1. Articles of Confederation
1st American constitution
What is a constitution?
Document that sets out laws & principles of a government

3. No Chief Executive Why Included Possible Problems
Did not want to have another powerful executive like King George III
Possible Problems
Lack of leadership from central govt
No single leader for govt

5. Laws needed approval by nine of thirteen states
Why included
Wanted to protect individual states’ power
Fear of strong central govt
Possible Problems
Difficult to get 9 states to agree on new law
Central govt unable to do very much

7. Congress did not have power to tax citizens
Congress did not have power to tax citizens. It could only request tax money from states
Why included
Fear of being unfairly taxed by central govt, as they were under Brit. rule
Possible Problems
States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal govt didn’t have funds to operate effectively

9. Left country vulnerable without a dependable military force
Congress did not have power to draft an army. It could only request states to send men for military services
Why Included
Fear of central govt with strong army that might take away citizen’s rights
Possible Problems
Left country vulnerable without a dependable military force

11. No national court system
Why Included
Fear of central gov’t with a court system that might be unfair to the rights of states
Possible Problems
Disputes between states often could not be settled

13. Any amendments to the Articles must be approved by all 13 states
Why Included
Wanted to make sure states had a strong say in the shaping of the govt
Possible Problems
Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles
Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted

15. Congress did not have the power to collect state debts owed to the federal govt
Why Included
Fear of strong central govt that could force states to pay for things that they didn’t want
Possible Problems
Federal govt often didn’t have the funds to operate effectively

17. Congress did not have power to settle disputes among states
Why Included
Wanted states to have the ultimate authority in resolving disputes
Possible Problems
Disputes among states often could not be resolved
Created disunity among states