After the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Founders needed to create a government for our new nation.
Our first constitution was called the "Articles of Confederation" and it was approved in 1781.
There were problems under the Articles of Confederation:
1) There was only one branch of government. The legislative branch could pass laws, but there was no executive branch to enforce them.
2) Each state acted like a separate country. Many people opposed a strong federal government and did not want to be controlled—especially after the experiences with George III.
3) Because there were no uniform rules for the military or trade, it was hard to conduct any business. States found it hard to trade with each other and the country still had outstanding debt from the Revolutionary War. In fact, some soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War still had not been paid.
4) The national government was too weak and had no power to unite the country. It had no money and no way to get it. It could pass laws to collect taxes, but it had no branch to enforce those laws.
The founders decided to hold a meeting to improve the Articles of Confederation. It was to be held in Philadelphia in 1787.
When they got to Philadelphia, the fifty-five men chosen for the job decided that the Articles had too many problems. So they put the Articles aside and wrote a new constitution.
This meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention and lasted from May to September 1787. The result was the United States Constitution.
The work those men did in four months has lasted over 200 years.