Background: When the 13 colonies along the Atlantic seabord of North America declared independence, they had to create a new government. Because the colonies thought of themselves as separate, semi-sovereign entities - and because their experiences under British rule made them suspicious of centralized power -- the government they created was a loose confederation of individual states. The national government under the Articles of Confederation had very little power; most power was retained by the individual states. Eventually, the weakness of the national government under the Articles led to their replacement with the current US Constitution.

Government Under the Articles * Unicameral Legislature * One vote per state * 2/3 majority needed to pass legislation * Unanimous vote needed to amend Articles

Weaknesses of the Articles * No national executive * No national court system * National government could not collect taxes * National government could not raise an army * National government could not regulate trade

Problems under the Articles * Currency Problems: Many states printed their own money. The national currency, meanwhile, became almost worthless * Intrastate Commerce: States placed tariffs on each other's goods. This, combined with currency problems, led to a sharp decline in intrastate commerce * Foreign Trade: Other countries placed tariffs and trade restrictions on US goods; the US was not able to reciprocate. The absence of a strong navy also left US merchant ships vulnerable to pirates. * Foreign Affairs: The inability of the national government to raise an army left the US vulnerable. For example, key provisions of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, were not enforced. As a result, the British continued to occupy forts in the Northwest territory -- landed that had technically been ceded to the US.