A Period of the American Revolution - Essay Example

Due A period described by John Quincy Adams as Critical, the aftermath of American Revolution (1783-89) presented a fragile state of affairs that basically held the future of the young nation at crossroads. With leadership starved of effective command, the newly independent nation was beset with a wide array of problems both domestically and abroad. Young as it was, the newly created union with 13 states had the burden of insurmountable debt acquired during the revolt against their former colonial masters, yet with no powers to enable proper action. A severe depression between the 1784-5 made the situation even much dire leading to a destabilizing debt servicing standoff between farmers and the government of Massachusetts’ raising of taxes; an impasse that paved the way to a full-blown, armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts akin to the liberation war, the Shay’s Rebellion (woods 285). In the south were spiraling economic problems too with quite similar disruptive effects in the north. The revolution left slave traders, particularly in South Carolina and Georgia, counting a trail of losses with more than 60,000 slaves finding escape mechanisms. The financial breakdown was compounded further by Great Britain’s refusal to link up import trade with the British West Indies; a vital market destination that upheld economic prospects of most southerners. Even though liberation treaty had been signed officially freeing the unite states as a British protectorate, total takeover was a challenge marred by tensions plaguing certain areas with British troops refusal to surrender Detroit, Otsego and New York forts over unsettled Tories land issues. On the international front, the weakness of the new government was even much pronounced given its inability to effectively protect its interests. From the capture of an American merchant ship by the North African Pirates off the coast Portugal to the West Florida Controversy and Mississippi River crises, the government had no decisive powers to effect peace by exerting clear cut authority. Courtesy of a feeble union ratified under the Articles of Confederation, the new union was bombarded right, left and center, with the Continental Army uprising over unpaid dues tipping a pillar rapture to a short-lived unification as was evident in the Newburgh Conspiracy. Proposed and ratified in 1777 and 1781 respectively, the Articles of Confederation was document full of economic and political leakages that ended up piling more problems. With the reorientation of the British mercantile system, the sudden shortfalls of managerial cash were never factored in by the framers of the Confederation. There was no provision for a singular command point to enforce laws passed by Congress whenever necessary. A supposedly pluralistic Congress had no powers to tax, to control commerce, to sanction the usage of a common currency, to draft enough soldiers to counter any external aggression, and to generally steer effective governance (Wood 354). The Constitution succeeded in addressing many of the problems hitherto inherent the “loose confederation of states" that essentially revered state autonomy over effective governance. The constitution restructured the provisions of the Article of Confederation to a federal system that gave more recognition to the national government with a subsequent delegation of powers hitherto tightly held-up by the state, while reserving and sharing certain functions. The newly created federation not only created a national government with real, acceptably shared power both at the national and at the state level to effect a comprised taxation policy, draft federal troops, control commerce, etcetera, but also created a common command office, the office of the president and the and a federal court system, which were non-existent under the Article Of Confederation (Wood 412). The earlier fears of the framers of the confederation of an overwhelmingly powerful national government was apparently captured in the via the creation of a system of checks and balances, where the three branches-the executive, a bicameral legislature and a judiciary with a biting tooth-were granted separate powers (separation of powers) to deter other branches from making/taking unilateral actions off the national values. The realization of an ineffectual Congress with regards to the finances of the federal government dawned Alexander Hamilton in the early years of the confederation while serving as a top aide in Washington. Backed-up with like-minded nationalists, Hamilton won Washington's endorsement over his perspective of the federal governance and subsequently convened the Annapolis Convention in 1786 that successfully petitioned for a constitutional convention that drafted the constitution as a long-term remedy to the inadequacies of the loose confederation. His appointment as the first Secretary of Treasury presented him the opportunity to actualize his desire of a prudent financial sector; His Report on Public Credit paved for the establishment of a central bank, a more efficient revenue generation and the creation of a mint (David 437). Serving as American mission to France from 1784, Jefferson on his part played no role in the events that culminated in the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. Conceivably, he was largely out of touch with the sense of urgency to rectify the defects of the articles of confederation (Mayer 91-94). Nevertheless, his perception of was no less passionate. Accordingly, he repetitively singled out the flaws relating to commerce and the “need of a federation that could walk on its own legs”. Upon the receipt of a copy of the new constitution in 1787 in France, Jefferson wrote back to Washington registering his objection to the creation of the office of the president. He however, praised the separation of powers and congress power to levy taxes; opinion stance that would eventually help his later two-term, ten years in office as president (Mayer 95). The adoption of the new constitution brought to a halt the anxiety that was building over the failures of the articles of confederation. Under the able leadership George Washington, the economy regained stability and growth. In particular, it [the constitution] sealed the loopholes of lawlessness of the Shay’s kind of rebellions, allowed free trade, protected property of the rich and generally succeeded in creating a more conducive climate for business. Work cited Mayer, David. The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson. Char- lottesville: Virginia University Press, 1994. Print. Ron Chernow. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print. Wood, Gordon S. The Creation of the American Republic. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Print. Read More