Confederation and Constitution
Evaluate the Articles, Constitutional Convention, federalism, separation of powers, ratification, and the Bill of Rights.
A lesson of AP United States History, in Period 3: 1754-1800, about 10 minutes.
From Confederation to Constitution
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, analyze the major compromises of the Constitutional Convention, and evaluate the debates over ratification.
The Articles of Confederation (1781–1789)
The Articles of Confederation were America's first constitution — adopted in 1777, ratified in 1781. They created a deliberately weak national government, reflecting colonial fear of centralized power (like Britain's Parliament).
Structure Under the Articles
- No executive branch — no president
- No federal judiciary — no courts
- Congress: one house, one vote per state; no direct taxation power
- Amendments required unanimous consent of all 13 states
- Laws required approval of 9 of 13 states
Accomplishments
Despite its weaknesses, the Confederation Congress achieved important things:
- Treaty of Paris (1783): negotiated and ratified American independence
- Land Ordinance of 1785: created the township-and-range survey system for organizing western lands
- Northwest Ordinance (1787): established government for the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin), banned slavery north of the Ohio River, guaranteed civil liberties, provided pathway to statehood — a model for future territorial expansion
Fatal Weaknesses
Cannot tax: Congress could only request money from states; states frequently refused. The national government was chronically broke — couldn't pay its war debts or its soldiers.
Cannot regulate commerce: Each state had its own tariffs and trade policies; no uniform national market.
Cannot enforce laws: Congress could pass laws but had no mechanism to compel compliance.
Diplomatic impotence: Britain refused to remove troops from western forts (as required by Treaty of Paris) because the U.S. couldn't enforce the treaty's debt provisions.
Shays's Rebellion (1786–87): Massachusetts farmers (many Revolutionary War veterans) facing debt and foreclosure revolted. The Confederation government couldn't suppress it — the state did. This alarmed the political elite, demonstrating that the national government couldn't maintain domestic order.
The Constitutional Convention (1787)
Delegates convened in Philadelphia nominally to revise the Articles. Instead, they secretly drafted an entirely new constitution.