The Problem After Victory
The Articles of Confederation created a shared structure for the states, but Congress had no authority to tax. The national government struggled to pay foreign loans, domestic creditors, soldiers, merchants, and farmers who had supplied the war effort. States also retained substantial independence.
The postwar economy recovered slowly, but financial weakness exposed the fragility of the new union. The government lacked the resources to defend national interests or respond confidently to internal unrest.
Fear of a Fractured Republic
Nationalists such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton feared that the United States could not withstand another major crisis. Shays’s Rebellion in Massachusetts in 1786 intensified concerns that state governments and the Confederation were too weak to preserve order or protect property.
Congress called the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. Delegates proposed a new Constitution with a stronger federal government, authority to tax, an effective executive, a judiciary, and a legislature divided into two chambers. Checks and balances were designed to prevent any one branch from becoming dominant.
Rights and Federal Power
Ratification provoked fierce debate. Supporters wanted a government capable of paying debts and conducting national policy. Critics feared that federal power might recreate the kind of distant authority Americans had just resisted. James Madison helped secure support by leading efforts for amendments protecting individual rights.
The Constitution took effect in 1789. The first ten amendments, ratified in 1791, became the Bill of Rights.
The revolution’s final transformation was institutional. Breaking from monarchy was only the first step; Americans then had to invent a government strong enough to function but restrained enough to remain legitimate.
