Question

Describe the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Why had the Articles been written that way? How did these weaknesses affect the future policies of the United States?

Answer 1

The Articles of Confederation was the United States' first constitution. It was known for being very weak and giving little to no power to the federal government.

The Articles of Confederation was ratified in 1781 and was the first constitution for the United States. It was written to be very weak, as this was written soon after the American Revolution and many Americans were scared of power being abused, like with what happened with Great Britain. With the Articles, the government could not tax the states directly, create and enforce laws properly, draft soldiers, regulate trade, amend the Articles without the approval of all of the states, and other important matters that needed to be handled.

The Anti-Federalists approved of the Articles of Confederation, they associated the government having power with British tyranny and wanted to keep the power to the people. On the other hand, the Federalists wanted to change the Articles of Confederation and felt as if it was doing more harm than good, they wanted to have a stronger government.

Eventually, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called to amend the Articles of Confederation. Many people were realizing how it was harming the United States and the Federalists became a big impact on changing it. Instead of changing it though, it ended up getting scrapped completely. They replaced the Articles of Confederation and made the United States Constitution instead, which granted power to the federal government.

The weaknesses affected many future policies of the United States. Thanks to the Anti-Federalists and their concerns about the government abusing power, along with the weaknesses of the Articles, there are many policies and regulations for the United States government. Policies also exist to protect citizen's rights and making sure they have power as well. Many of this has to do with the Bill of Rights, which protects the citizen's rights and was pushed for by the Anti-Federalists.