This is the feature section of Beverly Underground Newspaper. Here you will find miscellaneous articles from both staff writers and readers such as yourself.

To see a previous issue of this column, please go to the "Archives" button above.

Letters

Something on your mind? Feel free to email us with your comments, suggestions, responses, questions, praise, criticism, issues you are concerned about, etc.  Please end your email with your real name, and  let us know whether we can use your actual name in our post or create a pseudonym for us to use.

Here are some of the letters we have received:

- - - 

RE: The Real Mad Dog

I read your article and OMG - Mad Dog came to speak to me when I was younger. I grew up in Arkansas and he came to speak to our school systems. I remember very little about it except that he SCARED THE CRAP out of all of us. He talked about prison rape a lot. He was very forceful and angry with his tone. We were all just ready to go back to class and act like the entire assembly NEVER HAPPENED. He is too much.

Thank You,

-Staci Miller
Crossett, Arkansas

United States History

AP United States History 2003 Exam - Question Two:
"Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation."  courtesy of the College Board

"The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, commonly known as the Articles of Confederation, was the first governing document of the United States of America. The articles, which combined the Thirteen Colonies of the American Revolutionary War into a loose confederation, were adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, after 16 months of debate. The articles were ratified three years later on March 1, 1781.The articles were eventually replaced by the United States Constitution on June 21, 1788, when the ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified the Constitution. According to their own terms for modification, however, the articles were still in effect until 1790, when every one of the 13 states had ratified the new Constitution."

The Articles of Confederation

AP Students Under Extreme Strain Provide Some Very Interesting Responses

The following are quick blurbs taken from the 2003 essays of students who answered this question on the real AP exam: 

- "While the new government could not control interstate commerce, it could control interstate commerce, and it does today."

- "The Articles of Confederation provided a weak strong central government. This was an ongoing problem."

- "For example. it would be like California making a trade agreement with Germany to buy hamburgers."

- "The Articles were written by James Madison and the Constitution by Thomas Jefferson in Buffalo."

- "There was a new nation on the prowl- America!"

- "The Constitution was the greatest accomplishment in the history of the world."

- "With the start of a government so fresh one could smell it, American revolutionaries carried the burden of organization of the salad bowl of people into a coherent country."

- "The Articles of Confederation was set up to prevent Europe from seeping back into our walls."

- "Rome wasn't built in a day. This has been historically proven."

- "The Articles of Confederation was drawn up at the Hartford Convention at the turn of the nineteenth century."

- "A less powerful government would supply them with the quench from the thirst of freedom."

- "The first ten amendments to the Constitution are the Articles of Confederation."

- "The Articles of Confederation postponed the Civil War."

- "The Articles' biggest mistake was the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act."

- "The National Guard was called out to put down Shays' Rebellion."

- "Although the Articles of Confederation could be linked to a dead dog, they did have a few positive points."

- "In order to get anything done, the central government had to beg for money or just buy the generic stuff."

- "All the Articles of Confederation needed was a Constitution and a Bill of Rights."

- "The Articles - it was pretty and it wasn't easy."

- "The Articles of Confederation were exposed as being weak during the Boxer Rebellion, when a Virginia farmer led a revolt, resulting in Boxer's death. This was followed by Shays' Rebellion."

- "The Articles of Confederation were unable to prevent Sherman's March to the Sea."

- "The only thing that kept the Articles of Confederation from being a complete failure was that they failed on their own."

- "Problems sprouted like weeds round this idealistic rose of semi-unity."

- "When war debts need to be paid, it's incredibly hard to do without money."

- "To boldly go where no man has gone before. If the world was Star Trek, the United States would be Captain Kirk."

- "After the Revolution, the US was at a railroad crossing and the train had stopped."

- "In a way, the weak central government was like popular sovereignty without the slavery."

- "The Northwest Ordinance was known as the 'Add-A-State Plan.'"

- "The Land Ordinance was known as the 'Great Fundraiser.'"

- "The Articles of Confederation were little more than a popsicle on the hot sidewalk of the world stage."

- "The Articles of Confederation - what a waste of a document."

- "The Articles of Confederation made the Constitution good. You can't reach perfection without screwing up a few times."

- "The Articles of Confederation created the Land Ordinance of 1763, which divided the western hemisphere of the nation."

- "One cannot fairly expect first attempts at things to be successful."

- "The 13 petals of the flower that is America were not connected to the center, where the pollen of life is stored."

- "The Articles of Confederation may very well be the poorest attempt at building a government in the history of man."

- "When we first came to America, we had absolutely nothing that even remotely resembled organization."

- "In 1783 a cease-fire was signed at Appomattox Court House which ended the Revolutionary War."

- "The Articles of Confederation was based on a state-nation rather than a nation-state."

- "With the Articles of Confederation the Americans were like Bo-Peepless sheep."

- "At the time of the Articles of Confederation there were no boundaries. People could kill each other without being reprimanded. They could steal and there were no penalties."

- "They should have been called the Farticles of Confederation. They were all hot air."

According to wikipedia.com, "The Articles supported the Congressional direction of the Continental Army, and allowed the Thirteen Colonies to present a unified front when dealing with the European powers. But as an instrument of government, they were largely a failure. Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them.

Perhaps the most important power that Congress was denied was the power of taxation: Congress could only request money from the states. Understandably, the states did not generally comply with the requests in full, leaving the confederation chronically short of funds. The states and the national congress had both incurred debts during the war, and paying congressional debts became a major issue.

Nevertheless, the Continental Congress did take two actions with lasting impact. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the general land survey and ownership provisions used throughout later American expansion. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up western land claims and cleared the way for the entry of new states.

Once the unity demanded by the Revolutionary War became unnecessary, the Continental Army was largely disbanded. A very small national force was maintained to man frontier forts and protect against Indian attacks. Meanwhile, each of the states had an army (or militia), and 11 of them had navies. The wartime promises of bounties and land grants to be paid for service were not being met. In 1783, Washington defused the Newburgh conspiracy, but riots by unpaid Pennsylvania veterans forced the Congress to leave Philadelphia on June 21."

Notable Numbers

71%

Percentage of Beverly students that responded that they were of White, Non Hispanic descent*

7% 

Percentage of Beverly students that responded that they were of Black Heritage.*

18%

Percentage of Beverly students that responded that they were of Asian descent* 

4%

Percentage of Beverly students that responded that they were of Hispanic descent*

Notable Quotes

Please Email Us if you have any funny or thought provoking original quotes. Be sure to include the quote and the name of the person who said it. 

Since these are reader submitted quotes, Beverly Underground cannot assure the quote is word-for-word accurate.