"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." — Articles of Confederation, Article II (ratified 1781)
This article most directly reflects which concern shared by the state legislatures that ratified it?
- Acheck_circle
Fear that a strong central government would replicate the perceived abuses of Parliament
- B
Opposition to forming any standing peacetime army
- C
Hostility toward the establishment of an independent federal judiciary
- D
Anxiety about French military intervention in the Mississippi Valley
Explanation
Having just rebelled against a distant central authority, states protected their sovereignty in Article II out of fear of a powerful national government. The other concerns existed in the 1780s but are not what Article II specifically addresses.