were the articles of confederation weak or strong?

Answer 1

They were weak..

There were many weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation. Congress had trouble passing laws due to the fact that 9 of the 13 states had to agree before any laws could be passed. Since there was no president or an executive branch, there was no way to make sure that laws passed by Congress were carried out. There were no courts to interpret laws or to judge those that broke them because a national court system did not exist. To make matters worse, changing the Articles of Confederation was nearly impossible. A unanimous vote of all 13 states were required before any changes could be made.

There were some other problems associated with the Articles of Confederation. Congress did not have the power to collect the taxes needed to pay for the expenses of the national government. Congress could ask for money, yet it had no power to force the states into paying them. Without money, Congress could not pay the nation's debt nor could it provide government programs and services.

Answer 2

False, The Federal Government had very few powers. If the federal governtment needed money they could ask the states and the states could say no. They had to ask the states for soldiers if they needed them. Which was a problem when there was Shay's Rebellion. There were taxes and the farmers were behind. As a result they would get their land taken away. Well Daniel Shay and other farmers went to the Court and shut it down. So that they could not have their land taken away. This lasted for a couple of months because they couldnt get soldiers from the states. This proved that their national government was very weak. Then they caused for a change in the Constitutional Convention. The main things that the national government could only do were borrow money, make money, make treaties, and settle conflicts between states. Also the treaties didnt work so good. Other countries took advantage of trade because the national government couldnt do anything.. So that explains why.

Answer 3

I think they were weak because the central government couldn't get funding through taxes, so the national government couldn't do much. Remember that the Articles of Confederation were articles of confederation, meaning they were just a group of papers that had common powers that the national government could do. Most of the power was in the states, and there were too many issues among them, so they made the Constitution. Yup, I think they were weak...couldn't declare war either.

Answer 4

They were weak. Under the Articles, each state was a separate and soverign nation, with only a loose association. Some states almost went to war with one another. Look up Shay's Rebellion for an interesting example.

Legally, even under the Constitution, each state is a separate nation. But since the Civil War, that concept has gone out of favor.

Answer 5

very weak!
The problem was the articles of confederation put ALL the power into the states hand and NO power in the central government. Therefore no decisions were made because all the states disagreed and no central authority could regulate.

Answer 6

Very weak....The main thing it did that did not work is that in a sence in made 13 little countries that kinda got along instead of one united country....There was no way to garentee the states would help each other or support the national government....that is why it failed and why the constitution was drafted and put into its place....and that was also a very big challange.....

Answer 7

Weak. That's why they weren't working and the Continental Congress was put together to come up with a new document; The US Constitution.

Answer 8

A document is only as strong as the group of people willing to fight for it. Apparently it was not strong enough.

Answer 9

weak

Answer 10

They are still in use today and so must be regarded as strong.