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Throwing off
the British monarchy on July 4, 1776, left the United States
with no central government. It had to design and install a
new government–and quickly. As early as May 1776, Congress
advised each of the colonies to draw up plans for state governments;
by 1780, all thirteen states had adopted written constitutions.
In June 1776, the Continental Congress began to work on a
plan for a central government. It took five years for it to
be approved, first by members of Congress and then by the
states. The first attempt at a constitution for the United
States was called the Articles of Confederation.
This first constitution was composed by a body that directed
most of its attention to fighting and winning the War for
Independence. It came into being at a time when Americans
had a deep-seated fear of a central authority and long-standing
loyalty to the state in which they lived and often called
their "country." Ultimately, the Articles of Confederation
proved unwieldy and inadequate to resolve the issues that
faced the United States in its earliest years; but in granting
any Federal powers to a central authority–the Confederation
Congress–this document marked a crucial step toward
nationhood. The Articles of Confederation were in force from
March 1, 1781, until March 4, 1789, when the present Constitution
went into effect.
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Assembly Room,
Pennsylvania State House, later named Independence Hall,
meeting place of Congress learn
more...
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