The 13 American colonies had declared themselves independent from Great Britain in 1776, made for themselves a new national government in 1781, and signed a peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783. Now that America was its own nation, its government, the Confederation Congress, inherited the good and the bad of an independent nation.
The Confederation Congress, as restricted by the Articles of Confederation, could not raise taxes and could not use a court system to force states to trade with each other. In very real terms, the nation's first national government was not enough of a government for the current world situation. A more frightening reminder of how powerless the national government was Shays's Rebellion, in which farmers refused to pay taxes and took up arms to protect their right not to pay those taxes. The national government called out the federal militia and stopped the rebellion, but the entire episode made very clear the fact that a stronger national government was needed. Next page > The Constitutional Convention > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
|
Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2024
David White