War, I can sense they are getting ready to fight.
Answer:
Explanation:
The Articles of Confederation comprised the United States’ first constitution, lasting from 1776 until 1789. The Articles established a weak central government and placed most powers in the hands of the states. Under the Articles, the US economy faltered, since the central government lacked the power to enforce tax laws or regulate commerce. Shays’s Rebellion, an uprising of Revolutionary War veterans in Massachusetts that both the state and national governments struggled to address due to a lack of centralized military power, illustrated the need to create a stronger governing system. The United States’ transition from a ragtag group of colonies to a successful independent nation was a little like the transition period from childhood to adulthood. As the colonies matured, American colonists grew to despise being treated as the children of Great Britain. Like rebellious teens, they vowed that when they won their independence, their government would be nothing like that of the mother country. It’s no surprise that when the leaders of the former colonies finally did get the chance to set up their own government as the new United States, they were mostly focused on trying to avoid what they had perceived as abuses wrought by an overly-powerful government. Their first constitution was called the Articles of Confederation. It bound the states together in a loose “league of friendship” that permitted the states to retain nearly all government power. The Articles of Confederation held the new United States together long enough for it to prevail in the Revolutionary War, but once the war was over the league of friends quickly became a league of impoverished quibblers. The Founders had been so concerned with making sure the central government couldn’t become too powerful that they neglected to make it powerful enough to solve the issues facing a new nation. The American states evolved from separate colonies, with unique histories and societies. In the years before and during the Revolution, they learned to find common cause with each other, but they hardly saw themselves as a unified nation. The Articles of Confederation exemplified this mindset. The document created a confederacy, in which states considered themselves independent entities linked together for limited purposes, such as national defense. State governments had the sovereignty to rule within their own territories. The national government had few powers. It could coin money, direct the post office, and negotiate with foreign powers, including Native American tribes. To raise money or soldiers, it could only request that the states provide what was needed. The national government had only one branch, the Confederation Congress, in which each state had one vote. Populous Virginia had no more political power than tiny Delaware. The requirements for passing measures were quite high: nine of the thirteen states had to approve a measure for it to pass. Amending the Articles themselves was even harder: all thirteen had to vote in favor of a change. One of the biggest problems was that the national government had no power to impose taxes. To avoid any perception of “taxation without representation,” the Articles of Confederation allowed only state governments to levy taxes. To pay for its expenses, the national government had to request money from the states. The states, however, were often negligent in this duty, and so the national government was underfunded. Without money, the US government could not pay debts owed from the Revolution or easily secure new funds. Foreign governments were reluctant to loan money to a nation that might never repay it. The fiscal problems of the central government meant that the currency it issued, called the Continental, was largely worthless. The country’s economic woes were made worse by the fact that the central government also lacked the power to impose tariffs on foreign imports or regulate interstate commerce. Thus, it couldn’t protect American producers from foreign competitors. Compounding the problem, states often imposed tariffs on items produced by other states and otherwise interfered with their neighbors’ trade. The national government under the Articles also lacked the power to raise an army or navy. Fears of a standing army in the employ of a tyrannical government had led the writers of the Articles of Confederation to leave defense largely to the states. Although the central government could declare war and agree to peace, it had to depend upon the states to provide soldiers. If state governors chose not to honor the national government’s request, the country would lack an adequate defense. The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation became apparent to all as a result of an uprising of Massachusetts farmers known as Shays’s Rebellion. In the summer of 1786, farmers in western Massachusetts were heavily in debt, facing imprisonment and the loss of their lands.
Constructive feedback reinforces positive behavior and offers a critique in a direct but respectful way. If given in a negative or rude way, criticism might not only hurt the feelings of the receiver but also reinforce negative behavior. Blending praise and suggestions make the feedback polite and efficient.
In the excerpt, the two parts that contain constructive feedback are:
<em>'My favorite part of the essay was when you described your grandmother's reaction after finding the frog in her purse because it was so funny and so vivid.'</em>
<em>'I would suggest working on word choice, since you used the same words many times in the essay. Use a thesaurus to find synonyms if you need to.'</em>
The first section reinforces positive behavior by offering a compliment while the second one offers a suggestion for improvement.
The other sections criticize his friend's paper in a negative way, making harsh comments without offering any suggestions or solutions to the flaws found.
The answer should be Theme is not the moral of a story.
