History

Three Problems of the First Congress

Mihai Negrean

13 Feb 2023 — 1 min read

The Articles of Confederation were not perfect and had many problems. However, some of these were identified before the Constitution of the United States was written up.

Procrastinating Delegates

The first major problem was that members of Congress were not showing up. To ratify anything, like a treaty or document, representatives from at least nine states needed to be present. Evidently, delegates back then didn't have respect for Congress meetings. For instance, Congress didn't have enough representatives for almost a month to sign the Peace of Paris. They even debated holding the meeting in a hospital where one of their number was ill!

We're Broke!

Another of America's problems during this time was something which still haunts our country to this day: crippling debt. The costs of the Revolution were colossal, and Congress had to get money somehow to pay off their debts. However, they had none. The problem was that the states didn't agree to any of the money-raising strategies of Congress, which means that Congress was... STILL BROKE.

Too... Much... Freedom?

One of the greatest plagues of Congress was states not agreeing to their decisions. An instance of this was when Congress wanted to have some control over trade between the United States and different countries. They asked the states to let them for just fifteen years, but, guess what happened? The states didn't agree!

Odysseus' Character

Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, played a crucial role in the Greek victory at Troy by devising the strategy of the Trojan Horse, which allowed Greek soldiers to infiltrate and ultimately defeat Troy. After the war, Odysseus's journey home was filled with challenges, as shown in “The Odyssey.

Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies

New York and New Jersey New York and New Jersey were initially settled by the Dutch, who established New Netherland in the early 17th century. The English seized control in 1664, renaming New Amsterdam to New York in honor of the Duke of York. New Jersey was named after the

Political and Social Reform

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was much unrest because of falling crop prices in the global market and increased prices for machines to farm the crops, as well as unfair work hours, dangerous working conditions, child labor, and monopolies. Agricultural troubles led to the creation of

A Wrinkle in Time, Summary and Analysis

Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007) was an American author of children's literature who is best known for writing the novel A Wrinkle In Time, for which she won the Newbery Medal. She wrote A Wrinkle in Time in 1959 while living in New York. Many of her works