The Articles of Confederation adopted in 1777 were designed to provide an effective form of government but did nothing of the sort. Although the Confederation attempted to strengthen foreign relations by maintaining peace with Great Britain and Spain, it failed. It also tried to better the nation's economic conditions through means of taxation and an increase in the national government's power, neither of which worked. Ultimately, the Articles of Confederation were unsuccessful and only added to the stack of problems the nation had to fix.
             The rest of the world did not think highly of the Confederation, making it challenging for it to convince Great Britain and Spain to honor their part of the peace treaty of 1783. The British had agreed to repay all slaveowners whose slaves had been seized by the British army, as well as promise to leave the United States. The British did not follow through with either of these agreements. John Adams was sent to London as a minister to resolve such issues but returned with no such achievement. Great Britain declined to even send a minister to the American capital. The debility of the Confederation was obvious throughout this all, as it was in its troubles with Spain as well.
             The Confederation had similar problems when dealing with Spain. The United States had land issues with the Spanish over the border between the United States and Florida, which was owned by Spain. The United States diplomats agreed to a treaty with Spain promising American recognition of Spanish possessions in North America and an agreement that the United States would only have the rights to navigate the Mississippi for twenty years in return for the acceptance of the American views of the Florida border. The southern states refused to ratify the treaty, meaning the problems between the two countries would remain. Foreign tribulations appeared again when the Confederation tried to repair the country's economic troubles as ...