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In History / Middle School | 2013-12-19

Why did foreign powers treat the U.S. government under the Articles of Confederation with scorn?

Asked by Anonymous

Answer (3)

The American government was unable to control finance within the US which made it too weak to command respect from foreign powers

Answered by Anonymous | 2024-06-10

Articles of Confederation was the very first written constitution of USA. This constitution was not seen with much validity on international stage. This constitution was fundamentally weak and no foreign power would take United States seriously. There were two reasons for this, primary reason was that during Revolutionary war United States borrowed a lot of money and was under enormous debts and was unable to pay that because no money was being generated. Other countries were unwilling to trade with USA because of the fear of losing their money and thus, USA could not generate enough money to pay debts and to regulate state affairs. Secondary reason was that USA's foreign policy was very fragile at that time, USA, a newly developed state, was not trusted by other states and no friendly ties were initiated by others instead USA was under threat of Britain's aggression. These were some of the reasons of why the foreign powers treated Articles of confederation with scorn.

Answered by saadhussain514 | 2024-06-11

Foreign powers treated the U.S. government under the Articles of Confederation with scorn due to its lack of taxing power, ineffective foreign policy, military weaknesses, and economic instability. These shortcomings led to mistrust and skepticism from nations like Britain and Spain, hindering America's diplomatic and economic relations. Overall, the weakness of the Articles rendered the United States as an unreliable partner internationally.
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Answered by saadhussain514 | 2025-01-15