Building a New Government 1780-1800

In class we learned about the second continental congress and the Articles of Confederation. The articles of confederation was written in 1777 by colonial leaders. It was ratified in 1781 and was Americas first constitution. It provided a framework for for the new nation to do "nation things". The good that came from the A O C was it named the country the United States, it established a diplomacy, and set up trade with other nations. The problems with the A O C was the states thought they were their own countries. They didn't want to be under one federal government because they just left the British. They decided that each state would be pat of "Congress of Confederation" and everyone would be able to vote. US expenses would be paid by the individual states and the bigger and richer states would pay more. Debt couldn't be paid because Congress wouldn't collect taxes. Each state operated independently. They all printed their own money. There was no court to settle disputes between states. Britain had to cut off trade so the US had to find new trading partners. Alexander Hamilton wants a national bank. Thomas Jefferson wants the states to handle themselves.