Final answer:
The Articles of Confederation was the document under which the U.S. government could not charge taxes or enforce laws. This caused financial difficulties and challenges in managing national defense and foreign affairs. Eventually, the Articles were replaced by the U.S. Constitution, which gave Congress the power to collect taxes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The government was unable to charge taxes or enforce laws under the Articles of Confederation. This document, which served as the first constitution of the United States, gave the national government limited powers. The most significant of these limitations was the inability to impose taxes and fully enforce laws.
The Congress under the Articles had no power to tax citizens, leading to severe financial challenges. The national government could only request money from the states, which often failed to fulfil these requests. This lack of funds made it difficult for the government to cover the Revolutionary War debt and fulfil its other obligations, such as national defense and foreign affairs.
Attempts to impose tariffs to recover these funds were often vetoed by states. Moreover, foreign governments were reluctant to loan money to a nation that did not have a proper taxation system in place. This problem, along with others, led to the replacement of the Articles of Confederation with the U.S. Constitution, which granted Congress the power to levy taxes.
Learn more about Articles of Confederation