Why were the Articles of Confederation weak?
The articles gave the government no separation of powers. The government was too weak, the Articles left much of the power to the states (if I remember correctly, states basically went by their own state constitution). Congress didn’t have the power to tax. To change the Articles, it had to be decided unanimously by all states. Also, 9 out of the 13 states had to approve any major law before it was passed and Congress couldn’t regulate commerce. There was no president to lead, no established court system, and every state had only one vote in congress.
Basically because when it was written, NO state wanted to ‘give up any rights or sovereignty to a strong centralized government. After the Articles of Confederation basically fell flat due to no support, it was obvious that a better “constitution” needed to be drawn up to enmesh the ‘several’ states into a real nation. The Articles did not do that, nor did they provide for any sort of real banking system, etc so the states could carry out commerce. The articles failed on MANY points…but basically in Article 2: Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. This basically set it up for failure. There was no ‘Bill of Rights” as written and amended to our current constitution to protect the citizenry from tyrannical ‘Congresses”…. etc etc etc…read it. Liken the Articles of Confederation to the United Nations today.
