Question

Why did foreign powers treat the US government under the Articles of Confederation with scorn?

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation: Articles of Confederation was the very first written constitution of USA. This constitution was not seen with much validity on international stage. This constitution was fundamentally weak and no foreign power would take United States seriously. There were two reasons for this, primary reason was that during Revolutionary war United States borrowed a lot of money and was under enormous debts and was unable to pay that because no money was being generated. Other countries were unwilling to trade with USA because of the fear of losing their money and thus, USA could not generate enough money to pay debts and to regulate state affairs. Secondary reason was that USA's foreign policy was very fragile at that time, USA, a newly developed state, was not trusted by other states and no friendly ties were initiated by others instead USA was under threat of Britain's aggression. These were some of the reasons of why the foreign powers treated Articles of confederation with scorn.

Answer 2

The American government was unable to control finance within the US which made it too weak to command respect from foreign powers