From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation failed to provide the United

States with an effective government. Amongst its many weaknesses was the single branch
government, unicamel, and the inability of Congress to tax the states or declare war.
During the 1780s, the United States witnessed several acquisitive, individual
states expand their borders. According to a map of western lands ceded by the states, each
state claimed new lands on their own, but with little regard to the boundaries of other
states. Under the unicamel government provided by the Articles of Confederation, there
was simply Congress, the legislative branch which had very limited powers which were
insufficient to control a nation. The controversial expansions resulted in massive disputes
over boundaries between the states, and these arguments were not easily resolved due to
the lack of judicial or executive branch. Without a central court to work out national
quarrels and determine the boundaries of a state, the central government that consisted of
solely Congress could only plead for the states to make compromises about their western
claims. Unsurprisingly, the suggestions of Congress did little to persuade the states to
give up their important lands. John Jay summed up the inefficiency of this system of
begging provided by the Articles of Confederation in a letter to George Washington in
1786 where he stated, “Our affairs seem to lead to some crisis, some revolution. . .”
Frustrated about the lack of productivity in the new country, along with others, Jay
foresaw a rebellion of some kind that would drastically alter the execution of America.
Considering that unfair taxation played a large role in separating the colonies
from Britain, it was expected that Congress had not been granted the power to tax. The
money that could be used to benefit the entire nation came from voluntary donations.
Naturally, this method did little to profit the National Treasury which desperately needed
to pay back all war debts. After a recommendation from Congress the states donate
money, the Rhode Island Assembly wrote a letter informative of the views of many anti-
federalist states to Congress. The assembly was convinced that by giving Congress
money to fund their country, “they would become independent of their constituents.” As a
result of the similar attitudes of Rhode Island and other states towards donating money,
the funds available to pay off the debts of the war were not close to sufficient. These
debts included the wages owed to all professional soldiers and loans from wealthy
Americans and foreign nations. In an angry letter from Delegate Joseph Jones of Virginia
to George Washington in 1783, Jones voiced his disappointment in Congress’ inability to
pay the soldiers and commanders. In the fall of 1786, one of these soldiers desperate for
his pay, Daniel Shays of Massachusetts, led an uprising of his fellow farmers to demand
payment for their service in the war. Shays’ Rebellion lasted two years and took on state
militia while taking full advantage of the lack of Continental Army to shut down courts in
Massachusetts.
Among the various attributes the new nation lacked was a standing army,
something Congress was prohibited to raise under the Articles of Confederation. As a
result, the British felt no need to vacate the United States territory from which they had
been expelled in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. John Jay sent instructions to the United
States Minister to Great Britain to compel the unwanted to leave, but his demands to the
British accomplished little. While the British caused trouble in the Ohio River Valley, the
Mississippi area was under complete control of the Spanish—a dispute that was discussed
by John Jay in a speech to Congress on negotiations with Diego de Gardoqui in 1786.
This prevented the states from using one of the most vital trade routes of their nation.
With no army to expel the invasive British or the controlling Spanish, this conflict could
not be resolved by force, but by feeble political tactics and persuasion. In the following
year, the Constitutional Convention was held to rewrite the Articles of Confederation, but
instead wound up solving this problem by creating a new system of government that
allowed a national army to be raised.
From 1781 to 1789, the Articles of Confederation did not provide the United
States with an effective government. The single branch government composed of only the
legislative branch, Congress, could not tax the states or declare war—two things vital to
the success of a new nation. It was these major flaws that instigated Shays’ Rebellion and
lead to the termination of the Articles and the establishment of the Constitution in 1787.