The weak and reactionary Articles of Confederation failed to adequately address the rights of colonies; each state had diverse needs that were not being represented in the government. The Articles were drafted in fear that a tyrannical government would emerge after the Revolution, but they were too powerless to enforce taxation. These issues were rectified by the Constitution’s strong centralized government.
The Articles failed to adequately address state representation; small states wanted equal representation whereas the larger ones wanted representation proportionate to population. In Article V of the Articles, it vaguely outlines state representation. Each colony is allocated 2-7 delegates, with each state being in charge of selecting how much representation they had within that range. Due to to bigger population sizes,…
The Articles didn’t allow for an army in peacetime and stated that state militias must be in place. However, the states couldn’t enforce taxation to fund effective armed reaction. In the instance of Shay’s rebellion, the state militia were disorganized and initially unresponsive. This allowed the rebellion to instill a widespread sense of unease and elucidated the weaknesses of the Articles. The Constitution enabled the enforcement of taxation and created a standing army. State protection remained in the hands of the states but taxation created funds to improve state militia effectiveness. This adequately addressed the lack of national security by funding and allowing a national army and improving state militias to prevent the repetition of a situation like Shay’s Rebellion. Also, the Articles were unable to repay the soldiers from fighting in the Revolutionary war, angering the soldiers, who took to revolting. That the government couldn’t provide provisions for those who fought for the country’s freedom, illustrating its immense…