Although the Americans won independence, they had trouble winning Britain’s respect. Ignoring the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the British kept troops at frontier posts in American territory. The British believed the new American government was weak and ineffective. While Americans were fighting for their independence on the battlefield, they were also creating new governments. After rejecting British rule, they needed to establish their own political institutions.

In May 1776, the Continental Congress had asked states to organize their governments, and each moved quickly to adopt a state constitution, or plan of government. By the end of 1776, eight states had drafted constitutions. New York and Georgia followed in 1777, and Massachusetts in 1780. Connecticut and Rhode Island kept their colonial charters as state constitutions. Experience with British rule made Americans cautious about placing too much power in the hands of a single ruler. For that reason, the states adopted constitutions that limited the power of governors. In fact, Pennsylvania even replaced the office of governor with an elected council of 12 members.

The states took other measures against concentration of power. They divided government functions between the executive (governors or council) and the legislature. Most states established bicameral, or two-house, legislatures to divide the power even further. The writers of the constitutions not only wanted to prevent abuses of power in the states, but they also wanted to keep power in the hands of the people. State legislators were popularly elected, and elections were often. In most states, only white males who were at least 21 years old could vote. These citizens also had to own a certain amount of property or pay a certain amount of taxes. Some states allowed free African American males to vote. The state constitutions restricted the powers of the governors, which made the legislatures the most powerful branches of government. The state legislatures struggled to make taxes fairer, but there were many disagreements. Going from dependent colonies to self-governing states brought new challenges.

For Americans, establishing separate state governments was a much easier task than creating a central government. They agreed that their country should be a republic, a government in which citizens rule through elected representatives. They could not agree, however, on the organization and powers of their new republic. At first, most Americans favored a weak central government. They figured the states would be very much like small, independent countries, like the way that the colonies had been set up. The states would act independently on most issues, working together through a central government only to wage war and handle relations with other nations.

In 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draw up a plan for a new government. The lead author was John Dickinson, a delegate from Delaware. He favored a strong central government, but his ideas were often shot down by the other delegates. As well, he believed that a system of government and foreign support was needed before anyone declared independence. Before he could finish the Articles, the Declaration of Independence was drafted and put to a vote. As a matter or principle, he could not vote for independence, resigned, and joined a local militia. The delegates took what he left, removed some of his ideas, and pushed the Articles of Confederation for adoption in November 1777. The Articles, America’s first constitution, provided for a new central government under which the states gave up little of their power. For the states, the Articles of Confederation were “a firm league of friendship” in which each state retained “its sovereignty, freedom and independence.”

Under the Articles of Confederation, the government, consisting of Congress, had the authority to conduct foreign affairs, maintain armed forces, borrow money, and issue currency, a very limited set of powers. It could not regulate trade, force citizens to join the army, or impose taxes. If Congress needed to raise money or troops, it had to ask the state legislatures, but the states were not required to contribute. In addition, the government lacked a chief executive. The Confederation government carried on much of its business, such as selling western lands, through congressional committees.

Under the new plan, every state had one vote, regardless of its population, and all states had to approve the Articles as well as any amendments. Despite this arrangement, larger states believed that their population warranted having more votes. The states were also divided by whether they claimed land in the West. Maryland refused to approve the Articles until New York, Virginia, and other states abandoned claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. Finally, the states settled their differences. With Maryland’s ratification, all 13 states had approved the Articles. On March 1, 1781, the Confederation formally became the government of the United States. However, Congress had effective been operating under the Articles plan since approval in 1777.

Between 1781 and 1789, the Articles of Confederation did not provide a government strong enough to handle the problems facing the United States. The Congress had limited authority. It could not pass a law unless nine states voted in favor of it. Any attempt to change the Articles required the consent of all 13 states, making it difficult for the Congress to pass laws when there was any opposition. Despite its weaknesses, the Confederation did accomplish some important things. Under the Confederation government, Americans won their independence and expanded foreign trade. The Confederation also provided for settling and governing the nation’s western territories.

By 1781, money printed during the Revolutionary War was almost worthless. Unable to collect taxes, both the Continental Congress and the states had printed their own paper money. No gold or silver backed up these bills. The value of the bills fell while the price of food and other goods soared. Between 1779 and 1781, the number of Continental dollars required to buy one Spanish silver dollar rose from 40 to 146. In Boston and some other areas, high prices led to food riots.

Fighting the war left the Continental Congress with a large debt. Congress had borrowed money from American citizens and foreign governments during the war. It still owed the Revolutionary soldiers their pay for military service. Lacking the power to tax, the Confederation could not pay its debts. It requested funds from the states, but the states contributed only a small portion of the money needed.

Faced with a total collapse of the country’s finances, Congress created a department of finance in 1781 under Philadelphia merchant Robert Morris. While serving in Congress, Morris had proposed a 5 percent tax on imported goods to help pay the national debt. The plan required that the Articles of Confederation be changed to give Congress the power to levy the tax, and a creation of a Bank of North America, which would act much like the Bank of England did for the British Empire. Although 12 states approved the plan, Rhode Island’s opposition killed the measure, since it would require an amendment. A second effort in 1783 also failed to win unanimous approval, and the financial crisis only worsened.

The weaknesses of the new American government became more evident as the United States encountered problems with other countries. In the Treaty of Paris of 1783, Britain had promised to withdraw from the lands east of the Mississippi River. Yet, British troops continued to occupy several strategic forts in the Great Lakes region.

British trade policy caused other problems. American merchants complained that the British were keeping Americans out of the West Indies and other profitable British markets. In 1785, Congress sent John Adams to London to discuss these difficulties. The British, however, were not willing to talk. They pointed to the failure of the United States to honor its promises made in the Treaty of Paris. The British claimed that Americans had agreed to pay Loyalists for property taken from them during the war. Congress had, in fact, recommended that the states pay the Loyalists, but the states refused.

If American relations with Great Britain were poor, affairs with Spain were worse. Spain, which held Florida as well as lands west of the Mississippi River, was anxious to stop American expansion into the territory it claimed. As a result, Spain closed the lower Mississippi River to American shipping in 1784. Western settlers depended on the Mississippi River for commerce. In 1786, American diplomats reached an agreement with Spain. Representatives from the Southern states, however, blocked the agreement because it did not include the right to use the Mississippi River. The weakness of the Confederation and its inability to deal with problems worried many leaders. Many Americans began to agree that the country needed a stronger government.