1. Feature: No Chief Executive
Why was this included: Did not want to have
another powerful executive like King George
Possible Problem: Lack of leadership
from central government.
No single leader for the
government

2. Feature: Laws needed approval by
nine of thirteen states
Why was this included: Wanted to protect
individual states’ power. Fear of strong central
government.
Possible Problem: Difficult to get nine state to
agree on new law. Central government unable
to do very much.

3. Feature: Congress didn’t have the power to tax
citizens. It could only request $
from states.
Why was this included: Fear of
being unfairly taxed by the central
government, as they had been
under British rule.
Possible Problem: States often
chose not to pay taxes, and the
federal government didn’t have
the funds to operate effectively.

4. Feature: Congress did not have the power to
draft an army. It could only request states
to send men for military services.
Why was this included: Fear of a central
government with a strong army that might take
away citizen’s rights.
Possible Problem: Left
country vulnerable
without a military force.

5. Feature: No national court system.
Why was this included: Fear of strong central
government with a court system that might be
unfair to the rights of states.
Possible Problem: Disputes
between states could often
not be settled fairly.

6. Feature: Any amendments to the Articles must
be approved by all 13 states.
Why was this included: Wanted to make sure
States had a strong say in the shaping of the
government.
Possible Problem: Nearly impossible to make
Changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an
Amendment that all the other states wanted.

7. Feature: Congress did not have the power to
collect state debts owed to the federal gov’t.
Why was this included: Fear of strong central
government that could force states to
pay for things that they
didn’t want.
Possible Problem:
Federal government
often didn’t have the
funds necessary to
operate effectively.

8. Feature: Congress did not have the power to
settle disputes among states.
Why was this included: Wanted states to have
the ultimate authority in resolving disputes.
Possible Problem:
disputes among
states often could
not be resolved.
Created disunity
among states.