How we cite our quotes: (Article.Sentence)
Quote #1
Delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislatures of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year. (5.1)
This government was run year-to-year, instead of holding elections every few years. One of the inspirations for this idea was the Roman Republic, in which elected officials served a term of one year.
Quote #2
No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue. (6.2)
What might have happened if states were allowed to make treaties with each other willy-nilly? Would this have made them more like their own countries? Would state treaties have led to more regional rivalries (as happened in the Civil War)?
Quote #3
No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States in Congress assembled, with any King, Prince or State, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain. (6.3)
The states weren't allowed to create trading taxes, known as tariffs, that "interfered" with international treaties. But they could still create their own taxes and local currencies. They also didn't mind breaking the rules, which frustrated the U.S.'s foreign ambassadors.
Quote #4
All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different grants of two or more States…shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of the United States, be finally determined as near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States. (9.4)
The states were in constant competition with each other to seize the nation's natural resources. They frequently made conflicting claims to unsettled land. (Of course, no one bothered to ask the Native Americans.)
Quote #5
The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of the nine States, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with. (10.1)
There were no federal agencies under the Articles of Confederation, as there are in today's government. A "Committee of the States" was allowed to carry out some of Congress' authority in much the same way agencies (like the Department of the Interior now do).