Revolutionary War

The Declaration of Independence and the severing of ties with the British Crown pushed the new nation perilously close to a return to the "state of nature." While there were established governments in the several states, there was no governmental entity capable of uniting the states. While liberty was the aim of the Revolution, some semblance of order was needed to win the war. While the Articles were sufficient to guide the new nation through its war for independence, as soon as the war was concluded, indications that it would not serve the new nation in peacetime appeared almost immediately. After the fighting had ceased, General Washington had to convince several high ranking officers not to rebel against the Confederal Congress because of its failures to keep promises to the Revolutionary Army. While Washington's intervention probably saved the new nation from plummeting into chaos, it only postponed the larger question of how the nation would govern itself after the war.

With the end of the war, however, came a sense of relief and perhaps even complacency. For a time, the Articles were considered sufficient to unite the independent states enough to meet their collective needs.

In 1785 and 1786, however, a series of events transpired which exposed the underlying weaknesses of the Articles (see the following list). While the Articles encouraged some cooperation, they simply were not able to address the problems that the colonies faced. As the nation struggled to get back on its feet economically after the war, it faced growing difficulties in dealing with Britain as it delayed its withdrawal from forts and harbors in America and imposed high tariffs on goods exported from America to England. These problems were made worse by the absence of a single spokesman to represent the nation's trade interests abroad. While John Adams had been dispatched as an ambassador to Britain, each state acted on its own, entering into agreements with Britain and other nations and undermining the nation's unity.