On this episode of Our American Stories, The American Revolution had created an independent country. It had not yet created a government capable of holding that country together. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress struggled to raise money, regulate commerce, enforce its decisions, or settle disputes among the states. By the 1780s, George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and others feared the young republic might not survive unless something changed.

Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College and author of The Founders' Key, shares the story of how that crisis led delegates to Philadelphia in 1787, intending to repair the Articles and ultimately convinced them to replace them. At the heart of their work was a difficult question: How do you create a government strong enough to govern without making it powerful enough to threaten the liberty it exists to protect?

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How America's First Constitution Failed

Our American Stories

How America's First Constitution Failed