Lack of centralized government power was a key argument used to support revising the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation allowed for states to have a lot of autonomy and power and kept the centralized government weak. Great Britain had a very strong centralized government that had caused the dissonance that resulted in the American Revolution, so naturally, the Articles of Confederation framed the national government in the opposite. However, the central government was left so weak it could not properly function. It could not levy taxes, draft citizens into the military, or regulate trade. The states had all of these powers. This led to the national government being unable to pay even things such as national debt and the Continental Army, as well as vast differences in economics from state to state. This threatened to collapse the government since the framework of the articles simply could not support the necessities to run a country.