AH Challenge: Preserve the Articles of Confederation

Alright; I'm coming into this discussion from the standpoint of a non-American who has a significant but not detailed knowledge of the history of the ARW or the early years of the Confederation/Union, with that said; I see a lot of talk on this board about how the Articles of Confederation were completely unsustainable and that if they were kept that the states would have broken up or been conquered or both, now personally I don't believe that to be the case and that the Confederation structure was a viable form of organisation for the states.

However; since I have already had many vigorous arguments with various people on this subject and have never been able to convince any of them (nor have any of them been able to convince me) I have decided to skip a pointless argument on the topic and simply ask the good people of AH.com how they think the Articles of Confederation could have been preserved as America's founding document, I will of course allow there to be alterations and reforms to them but the essentials of the Confederation must remain; meaning no direct taxation by the federal government, no assumption of state debts and no creation of a federal standing military.

I thank you in advance and eagerly await your replies.
 
Alright; I'm coming into this discussion from the standpoint of a non-American who has a significant but not detailed knowledge of the history of the ARW or the early years of the Confederation/Union, with that said; I see a lot of talk on this board about how the Articles of Confederation were completely unsustainable and that if they were kept that the states would have broken up or been conquered or both, now personally I don't believe that to be the case and that the Confederation structure was a viable form of organisation for the states.

However; since I have already had many vigorous arguments with various people on this subject and have never been able to convince any of them (nor have any of them been able to convince me) I have decided to skip a pointless argument on the topic and simply ask the good people of AH.com how they think the Articles of Confederation could have been preserved as America's founding document, I will of course allow there to be alterations and reforms to them but the essentials of the Confederation must remain; meaning no direct taxation by the federal government, no assumption of state debts and no creation of a federal standing military.

I thank you in advance and eagerly await your replies.
The Articles of Confederation were unworkable. While, I SUPPOSE it's theoretically possible to amend them enough to get a workable system, I suggest that you basically have a choice - you can preserve the AsoC or you can preserve the US.

In particular, if the Federal government can't tax, the country is dead. Sorry.
 
Alright; I'm coming into this discussion from the standpoint of a non-American who has a significant but not detailed knowledge of the history of the ARW or the early years of the Confederation/Union, with that said; I see a lot of talk on this board about how the Articles of Confederation were completely unsustainable and that if they were kept that the states would have broken up or been conquered or both, now personally I don't believe that to be the case and that the Confederation structure was a viable form of organisation for the states.

However; since I have already had many vigorous arguments with various people on this subject and have never been able to convince any of them (nor have any of them been able to convince me) I have decided to skip a pointless argument on the topic and simply ask the good people of AH.com how they think the Articles of Confederation could have been preserved as America's founding document, I will of course allow there to be alterations and reforms to them but the essentials of the Confederation must remain; meaning no direct taxation by the federal government, no assumption of state debts and no creation of a federal standing military.

I thank you in advance and eagerly await your replies.

Preserved for how long and by how many of the 13 states in the confederation? Given the parameters you've established the AoC cannot be preserved and the unity of the republic maintained for much longer then occured in OTL. Also, the Articles of Confederation was not "America's founding document." The Declaration of Independence was the founding document of the US. The AoC was the United States' 1st Constitution.
 
I believe that the AoC is given short shrift by history for the fact that it is followed by the US Constitution. The Articles are workable, but it is likely that they would have been amended or replaced as the nation developed. It has been mentioned, tho not entirely recognized, that the Constitution itself is interpreted significantly different post-1865 than it was in pre-1861.
 
I believe that the AoC is given short shrift by history for the fact that it is followed by the US Constitution. The Articles are workable, but it is likely that they would have been amended or replaced as the nation developed. It has been mentioned, tho not entirely recognized, that the Constitution itself is interpreted significantly different post-1865 than it was in pre-1861.

Very true. but the issue at hand is the AoC and that system is unworkable. there is no way to form a consensus; among other things.

You make a great point. The entire reason and the entire reason for its existence is because the Founders IMHO (echoed by many scholars) is that the Constitution formed the FRAMEWORK for which a debate about the course of a nation could exist and perhaps more importantly provided the rules for the debate about said nation. That is why the AoC couldn't exist or at least if it did exist would not recognizable
 
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