Question

the united states had even greater problems with spain. this european country ruled florida and lands west of the mississippi river. spain wanted to stop americans from settling in its territory. to stop this from happening, spain closed the lower mississippi river to american shipping in 1784. two years later, american diplomats reached a new trade agreement with spain. a diplomat is an official who represents one country with another country. representatives from the southern states, however, blocked the agreement because it did not include the right to use the mississippi river.
the weakness of the confederation and its difficulty in solving problems worried many leaders, including george washington. americans began to agree that the country needed a stronger government.
check for understanding

1. summarizing what were the weaknesses of the confederation government?

Explanation:

To answer this, we analyze the text:

1. From the first paragraph, the Confederation faced issues with foreign relations (dealing with Spain: Spain closed the Mississippi River to US shipping, and though a trade agreement was reached, it was blocked by southern states as it lacked Mississippi River usage rights, showing the Confederation struggled in handling international/territorial - related trade and diplomatic - implementation issues).
2. From the second paragraph, it's stated that the Confederation was weak and had difficulty solving problems, which worried leaders like Washington, and this led to the realization that a stronger government was needed. So overall, the weaknesses included struggling to handle foreign - related (with Spain) territorial and trade issues (like the Mississippi River dispute) and having general difficulty in solving problems, indicating a lack of strength to effectively govern and address national issues.

Answer:

The Confederation government had weaknesses such as struggling to handle foreign - related (with Spain) territorial and trade issues (e.g., the Mississippi River shipping and trade - agreement - related problems) and having general difficulty in solving problems, showing it lacked the strength to effectively govern and address national issues, which made leaders like George Washington worried and led to the recognition that a stronger government was needed.