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What if there was no such thing as a president of the country? What if the government had no money to pay soldiers? What if every state had a different kind of money and you had to change money when you crossed a state border?
All of this was true during the country’s first years. The 13 states had loose ties under a document called the Articles of Confederation, but, in general, each state did as it pleased. There was a Congress, where each state had one vote. But there was no president to enforce decisions made by Congress. And there were no national courts. Congress could ask the states for money to pay national debts, but it could not force the states to pay. And many states did not pay.
By 1787, many leaders feared that the new country would fall apart without a stronger central government. They called for a meeting of delegates from all of the states. The goal was to make changes in the Articles of Confederation, but once the delegates had gathered, they realized that a bigger change was needed. They wrote a brand-new document called the Constitution. It’s the supreme law of the land.
▲ In 1785, leaders from Maryland and Virginia met to discuss navigation on the Potomac River, which ran between the two states. Afterwards, Virginia called for a trade conference of all the states. Only five states attended, but Alexander Hamilton of New York persuaded the others to call for a convention of all the states. The goal was to revise the Articles of Confederation.
After the Revolutionary War, the country fell into an economic depression. Few people would accept the national government’s printed money, because they thought it was worthless. Each state printed its own money, which made trade among the states hard. Farmers and merchants didn’t know what to charge for their goods. Also, some states collected a tax on goods imported from other states. That made the goods more expensive. Some believed that a stronger central government would help the economy. ▼
▲ The economic problems were especially hard on farmers. If they couldn’t pay their debts, their land was taken from them and they were put in prison. In Massachusetts, in 1786, about 1,200 farmers rose up in armed rebellion. Led by a man named Daniel Shays, they refused to pay their state taxes. They shut down the local courts. The national government was helpless to put down Shays’ Rebellion. Eventually, state troops ended the revolt. But the event made many think that a stronger central government was needed.
