Once upon a time, there was a group of french men living in the 13 colonies, known as the Colonists. They went to war against the British.

Chapter 1

The colonists won the war and became their own country, now known as the United States.

During the war, there needed to be laws, due to the fact that they declared independence in 1776, during the war. Before they wrote the Constitution of the United States however, there were the Articles of Confederation. A constitution is a set of basic laws that state the powers and duties of the US Government. The Articles were ratified on November 15, 1777.

Articles of Confederation

The laws had their goods and bads, mainly bads. Here are some of the major examples of the Articles of Confederation.

The US Government couldn't do these things:

-Pay debt from the American Revolution

-Get 9/13 states to agree on new laws, or defend the new country

-A National Court was needed to solve problems between states

-There was no leader (King or President) to make sure laws were being followed

Chapter 2

There were many problems with the articles. Farmers who had faught in the army were not getting payed for their services. Because of this, they were creating rebellions against the government that they helped create.

Here are some major examples of what happened:

-States all over the new country were to give money to the government

-Citizens had to pay tariffs (taxes) to the government for war debt

-Citizens tossed in jail and had their property taken away by the government to pay individual taxes

Daniel Shays, who was a former Captain in the Continental Army, led a rebellion in Massachusetts, known to many as Shays' Rebellion. Hundreds of men fought by his side to prevent the imprisonment of farmers due to debt. The exact same thing was going on around the US as well.

Shays' Rebellion was successful, even though they lost their fight. However, the fear that that group inspired rippled across the new country of the United States. Because of them, politicians realized that a central government with hardly any power couldn't rule a new country. It was time to end it. It was time to write up a new constitution and form a new government.

Extra: The Northwest Ordiance

Not all of the Articles of Confederation were bad, as there were the Northwest Ordiance, created in 1787. It included a plan to grow the United States. Some laws included were laws that protected American's Rights and a plan for territory to become a state, but the area had to have at least 60,000 citizens living there.

Chapter 3

After Shays' Rebellion showed how awful the Articles of Confederation were, the Continental Congress had decided to revise the Articles with a Constitutional Convention. They would all meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, when they arrived, they didn't revise, they started fresh with a new plan for America.

Dear lord!

This is what we first had?! We've got to redo this whole constitution!

The convention began on May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many important people from the American Revolution were at the convention, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and James Madison. The Constitution was finally completed on September of 1787, as this one was several times better than the Articles of Confederation.