Question

While [opponents of the Constitution] admit that the government of the United States is destitute of energy, they contend against conferring upon it those powers which are requisite to supply that energy. They seem still to aim at things repugnant and irreconcilable; at an augmentation of federal authority, without a diminution of State authority; at sovereignty in the Union, and complete independence in the members. . . . This [requires that] a full display of the principal defects of the Confederation [is] necessary, in order to show that the evils we experience do not proceed from minute or partial imperfections, but from fundamental errors in the structure of the building, which cannot be amended otherwise than by an alteration in the first principles and main pillars of the fabric. . . . [T]he United States has an indefinite discretion to [plead for] for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either, by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America. The consequence of this is, that though in theory their resolutions concerning those objects are laws, constitutionally binding on the members of the Union, yet in practice they are mere recommendations which the States observe or disregard at their option. Which of the following experiences most likely influenced the perspective conveyed in the passage?
A) The increased centralization of power in the national legislature under the Articles of Confederation.
B) The debt crisis of the 1780s which the national government was unable to address due to lack of authority.
C) The tension between states relying on commerce and those relying on agriculture.
D) Passage of the Stamp Act and other taxes during the revolutionary period.

Answer 1

The answer is B.

The Articles of Confederation was extremely weak due to its lack of federal power, it gave most of the authority to the states. This is discussed in the passage as it talks about how the federal/national government had no authority to raise money, etc. Thus, the answer is B, as the answer says the national government had a lack of authority to control the debt crisis.