Final answer:
The Articles of Confederation had significant weaknesses including the inability to regulate trade, enforce laws, or establish a judiciary, and difficulty in passing laws and amending the Articles; these issues led to the drafting of the Constitution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is tasked with identifying weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation related to different governmental functions. The Articles of Confederation had several notable weaknesses, as outlined:
- Too many currencies (A) fits economic issues, reflecting the lack of power to regulate trade (D).
- No one to enforce the laws (B) and No national court system (E) refer to the absence of executive and judicial functions.
- The difficulty in amending the document (C) reflects procedural issues within the legislative structure.
- Difficult to pass laws (F) indicates legislative challenges faced by the Confederation Congress for action.
- No national navy (G) represents defensive weaknesses, consistent with the inability to raise an army or navy.
The ability to regulate trade, enforce laws, and establish a judiciary were all powers the national government lacked under the Articles of Confederation. This was evidenced during events like Shays's Rebellion, where the national government's inability to manage unrest highlighted these deficiencies. Ultimately, these shortcomings contributed to the decision to draft a new Constitution, establishing a federal government with sufficient powers to address the nation's needs.