What were the main weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

• A. No power to tax
• B. The government had a strong national executive.
• C. The government could regulate commerce between states.
• D. There was a national court system.

Answer: (A)

Not being able to tax the national government is the biggest flaw because money is what keeps a government functioning. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could only request money from the states; it had no power to levy taxes itself. That meant the national government couldn’t reliably pay debts from the Revolutionary War, fund a standing army or navy, maintain the diplomatic apparatus, or run essential services. With no steady revenue, the government was chronically underfunded and weak on the world stage, which is why this feature stands out as the main weakness.

Other descriptions don’t fit how the Articles worked. There was no strong national executive at all, and there was no national court system—the government lacked key structures that would let it act decisively. Additionally, Congress could not regulate commerce between states, which hampered economic coordination and dispute resolution, but the lack of power to tax is the deeper, more critical problem that made all those other weaknesses bite harder.