Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, Article IX, 1 March 1781
The Articles of Confederation are important to understand for Shays’ Rebellion because at this moment in history the United States was not complete as we understand today. The Constitution had yet to be written and congress was held together by The Articles of Confederation. While it allowed Congress to fight the revolutionary war, it had the contention of having a weak central government. For example, there was no way for congress to enforce its laws, leaving it a bit powerless. Under the Articles of Confederation there was also no judicial or executive branch of government. Shays’ Rebellion went a long way to show the founding fathers the need for a more centralized government.
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