The states didnât act immediately. The central government was designed to be very, very weak. The Articles Congress only had one chamber and each state had one vote. Congress needed 9 of 13 states to pass any laws. The document was practically impossible to amend. The central government couldnât collect taxes to fund its operations. States were able to conduct their own foreign policies.States had their own money systems. The Confederation government couldnât help settle Revolutionary War-era debts.Shaysâ rebellion â the final straw.
Explanation:
1. The states didnât act immediately. It took until February 1779 for 12 states to approve the document. Maryland held out until March 1781, after it settled a land argument with Virginia.
2. The central government was designed to be very, very weak. The Articles established âthe United States of Americaâ as a perpetual union formed to defend the states as a group, but it provided few central powers beyond that. But it didnât have an executive official or judicial branch.
3. The Articles Congress only had one chamber and each state had one vote. This reinforced the power of the states to operate independently from the central government, even when that wasnât in the nationâs best interests.
4. Congress needed 9 of 13 states to pass any laws. Requiring this high supermajority made it very difficult to pass any legislation that would affect all 13 states.
5. The document was practically impossible to amend. The Articles required unanimous consent to any amendment, so all 13 states would need to agree on a change. Given the rivalries between the states, that rule made the Articles impossible to adapt after the war ended with Britain in 1783.
6. The central government couldnât collect taxes to fund its operations. The Confederation relied on the voluntary efforts of the states to send tax money to the central government. Lacking funds, the central government couldnât maintain an effective military or back its own paper currency.
7. States were able to conduct their own foreign policies. Technically, that role fell to the central government, but the Confederation government didnât have the physical ability to enforce that power, since it lacked domestic and international powers and standing.
8. States had their own money systems. There wasnât a common currency in the Confederation era. The central government and the states each had separate money, which made trade between the states, and other countries, extremely difficult.
9. The Confederation government couldnât help settle Revolutionary War-era debts. The central government and the states owed huge debts to European countries and investors. Without the power to tax, and with no power to make trade between the states and other countries viable, the United States was in an economic mess by 1787.
10. Shaysâ rebellion â the final straw. A tax protest by western Massachusetts farmers in 1786 and 1787 showed the central government couldnât put down an internal rebellion. It had to rely on a state militia sponsored by private Boston business people. With no money, the central government couldn't act to protect the "perpetual union."
