During the American Revolutionary War, all 13 colonies had become separate states, and in turn, they had each established their own laws and constitution. These state constitutions gave the people the rights to make the laws. The people did not want to have a central government because they felt it would take away their power.

The Continental Congress decided to create a plan for a national government. This plan was known as the Articles of Confederation. Although the states didn’t want a central government, they knew they needed to work together as one country.

The Articles of Confederation left most of the power to the states and created a weak national government. The Articles of Confederation were accepted by the states in 1781.

Federal Powers State Powers had little power power to declare war make peace treaties make treaties with other nations print and borrow money had their own laws and constitution set up an army control trade create taxes control the right to bear arms printed their own money

The Articles of Confederation gave congress little power. In turn, congress could not solve the problems that the new nation was facing. Examples include: – States printed their own money, so people disagreed about the worth of each state’s money – Congress could not pay off the debts from the war and couldn’t raise money because they weren’t allowed to tax the people

Remember states were able to tax their citizens In western Massachusetts, farmers were having to pay high state taxes. They also owed money to merchants, but they couldn’t pay their debts. This upset them. Daniel Shays, a farmer, led a protest with a group of 1,000 farmers against the taxes. They tried to steal weapons from the national government. Congress could not help stop these protesters because they were not allowed to form an army. The state militia was able to defeat the farmers. This protest is known as Shays’s Rebellion. It was another event that showed how weak the national government was.

People began thinking they needed a stronger national government in order to solve the problems their nation was facing. Congress decided to invite the states to send delegates to a meeting in order to discuss ways they could change the Articles of Confederation.

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