The+Articles+of+Confederation

toc When our nation first began, we had a great deal to figure out. What kind of government system would we have? How much power would we give to each state? How much power would we give to a central or national government?

The new citizens of the United States were wary of a strong central government. They feared ending up in a similar situation as they had with Britain ruled by King George. To prevent one authority from getting too much power, they created the "Articles of Confederation." These Articles loosely bound the 13 states into a "league of friendship." However, the Articles did not allow for our new Congress to impose taxes. With no means of raising money, they had no way to run the business of the nation. Shay's rebellion highlighted the danger of having too weak a central government and led many of the Founders to feel that the current system of government was not working. They needed to revise and change the Articles of Confederation to give the central government more power, which still protecting and safeguarding the citizens basic rights and freedoms. They therefore called together a "Constitutional Convention" during which many of the issues and debates surrounding the formation of our nation were discussed and argued. From these Constitutional Conventions our nation's Constitution was formed.

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