Question

Key Topics:
• Lack of strong central government
• No power to tax or regulate trade
• How weaknesses led to the U.S. Constitution
Practice Questions:
10. What were two major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
____________________________
11. Why did these weaknesses lead to the Constitutional Convention?
____________________________
12. How did the new Constitution address these problems? ____________________________

Answer 1

10. Two major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
- No strong central government (no effective executive or national judiciary).
- Congress had no power to tax or to regulate interstate and foreign trade.

11. Why these weaknesses led to the Constitutional Convention
- The federal government could not raise revenue, settle interstate disputes, enforce laws, or respond to crises (e.g., debt problems, trade conflicts, Shays’ Rebellion), so leaders convened to create a stronger, more effective national government.

12. How the new Constitution addressed these problems
- It created a stronger federal government with separated branches (executive, legislative, judicial) and gave Congress the power to tax, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, and enforce federal law (plus the Supremacy Clause making federal law supreme).