During the years following the American Revolution, colonies in America were rapidly changing and developing. Although many Americans were happy with their new found independence, others were unhappy with the governmental situation. The present government system, The Articles of Confederation, produced by John Dickenson were in force from March 1, 1781, to June 21, 1788. The government served its purpose for some time, but soon, the weaknesses of the Articles and the actions of the public made Americans realize they needed a change. .
Two of the most glaring weaknesses of the AoC were that the congress could not tax the public and the congress had no power over interstate or foreign commerce. Along with these two weaknesses there are many others such as there was no independent executive branch, no federal courts, congress consisted of one where each state had one vote, all states had to approve amendments, congress could not draft troops, congress had only specific powers and most importantly, states were sovereign. Along with the many weaknesses of the AoC, the public's actions showed officials that something needed to be done. .
With the AoC in place, many things were pointing in the direction of a change in government. With the many weaknesses aside, actions of the public added to the need for a change. In the AoC, there was no executive with power, and no court system. These two factors made for a very weak central government with very little power. When people started to rebel, there was no way of stopping them. For example, when farmers started Shay's Rebellion when they couldn't pay debts, the people were scared because there was no way to control the Rebellion. This instance further proved the fact that a new, stronger government was greatly needed. Soon, men like George Washington and Alexander Hamiliton were meeting to revise the AoC, but soon after that the Constitution was drafted instead.
