In January 1787 armed farmers in western Massachusetts marched on the federal arsenal at Springfield. Deep in debt and facing heavy state taxes, they had spent months closing courts to stop foreclosures. Congress, which had no power to tax, could do almost nothing. The army that broke up Shays' Rebellion was raised by the governor and paid for by wealthy Boston merchants. Four months later delegates gathered in Philadelphia. This lesson compares the government they replaced with the one they built.
The Articles: a league of states
The Second Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation in 1777, and they took effect in 1781. After fighting a king, Americans feared central power. The new state constitutions put most power in elected legislatures, and the Articles did the same nationally:
- One house of Congress, with one vote per state whatever its size.
- No president and no national court system.
- No power to tax: Congress sent requisitions to the states, which often went unpaid.
- No power to regulate trade between states or with other countries.
- Nine states to pass major laws, and all 13 to amend the Articles.
What the Articles got right
Congress under the Articles saw the war to its end, made peace with Britain in the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and organized the West. The Land Ordinance of 1785 surveyed land into townships and set aside land for schools. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 laid out how territories north of the Ohio River would become equal states, encouraged education and banned slavery there. That ban made the Ohio River a line between slavery and freedom for decades. The Native nations who lived north of the Ohio still claimed that land, and war over it continued into the 1790s.
Why leaders wanted change
By the mid-1780s Congress could not pay its war debts. Some states taxed one another's goods, and Britain kept troops in forts on American soil. Only five states sent delegates to the Annapolis Convention of 1786, but it called for a wider meeting. Shays' Rebellion persuaded many, Washington among them, that the country needed a stronger government.
Compromises in Philadelphia
Twelve states sent delegates; Rhode Island stayed away. They soon decided to replace the Articles rather than revise them.
- Representation: Madison's Virginia Plan based seats on population; the New Jersey Plan kept equal votes. The Great Compromise gave a House by population and a Senate with two seats per state.
- Slavery: the Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of enslaved people for House seats and direct taxes. Congress could not ban the slave trade before 1808, and a fugitive slave clause required escapees to be returned.
- Structure: federalism split power between nation and states; separation of powers and checks and balances divided the national government into three branches.
The new Congress could tax, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and pass laws "necessary and proper" to use its powers.
Ratification and the Bill of Rights
Ratification needed nine state conventions. Anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry and George Mason warned that a distant government would swallow the states and that there was no bill of rights. Hamilton, Madison and Jay answered in the Federalist Papers. Federalists won close votes in states such as Massachusetts, Virginia and New York, helped by the promise of amendments. Madison steered them through the First Congress, and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.
How historians explain it
Charles Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution (1913) argued that the framers' own economic interests shaped the document. Later historians challenged his evidence and gave more weight to political ideas and fears about the weakness of the Articles. Others stress that the slavery compromises gave slave states extra power in the new government.
Common mistakes students make
- Calling the Articles a total failure. Their land ordinances shaped how much of the West was settled.
- Saying the Articles had no Congress. They had only a Congress: no president, no national court system.
- Mixing up the compromises. The Great Compromise was about big and small states; the Three-Fifths Compromise was about counting enslaved people.
- Treating the Bill of Rights as part of the 1787 text. It came later, as the price of ratification.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution?
The Articles created a league of sovereign states with a weak Congress that could not tax or regulate trade. The Constitution created a national government with its own power to tax, three branches and laws that override state laws.
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
Congress could not raise money, control trade or enforce its decisions, and amending the Articles needed every state to agree.
What did the Articles of Confederation do well?
They saw the country through the end of the war and the 1783 peace, and the Northwest Ordinance set an orderly path to statehood.
Why was the Bill of Rights added?
Anti-Federalists refused to trust a stronger government without written protections, and Federalists promised amendments to win ratification.
Try it
Say each answer before you flip the card. Then pick three weaknesses of the Articles and name the part of the Constitution that answered each one. What changed, and why then?
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