3.4The Articles and their failure

The first national government, under the Articles of Confederation (ratified 1781), deliberately kept power weak. Fearful of a strong central authority like the one they had just overthrown, the states created a Congress that could not tax, regulate trade, or enforce its decisions.

The result was mounting trouble: unpaid debts, trade disputes among states, and no way to respond to unrest such as Shays's Rebellion (1786–1787), an uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers. Many leaders concluded that the union would collapse without a stronger framework. In 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia, ostensibly to revise the Articles—and instead wrote an entirely new constitution.