Getting Started
Following the American Revolution, the newly independent United States faced the monumental task of creating a government from scratch. Guided by a deep-seated fear of the centralized authority they had just overthrown, American leaders first experimented with a decentralized system. This chapter explores the structure, successes, and failures of America's first national government—the Articles of Confederation—and the state-level governments that developed alongside it during the critical 1780s.
What You Should Be Able to Do
Explain why the first national and state governments were designed to limit central power.
Analyze the political and economic challenges that emerged under the Articles of Confederation.
Describe the major achievements of the Confederation government, particularly regarding westward expansion.
Explain how the weaknesses of the Articles led to calls for a new form of government.
Key Developments & Analysis
This period is best understood through the lens of Causation, as the experiences of the Revolution directly caused the formation of a weak central government, and the effects of that weakness, in turn, caused the movement for a stronger one.
Causes of a Weak Central Government
The structure of the first American governments was a direct reaction to the colonial experience under Great Britain.
Fear of Centralized Power: Having fought a war against what they saw as a tyrannical king and an overbearing Parliament, American leaders were deeply suspicious of concentrating power in a single national entity. They feared a strong central government would infringe on the liberties of the people and the rights of the states.
Primacy of State Sovereignty: Americans identified more strongly with their individual states (e.g., as Virginians or New Yorkers) than as a single American people. They wanted to ensure that the states, which they saw as the primary protectors of liberty, retained the majority of governmental power.
Emphasis on Legislative Power: At the state level, new state constitutions were drafted that deliberately weakened the executive (governor) and strengthened the legislative branch (assemblies). This reflected a belief that the legislature, being more directly accountable to the people, was the safest repository of power.
Effects & Impacts of the Articles of Confederation
The government created by the Articles of Confederation—the first written constitution of the United States—was a loose alliance of independent states with a very limited central government. This design had significant immediate and long-term consequences.
Immediate Effects: Weaknesses and Challenges
The central government under the Articles was intentionally weak, leading to numerous difficulties after the Revolution:
Economic Disorganization: Congress had no power to levy taxes directly on the people; it could only request money from the states, which they often refused to pay. This made it impossible to pay off war debts or fund national projects. Congress also could not regulate interstate commerce, leading to economic disputes and competition between states.
Lack of Central Authority: The government lacked a president to enforce laws and a national court system to settle disputes. Major laws required the approval of nine of the thirteen states, making decisive action difficult.
Foreign Policy Struggles: Without a strong, unified government, the nation appeared weak to foreign powers. Britain refused to evacuate forts in the west, and Spain controlled access to the Mississippi River, hindering American trade and settlement.
Immediate Effects: Successes
Despite its many weaknesses, the Confederation government had one monumental success:
- The Northwest Ordinance: As settlers moved westward into the lands north of the Ohio River, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This law was a major achievement, establishing an orderly process for admitting new states into the Union on an equal footing with the original thirteen. It also promoted public education, protected private property, and, crucially, banned slavery in the Northwest Territory, setting a precedent for future national policy on the issue.
Long-Term Impact
The cumulative effect of the economic and political difficulties of the 1780s was a growing sense of crisis. Many leaders and citizens became convinced that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate to govern the new nation. These widespread problems led directly to calls for a convention to revise the Articles, which would ultimately result in the creation of a much stronger central government under the U.S. Constitution.
Data & Organization Tools
The table below illustrates the division of key powers between the national and state governments under the Articles of Confederation, highlighting the weakness of the central authority.
| Power / Function | National Government (Congress) | State Governments |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | Could only request funds from states; could not compel payment. | Possessed the power to levy and collect taxes from citizens. |
| Commerce | Could not regulate trade between the states. | Controlled all commerce within their borders and with other states. |
| Military | Could declare war and raise an army, but had to ask states for troops. | Maintained their own independent militias. |
| Citizenship | No uniform policy; citizenship was determined by each state. | Maintained property qualifications for voting and citizenship. |
Evidence Bank
Articles of Confederation: The first constitution of the United States (1781–1789), which created a "league of friendship" among the states. It established a weak central government with a unicameral legislature and no executive or judicial branch, reflecting a widespread fear of centralized authority.
State Constitutions: The governing documents adopted by each of the thirteen states. These constitutions typically placed power in the hands of the legislative branch and included bills of rights, but also maintained colonial-era property qualifications for voting and holding office.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Considered the most significant legislative act of the Confederation Congress. It created a structured process for territories in the Northwest Territory to become states and notably banned slavery in the region.
Northwest Territory: The vast region of land west of Pennsylvania, north of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River. The orderly settlement and governance of this territory was a major priority and achievement under the Articles.
Property Qualifications: Legal requirements, maintained by the new state constitutions, that a person must own a certain amount of property to be eligible to vote or hold public office. This practice limited political participation to a minority of the adult male population.
Legislative Branch: The part of government responsible for making laws. In the new state constitutions, this branch was given the most power, reflecting the revolutionary distrust of strong executive authority similar to that of the British king.
Skill Snapshots
Causation:
The experience with British monarchy and Parliament → caused the Articles of Confederation to be designed with a weak central government.
The central government's inability to tax → caused severe economic difficulties and an inability to pay war debts.
Widespread economic and political problems → caused influential leaders to call for a stronger central government.
Comparison:
State governments could levy taxes directly, whereas the national government could only request funds from the states.
The Northwest Ordinance banned slavery in new territories, in contrast to the southern states where slavery was a protected institution.
New state constitutions concentrated power in the legislature, unlike the British system which had a strong executive monarch.
Continuity and Change over Time:
Baseline: Under British rule, colonies were governed by powerful royal governors appointed by the king.
Change: The new state constitutions drastically reduced executive power and made the legislative branch supreme. The Articles of Confederation created a national government with no executive at all.
Continuity: The practice of requiring property qualifications for voting and holding office continued from the colonial period into the new state governments of the Revolutionary era.
Common Misconceptions & Clarifications
Misconception: The Articles of Confederation period was a complete and total failure.
Clarification: While the government under the Articles had significant weaknesses that led to its replacement, it successfully prosecuted the end of the Revolutionary War, signed the Treaty of Paris, and passed the landmark Northwest Ordinance, which guided westward expansion for decades.
Misconception: The United States was a strong, unified country from the moment it declared independence.
Clarification: The Articles of Confederation created a loose alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states. The central government had very little power to enforce laws or create a unified national policy.
Misconception: The Revolution immediately resulted in a more democratic government for all.
Clarification: While the Revolution was fought for liberty, the new state constitutions maintained existing barriers to political participation. They continued to enforce property qualifications for voting and holding office, excluding most non-elite white men, women, and all African Americans from the political process.
One-Paragraph Summary
The Revolutionary Period prompted the creation of new American governments defined by a profound fear of centralized authority. New state constitutions concentrated power in their legislatures while maintaining property qualifications for political participation. At the national level, the Articles of Confederation established a deliberately weak central government that successfully unified the states to conclude the war and organized westward expansion through the landmark Northwest Ordinance. However, its inability to tax, regulate commerce, or conduct effective foreign policy created significant post-war difficulties. These mounting challenges ultimately exposed the system's weaknesses and led to widespread calls for a stronger, more effective central government.