What document governed the colonies prior to the Constitution, and why was it not successful?

The first plan of government created after the Revolutionary War was called the Articles of Confederation. By design, the government created by the Articles of Confederation was a weak one. There were many things the government wasn’t allowed to do. For example, the government wasn’t allowed to levy taxes. It also couldn’t require people to join the military. The plan also had no court system. We were so afraid of creating a strong federal government...

The first plan of government created after the Revolutionary War was called the Articles of Confederation. By design, the government created by the Articles of Confederation was a weak one. There were many things the government wasn’t allowed to do. For example, the government wasn’t allowed to levy taxes. It also couldn’t require people to join the military. The plan also had no court system. We were so afraid of creating a strong federal government because we had just fought for our independence from Great Britain because we believed the British government abused its powers. We wanted to prevent that from happening in our new government. Thus, a weak federal government was created.

Unfortunately, creating a weak federal government caused many problems. The government found it hard to raise money and to pay our debts because it couldn’t tax the people. The government couldn’t militarily respond to other countries that were trying to push us around because we couldn’t require people to join the military. The government also had a hard time keeping order. This was very clear with Shays' Rebellion. There also was no place for states to resolve disputes because there was no court system.

Because of these weaknesses, people realized a new plan of government was needed. This led to the development of the Constitution, our current plan of government.