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Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Articles Of Confederation

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In 1781,the articles of confederation were ratified. This was the first form of central government in America. America just got out of a tyranny, so they tried their best to limit the government's power. This resulted in a very weak Central Government. What two main weaknesses of the articles of confederation caused the articles to be a bad form of government. Some people might venture to say they weren't as bad. However, because they established no national court system, and gave most of the power to the states, most people say that the Articles of confederation were a very bad form of government. When the authors of the Articles were trying to limit the government's power, they wanted to make sure that the government couldn't control the states. This caused them to develope no national court system.This caused a lot of issues. If people were to rebel, the government would have little to no ability to stop them. George Washington talked about this matter during the Shay’s Rebellion. “We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion…” (Washington 1786). With what Washington said, It’s understood that with no root system, the government can’t stop riots. This is a dangerous thing that puts most of the public at risk. …show more content…

Without a strong central government, the states were able to refuse anything the government requested. People thought this would be beneficial, but they were proven wrong. “A strong central government, composed of elected officials, will be acting in the best interest of the people”(Document 3). If the government needed to raise money, they had to ask the states to contribute. If the states refused, the government had no way to collect this money. This happened after the Revolutionary War. The government had to pay the military and other expenses, but the states chose not to give them money. This caused America to go into

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