1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,450 In the US, we love our constitution. 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,830 But it wasn't always this way. 3 00:00:07,830 --> 00:00:10,710 Before the Constitution and government we have today, 4 00:00:10,710 --> 00:00:14,760 we had a sort of prototype constitution called the Articles of Confederation, 5 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,265 which created a nation of independent states 6 00:00:17,265 --> 00:00:19,950 only loosely linked together by a single Congress. 7 00:00:19,950 --> 00:00:24,410 The Founding Fathers intentionally designed a nation with a very weak central government. 8 00:00:24,410 --> 00:00:25,965 There was no judicial branch, 9 00:00:25,965 --> 00:00:27,180 no executive branch, 10 00:00:27,180 --> 00:00:28,890 so there was no president. 11 00:00:28,890 --> 00:00:30,465 Which, when you think about it, 12 00:00:30,465 --> 00:00:31,890 it makes a lot of sense. 13 00:00:31,890 --> 00:00:35,380 The colonists had just been through a really bad breakup with the British king, and 14 00:00:35,380 --> 00:00:38,885 they're not about to get back together with a government who looked just like their ex. 15 00:00:38,885 --> 00:00:40,870 We've all made that mistake before. 16 00:00:40,870 --> 00:00:42,120 You go and date a girl 17 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:43,365 like the last girl you dated, 18 00:00:43,365 --> 00:00:46,560 you're going to get hurt. Don't do this to yourself! 19 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,660 The Congress, which was just a single chamber with a delegate from every state, 20 00:00:50,660 --> 00:00:52,340 did have some power, 21 00:00:52,340 --> 00:00:54,875 like the authority to make treaties and alliances, 22 00:00:54,875 --> 00:00:57,155 maintain an army, and coin money. 23 00:00:57,155 --> 00:01:00,365 But they couldn't levy the taxes to pay for those things. 24 00:01:00,365 --> 00:01:02,795 In fact, under the Articles of Confederation, 25 00:01:02,795 --> 00:01:06,770 paying federal taxes was voluntary for the states, who of course were like, 26 00:01:06,770 --> 00:01:08,600 "No thanks, we're good." 27 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,270 The US had borrowed money from European investors and 28 00:01:11,270 --> 00:01:13,940 nations to pay for the Revolutionary War, 29 00:01:13,940 --> 00:01:15,505 but with no power to tax, 30 00:01:15,505 --> 00:01:18,620 the United States couldn't pay back any of those debts, 31 00:01:18,620 --> 00:01:22,045 creating a huge economic disaster by 1787. 32 00:01:22,045 --> 00:01:23,975 With no funds and limited power, 33 00:01:23,975 --> 00:01:27,015 the central government couldn't do much to protect peace at home. 34 00:01:27,015 --> 00:01:31,295 This became abundantly clear during Shays's Rebellion in 1786, 35 00:01:31,295 --> 00:01:35,990 when farmers in Massachusetts violently protested against the state's high taxes. 36 00:01:35,990 --> 00:01:38,195 So if the Articles of Confederation weren't working, 37 00:01:38,195 --> 00:01:39,850 why didn't they just make changes to it? 38 00:01:39,850 --> 00:01:41,955 Well, it was practically impossible. 39 00:01:41,955 --> 00:01:45,290 Amendments to the Articles needed unanimous consent, and 40 00:01:45,290 --> 00:01:49,635 the delegates from the thirteen states had more opinions than a YouTube comment section. 41 00:01:49,635 --> 00:01:51,470 By the way, you should comment on this video right now, 42 00:01:51,470 --> 00:01:53,960 say something nice about it. 43 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:55,550 This weak Congress and a broke, 44 00:01:55,550 --> 00:01:57,530 ineffective federal government eventually 45 00:01:57,530 --> 00:02:00,410 proved to be too much of a burden on the United States. 46 00:02:00,410 --> 00:02:03,970 Because when thirteen different state governments held all the power, 47 00:02:03,970 --> 00:02:05,545 nothing was getting accomplished. 48 00:02:05,545 --> 00:02:07,790 The Founding Fathers found this out the hard way. 49 00:02:07,790 --> 00:02:09,335 They went back to the drawing board, 50 00:02:09,335 --> 00:02:11,570 drafting a new and improved Constitution, 51 00:02:11,570 --> 00:02:29,550 which is still the law of our land today.