0:00:00.000,0:00:04.450 In the US, we love our constitution. 0:00:05.240,0:00:07.830 But it wasn't always this way. 0:00:07.830,0:00:10.710 Before the Constitution and government we have today, 0:00:10.710,0:00:14.760 we had a sort of prototype constitution called the Articles of Confederation, 0:00:14.760,0:00:17.265 which created a nation of independent states 0:00:17.265,0:00:19.950 only loosely linked together by a single Congress. 0:00:19.950,0:00:24.410 The Founding Fathers intentionally designed a nation with a very weak central government. 0:00:24.410,0:00:25.965 There was no judicial branch, 0:00:25.965,0:00:27.180 no executive branch, 0:00:27.180,0:00:28.890 so there was no president. 0:00:28.890,0:00:30.465 Which, when you think about it, 0:00:30.465,0:00:31.890 it makes a lot of sense. 0:00:31.890,0:00:35.380 The colonists had just been through a really bad breakup with the British king, and 0:00:35.380,0:00:38.885 they're not about to get back together with a government who looked just like their ex. 0:00:38.885,0:00:40.870 We've all made that mistake before. 0:00:40.870,0:00:42.120 You go and date a girl 0:00:42.120,0:00:43.365 like the last girl you dated, 0:00:43.365,0:00:46.560 you're going to get hurt. Don't do this to yourself! 0:00:46.560,0:00:50.660 The Congress, which was just a single chamber with a delegate from every state, 0:00:50.660,0:00:52.340 did have some power, 0:00:52.340,0:00:54.875 like the authority to make treaties and alliances, 0:00:54.875,0:00:57.155 maintain an army, and coin money. 0:00:57.155,0:01:00.365 But they couldn't levy the taxes to pay for those things. 0:01:00.365,0:01:02.795 In fact, under the Articles of Confederation, 0:01:02.795,0:01:06.770 paying federal taxes was voluntary for the states, who of course were like, 0:01:06.770,0:01:08.600 "No thanks, we're good." 0:01:08.600,0:01:11.270 The US had borrowed money from European investors and 0:01:11.270,0:01:13.940 nations to pay for the Revolutionary War, 0:01:13.940,0:01:15.505 but with no power to tax, 0:01:15.505,0:01:18.620 the United States couldn't pay back any of those debts, 0:01:18.620,0:01:22.045 creating a huge economic disaster by 1787. 0:01:22.045,0:01:23.975 With no funds and limited power, 0:01:23.975,0:01:27.015 the central government couldn't do much to protect peace at home. 0:01:27.015,0:01:31.295 This became abundantly clear during Shays's Rebellion in 1786, 0:01:31.295,0:01:35.990 when farmers in Massachusetts violently protested against the state's high taxes. 0:01:35.990,0:01:38.195 So if the Articles of Confederation weren't working, 0:01:38.195,0:01:39.850 why didn't they just make changes to it? 0:01:39.850,0:01:41.955 Well, it was practically impossible. 0:01:41.955,0:01:45.290 Amendments to the Articles needed unanimous consent, and 0:01:45.290,0:01:49.635 the delegates from the thirteen states had more opinions than a YouTube comment section. 0:01:49.635,0:01:51.470 By the way, you should comment on this video right now, 0:01:51.470,0:01:53.960 say something nice about it. 0:01:53.960,0:01:55.550 This weak Congress and a broke, 0:01:55.550,0:01:57.530 ineffective federal government eventually 0:01:57.530,0:02:00.410 proved to be too much of a burden on the United States. 0:02:00.410,0:02:03.970 Because when thirteen different state governments held all the power, 0:02:03.970,0:02:05.545 nothing was getting accomplished. 0:02:05.545,0:02:07.790 The Founding Fathers found this out the hard way. 0:02:07.790,0:02:09.335 They went back to the drawing board, 0:02:09.335,0:02:11.570 drafting a new and improved Constitution, 0:02:11.570,0:02:29.550 which is still the law of our land today.