What Are The Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

The government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation was split between two main powers, the colonies and Britain. The colonies struggled to overthrow the British government and create their own government. The United States Constitution was drafted to replace these Articles in order to address many weaknesses, while meeting both the colonies and the government’s needs. Under the Articles of Confederation, there were many things the federal government couldn’t do. It couldn’t tax, make trade treaties, resolve disputes between states, keep order, and pay its debts. To help solve these issues, the writers of the Constitution created a federal government with three branches. Each branch had distinct powers to carry out its responsibilities. The thirteen American colonies of the United States needed a government to replace the British system they were attempting to overthrow. The founding fathers came up with the idea of The Articles of the Confederation during …show more content…

For example, congress was not allowed to regulate trade. James Madison wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson stating that each state was concerned with their own matters. He wrote “The states are every day giving proofs that separate regulations are more likely to set them by the ears than to attain the common object.” (Brackemyre, 2015). Congress was able to regulate trade and commerce with Native Americans, even then it could not stop each state’s ability from regulating its own trade. There was no system of National currency. States and the National government could both print money, this made trade very difficult among states and foreign entities. Under the articles the states only had the authority to impose taxes and raise money. This caused congress to request money from the states at times. In many occurrences the money was not raised in a timely manner and sometimes not at