The Articles of Confederation was a document written to give the new nation a sense of organization. It was the first attempt to build unity at that time, and it served as a defense agreement in case of external agression. Some weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were:
- The Articles gave Congress only the power to pass laws, but not to enforce the laws. If a state did not support a law, that state could ignore it.
- No executive or judicial system were appointed, making it difficult to enforce laws.
- Congress had no power to regulate trade.
- Congress could not levy taxes.
- Amendments to the Articles required unanimous decision, a situation that was very difficult to achieve.