The Articles of Confederation were drafted by John Dickerson in 1776 and were submitted to the states for ratification in November 1777. The Articles were not ratified until March of 1781 since it was required that all states ratify the document. Many states had problems with the Articles and through several compromises, the document was made to suit all the states. Although the Articles provided the United States with an adequate form of government, there were many weaknesses in the document that needed to be fixed.
             In many ways, the Articles of Confederation were an effective form of government for the United States. The Articles set up a legislature where every state was equally represented. This pleased all the states because the bigger states didn't have the power to outvote the demands of smaller states. In addition, there was no President or King, so no one person had too much power. Due to the strong dislike of a single, powerful leader from the US's experiences with England, it was in the best interests of the people to not appoint one powerful leader. Furthermore, the Articles did not give the government the power to individually tax the states, so each state would not be taxed without representation. If the states decided to tax, the people from the state would pay taxes that would go toward the national government and help pay off the national debt.
             Another important strength of the Articles of Confederation was that Americans could now trade directly with the Continental powers and didn't have to worry about what was in the best interest of Great Britain. Following the ratification of the Articles, the US negotiated commercial trading treaties with several of the Continental powers. In addition, the government placed no regulations on interstate commerce. This was advantageous because interstate trade was encouraged since the trade was free and had no restrictions or taxes behind it. One of the most successful e...