Constitution Forces in the United States

Constitution of the United States Forces That Shaped the Constitution

In 1774 the Parliament of Great Britain capped a series of abuses against the American colonies by imposing a tax on tea imports to the colonies. The colonies quickly agreed to convene a Continental Congress, which in 1776 appointed two committees – one to draft the Declaration of Independence and the other to prepare a “form of confederation” among the colonies. In 1778 this second committee produced the Articles of Confederation. They took effect in 1781 when Maryland, the last holdout state, ratified them.

The Articles of Confederation established a league of friendship among the states, but not a political union. Each state remained separate and sovereign (under self-rule). The central government consisted of a one-chamber Congress, in which each state had a single vote. Congress had few powers, lacking even the authority to impose taxes. Any congressional action required the approval of 9 of the 13 states. The government had no president and no central court.

As a result, Congress in the 1780s could not deal with serious national problems, such as the repayment of about $40 million in domestic debt and $12 million in foreign debts incurred during the American Revolution (1775-1783). States also incurred about $25 million in debt during the war. Small creditors, including soldiers who had lent money to the revolutionary cause, were starved for cash because the states were slow to repay. Many of these creditors were forced to sell their repayment notes to speculators at greatly reduced values, and the states feared mob violence. A depression in the mid-1780s threatened farmers in many states with foreclosures of their properties and jail.

In May 1786, delegates from each state were called to a trade convention in Annapolis, Maryland, to find common ground on waterway navigation rights and other issues. Only fives states sent delegates, and they decided to postpone any action. Before adjourning, the delegates in attendance asked their state legislatures to call a national convention to meet in Philadelphia the following May to investigate “important [government] defects