Why did the United States replace the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution?

The United States replaced the Articles of Confederation with the U.S. Constitution because the original framework proved unworkable and ineffective at governing the new nation.12

The Articles were designed to preserve state sovereignty, which left the central government critically weak. Specifically, the national government lacked the power to levy direct taxation or regulate interstate commerce, rendering it unable to pay war debts or enforce its requests for funds and troops from the states.231

By 1786, the government's inability to maintain order became clear during Shays’s Rebellion, an uprising that highlighted the need for a stronger national authority. Furthermore, states were increasingly setting up trade barriers against one another, threatening the union with disintegration. The Constitution was ultimately drafted to remedy these deficiencies by establishing a more robust federal structure, incorporating separation of powers and checks and balances to strike a necessary balance between governmental authority and individual liberty.423