Articles of Confederation were created with a view to create an association of states wherein, each state will have its own freedom, independence, power, jurisdiction, rights, and sovereignty. The United States was responsible only for the common defense, general welfare, and the security of liberties. But, many issues were generated as a result of the following weaknesses of Articles of Confederation:
Each state possessed only one vote in the Congress. The Congress did not posses the power to regulate foreign commerce. The war had left a huge debt, but, Articles deprive Congress from collecting the taxes. All the laws required 9/13 majority, in order to pass in the Congress. No national court system was established. A unanimous vote was required for the amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Each state printed its own money and had started making agreements with the other foreign governments. E state had started putting their tariffs on the inter-state trade. Each of the states had their own military forces. Due to lack of strong leadership, the national government totally failed in enforcing the states to obey its laws.
Due to the experience with Great Britain, the 13 states feared a powerful central government. Over and above, due to increased quarrels over the boundary lines and conflicting decisions of the state courts, the Articles gave separate powers to each of the States. So, the Articles deliberately established a confederation with a view to provide only limited functions to the central government.
System of checks and balances in the Constitution
The national government in the U.S. Constitution is divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The legislative branch is given the power to make the laws, the executive branch is given the power to carry out the laws, and the judicial branch is given the power to interpret the laws. Over the course of time, this system of checks and balances has worked well. The American system of checks an
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