Between 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with the basis of government. Unfortunately, the government put forth by the Articles of Confederation failed to be an effective one due to the limits of power it imposed on Congress. Congress was denied several vital duties including being able to tax the states directly, enforce treaties and regulate trade. The powers denied to Congress made it too weak, and as a result an ineffective government. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could not directly tax the colonies. Instead, Congress had to ask the states for funding, but could not enforce this request. Effectively, this meant that Congress had no real method of generating funding for itself as funding
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This meant that each state set up their own regulations on trade. Some states even charged a tariff fee when trade occured between states, even though all the states were in the same country. The estimated market value of US exports to the Great Britain, tracked between the years of 1770 to 1792 show where the national government having the ability to regulate trade would have been useful. In the period of time tracked where the Articles of Confederation was in place (1784-1789), even though the population of the United States grew from 3.2 million people to 3.8 million, the market value of US exports to the UK grew by only a meager $500,000 from $4.2 million to $4.9 million. In previous years, when the population of the United States grew around half a million people, the market value of US exports had more than doubled from $3.2 million to $6.5 million in only a 5 year period. If Congress had control over the trade regulations of the nation, they may have been able to create policies that ushered in a more positive trading relationship between it and the United Kingdom. Instead, each of the thirteen states had thirteen different trade policies with each other and with foreign countries like the UK, which created fragmentation within the Union on trade policy. When Congress tried to create a nationwide impost (tax) on imported goods, some states rejected it, like Rhode Island in their letter to Congress claimed that the “proposed impost is repugnant to the liberty of the United States” and rejected
This meant that each state set up their own regulations on trade. Some states even charged a tariff fee when trade occured between states, even though all the states were in the same country. The estimated market value of US exports to the Great Britain, tracked between the years of 1770 to 1792 show where the national government having the ability to regulate trade would have been useful. In the period of time tracked where the Articles of Confederation was in place (1784-1789), even though the population of the United States grew from 3.2 million people to 3.8 million, the market value of US exports to the UK grew by only a meager $500,000 from $4.2 million to $4.9 million. In previous years, when the population of the United States grew around half a million people, the market value of US exports had more than doubled from $3.2 million to $6.5 million in only a 5 year period. If Congress had control over the trade regulations of the nation, they may have been able to create policies that ushered in a more positive trading relationship between it and the United Kingdom. Instead, each of the thirteen states had thirteen different trade policies with each other and with foreign countries like the UK, which created fragmentation within the Union on trade policy. When Congress tried to create a nationwide impost (tax) on imported goods, some states rejected it, like Rhode Island in their letter to Congress claimed that the “proposed impost is repugnant to the liberty of the United States” and rejected