Despite the fundamental weaknesses of the system of government under the Articles of Confederation, they were not a complete failure. As the noted constitutional historian Clinton Rossiter argues, "The record of the Confederation government was not wholly bad, and the years between 1774 and 1789 should be judged as a period of useful (if also nearly fatal) experiment rather than of inglorious folly." What were the principal successes? First, the Articles of Confederation (in addition to the Continental Congress, which preceded it) oversaw the American Revolutionary army that had defeated Great Britain, one of the world's most powerful countries in the late eighteenth century. Second, the Articles of Confederation saw its diplomatic corps forge important alliances and gain financial assistance from European powers, such as France and Spain. This diplomatic corps was also responsible for the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which legally...