Question

use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable.

1. “the government designed by the articles of confederation made it easy for relatively small groups of people—especially individual states or sections of the country—to block any change. there was a requirement for every single state to agree to alter the powers of the confederation... from the beginning the union had been a pretty loose alliance, so people felt relatively free about saying they just didnt feel like going along with a particular policy... the result was stalemate. i can tell you that the people who wrote the constitution thought a stalemated government could not survive.”

george william van cleve, interview, the nation, 2017
“the conventional view is that american political history from the declaration of independence to the constitution was dominated by ‘the complete inability of the government set up by the articles of confederation to function.’ this view ignores effective exercises of national power that took place during this period and the evolution of institutions extending beyond the text of the articles. congress and the state judiciaries often read the articles broadly and expansively in response to the practical needs of the country. the institutions created by congress exercise wide powers that furthered national unity, and the states acquiesced.”
eric m. freedman, “the united states and the articles of confederation: drifting toward anarchy or inching toward commonwealth?” yale law journal, november 1978
using the excerpt, answer (a), (b), and (c).
(a) briefly explain one major difference between van cleves and freedmans interpretations of the value of the articles of confederation.
(b) briefly explain how one historical event or development in the period 1754 to 1800 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support van cleves interpretation.
(c) briefly explain how one historical event or development in the period 1754 to 1800 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support freedmans interpretation.

Explanation:

(a) Van Cleve emphasizes the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation due to the difficulty in making changes and resulting stalemate, while Freedman argues that the conventional view ignores the effective exercises of national power and institutional evolution under the Articles.
(b) Shays' Rebellion (1786 - 1787) could support Van Cleve's view. The rebellion highlighted the weakness of the central government under the Articles of Confederation as it struggled to deal with the unrest, showing the inability of the government to maintain order, which aligns with Van Cleve's idea of a non - functioning government.
(c) The Northwest Ordinance (1787) could support Freedman's view. Congress passed this ordinance under the Articles of Confederation, which established a process for admitting new states and had provisions for education and the protection of civil liberties. This shows effective exercise of national power and institutional development beyond the strict text of the Articles.

Answer:

(a) Van Cleve sees ineffectiveness, Freedman sees effective power - exercise and evolution.
(b) Shays' Rebellion shows government weakness under Articles, supporting Van Cleve.
(c) Northwest Ordinance shows effective national power under Articles, supporting Freedman.