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After their victory in the American Revolution, America’s leaders were leery about establishing a powerful centralized government, fearful that such a government would only replace the tyranny of King George III with a new form of tyranny. As a result, the first U.S. constitution, the Articles of Confederation, created a decentralized new government. The Articles established the United States as a confederation of states—a system in which the states were largely independent but were bound together by a weak national congress.
Ultimately, the Articles of Confederation proved ineffective, giving Congress little real power over the states, no means to enforce its decisions, and, most critically, no power to levy taxes. As a result, the federal government was left at the mercy of the states, which often chose not to pay their taxes.
Sensing the need for change, delegates from nearly all the states met in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation but ended up drafting an entirely new document: the Constitution. The Constitution created a new government divided into three branches: legislative (Congress), executive (the president), and judicial (headed by the Supreme Court). After much debate, the delegates compromised on a two-house Congress, consisting of an upper house (Senate) with equal representation for each state, and a lower house (House of Representatives) with proportional representation based on population. Congress also was given new abilities to levy national taxes and control interstate commerce.
Although most states ratified the Constitution outright, some, especially New York, had reservations. In response, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison argued the case for the Constitution in a series of essays called the Federalist Papers. These 85 essays are now regarded as some of the most important writings in American political thought.
However, many skeptics, or Anti-Federalists, remained unconvinced, believing that a stronger government would endanger the freedoms they had just won during the Revolution. As a compromise, the framers of the Constitution promised to add a series of amendments to guarantee important liberties. Sponsored by James Madison, the first 10 amendments became known as the Bill of Rights. Their liberties secured, Anti-Federalists in the last remaining states grudgingly voted for the Constitution.
