Beginning of Essay
During the Revolutionary War the colonial leaders needed a government to hold them together, while fighting the English king. In 1781 the Articles of Confederation were ratified, effectively tying knots around the new government. The Articles were written to not ....

Middle of Essay
.... to decide how the land would be divided up. It also created laws outlawing slavery in these states and providing public education. One major problem with the Confederacy was its inability to create a national tariff. A tariff required a two-thirds majority to be enacted, and there was very little chance of ever getting a two-thirds vote. A letter from Rhode Island rejecting a tariff in 1782 indicates that states did not want to give up any powers to Congress. While Congress could not get the states to agree upon a tariff, they did not even have the power to tax the states. Joseph Jones' letter to George Washington points out that Congress d ....