1a+Articles+of+Confederation

What was the government of the 13 states like before the Constitution was written?



It would be a mistake not to look at the entire timeline of events, beginning with the history of our nation's first Constitution known as the Articles of Confederation. Prior to becoming 13 states our country existed as 13 colonies under the control of Great Britain. The colonists' frustrations with Great Britain kept growing stronger as Great Britain started exerting more restrictions and control over the colonies. The colonies held a meeting in Phildedelphia from September 5th to October 26 of 1774. The meeting is known as the Continental Congress. They hoped to find a unified approach to address the grievances they had with Great Britain. This meeting also decided to meet again if those grievances were not be addressed. The Second Continental Congress began in May of 1775 and the Articles of Confederation were submitted to this Congress on July 12 of 1776.



The Articles of Confederation served as our country's original constitution, empowering the states and protecting their rights while limiting the powers of the national Congress. However, over time, it became apparant there were some issues not being covered well under this first constitution. It had its strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses, eventually led Congress to request a convention to revise the Articles. This gathering became known as the Constitutional Convention.



The Articles of Confederation provided a building block for our current Constitution.Click on the chart above to see a comparison of how each document deals with key issues.