Name: ______________________________________________ Date:____________

Articles of Confederation

We have been talking about the first constitution of the United States in class. The men who wrote the document were trying to prevent a new king from taking the place of the one that the United States had gotten rid of in the Revolution. As a result, the new constitution put laws in place to ensure that a new dictator could never take over. They also wanted to ensure that each of the colonies maintained their own rights and laws. However, in trying to put all these things into one document, new problems arose.

Use your notes from class to figure out what problems you see with the Articles of Confederation. Think about these things:

• What things can’t the federal government do?
• What might the federal government not be able to prevent?
• What things seem to be missing?
• What things can ALL the states do that might cause conflict?

Write your answer on the bottom of this page. If you answer the question thoroughly and evaluate the entire document, you should be able to construct an answer of at least two solid paragraphs.