THE CONSTITUTION: DEMOCRACY IN THE MAKING.
The Constitution: Democracy in the Making.
When America claimed its independence from the royal crown in July 1776, many of America's political elites gathered and began to draw up constitutions for each individual state. Actually, the state constitutions played an important role in the formation of government because it showed the first efforts of trying to establish a sound government of and by the people. But in the 18th century, the use of the word "constitution" was more defined as an arrangement of the government, a compilation of parliamentary laws and traditions, not necessarily an actual document.
This brought about the Articles of Confederation. But these gentlemen would soon learn that they set up a very weak and powerless government. Congress lacked the authority to enforce its own laws and did not know where to turn. They were powerless to levy or collect taxes due to the huge debt from the war and literately had to solicit the states for funds. They also had not control over trade either from here and abroad. So states were imposing taxes on goods from other states and American merchants had a hard time competing with European merchants. States were creating their own currency which did not allow Congress to establish a thorough economy. These states had no President to run them. And without a President, there was no one to implement the laws that were being made. There was no court system, so differences of opinions could not be settled properly. Other states would not enforce criminal laws that Congress set and this allowed fugitives from one state to seek refuge by crossing state lines.
But why did all of this go wrong? It's simple. They had come from under the unbearable ruling of the royal crown. New Englanders had come to have misgivings about their newly established government. They were anxious that this new government would turn around and pass domineering laws just as the King had once before.