During the Revolutionary War, delegates of the Continental Congress (dudes who represent the people of their colony), decided they needed people to write an official document to control how their new nation would be ran. The document they created was the Articles of Confederation, this served as the country's first constitution however, it was ultimately a firm league of friendship. This meaning that the colonies agreed to protect and preserve their newly achieved independence.
After being ruled under the tyranny of the British empire, the people of America obviously did not want the power in the hands of the central government ie. the Continental Congress. The central government had extremely limited power and had only one branch, legislative. They could declare war, but no one would fight in it- government couldn't force a draft. They could print money, but so could the states which caused major depreciation- not to mention the states put heavy tariffs on each other (fees for buying from and entering another state). Not to mention gov. couldn't tax the states-they could only request funds from them, which obviously as anyone would say to being asked to give someone a small loan of a lot of money...NO. This caused war debt to sky rocket.
Passing laws was basically impossible under the Articles of Confederation. Attendance of delegates to the meetings wasn't required or forced upon so very often half of the states showed up. Under the Articles 9/13 votes were required to ratify (signing and making something official) something. But since delegates hardly ever showed up, laws were hardly every made. The 1783 Treaty of Paris (the document that ended the Revolutionary war) lay idle for any months since too few people were there to ratify it.
Congress realized that their limited power made it impossible for them to effectively govern their people. The weakness also became visible to the people who began to rebel-Shay's rebellion for example where hundreds protested the economic and civil rights injustices.
Alexander Hamilton along with help of George Washington and other nationalists convened the Annapolis Convention in 1786 in which they petitioned Congress for a Constitutional Convention, which took place in 1787 in Liberty Hall, Pennsylvania. Although members were only allowed to amend the Articles of Confederation, during the Constitutional Convention there were secret, closed-door meetings where the Constitution that we know and love today was written.
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