refused to obey the laws of Congress. As time passed relations between the states and the Congress worsened.

Although the Articles of Confederation helped establish our new nation, it had failed in numerous ways. The main problem was that the states refused to give the national government enough power to work correctly. The national government was unable to solve all of the problems mentioned in the previous paragraphs. As a result, in 1787 Congress asked the states to send representatives to a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss what could be done to improve the national government.

Answer 2

The AOC was also known as the Articals of confederation which were a set of rules before the constition.