Weakness in the Articles of Confederation

A detailed Summary of Weakness in the Articles of Confederation


The Articles of Confederation, active from March 1, 1781, to June 21, 1788 was the first constitution established in the New World. The articles were drafted by the British colonists in order to help unify the 13 colonies under a common government. This document expressed the form of government the early Americans used until June 21, 1788 when the present constitution was drafted. The articles came out of a need for the colonies to unite after being freed from British rule, and in this need, the articles were effective in putting into words the colonists' desire to establish a centralized government. Unfortunately, through the colonists' desires to establish a centralized government that was nothing like that of the government imposed on them in England by the King, a central government without sufficient power to govern effectively was created. Along with this major weakness, many other weaknesses followed. The government's lack of power rendered it unable to regulate trade and levy taxes to the colonies. Finally, a unanimous approval was required to pass laws, leaving the ability to change or to pass laws at the mercy of one state when all twelve other states agreed.

First of all, the governments inability to


Another major weakness to come as a result of not being granted a sufficient amount of power to be able to effectively govern over the states was that the government had no powers of enforcement. Because of this, each state had to defend itself. The new nation was unable to repel the encroachments of the British on the borders set by the



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Approximate Word count = 869
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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