After the end of the Revolutionary War our United States was all but
united. Due to the Articles of the Confederation, written by the
Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War, state governments
had more power than national government. Congress could only
declare war, deal with foreign nations, print money and run the postal
service.
Congress could set the taxes that the states would collect.
This form of government would not make our country strong. If the
federal government could not collect taxes there would be no way to
build a navy or pay back debt owed to foreign countries.
Other countries were taking advantage of the US's weakened state.
Congress asked each state to send delegates to what would be known
as the Constitutional Convention.
Within days the Convention threw out the Articles and began drafting our
Constitution.
