American political leaders were afraid of a powerful central government like Britain’s, so they created the Articles of Confederation .
Confederation = a loose partnership or alliance of states
The Articles of Confederation were adopted at the end of the war.
The Articles of Confederation – had many weaknesses:
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Provided for a weak national government
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Gave Congress no power to tax or regulate commerce among the states
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Provided for no common currency (money)
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Gave each state one vote regardless of size
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Provided for no executive or judicial branch
Under the Articles, the government only had a Legislative branch (a Congress).
The leaders realized the Articles were too weak because the country could not pay its debts, and it couldn’t respond to rebellions, like Shay’s Rebellion. So they decided to create a stronger system.
They met in 1787 in Philadelphia for a CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
There were many differences between big and small states, and between slave and non-slave states. They also disagreed about how powerful the new national government should be. They were aftraid that the government would become too powerful (like Britain). The leaders had to compromise.
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Made federal law the supreme law of the land when constitutional, but otherwise gave the states considerable leeway to govern themselves.
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The Great Compromise : Balanced power between large and small states by creating a
Senate, where each state has two senators, and a House of Representatives, where membership is based on population .
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Three-Fifths Compromise : Made the southern states happy by counting three-fifths of the slaves in the population when determining representation in the United States House of Representatives (the northern states didn’t think slaves should be counted at all)
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Separation of Powers & Checks-and-Balances : Avoided a too-powerful central government by establishing three equal branches—legislative, executive, and judicial— with numerous checks and balances among them. (for example, the President can veto a law of Congress)

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Federalism : Limited the powers of the national government to those identified in the
Constitution. States kept a lot of control to govern themselves. Power would be shared between different levels of government: the national government, the states, and even local governments. But if they conflicted, then the national government’s rules were supreme.
George Washington, president (chairman) of the Convention . Washington presided at the
Convention and, although he seldom spoke in the debates, everyone respected him.
James Madison, “Father of the Constitution.” Madison, a Virginian and a brilliant political philosopher, often led the debate and kept many notes of what happened—the best record historians have of what was discussed at the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention,
Madison wrote the “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the new government. He later wrote the Federalist Papers to support others to ratify the Constitution, and he wrote much of the Bill of Rights (once he was convinced that one was needed).
Virginia Declaration of Rights (written by George Mason) Had many of the ideas that basic human rights should not be violated by governments. These ideas ended up in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (written by Thomas Jefferson) Outlawed the established church—that is, the practice of the government having an “official” church or favoring one church over another. This became part of the 1 st
Amendment.
The Ratification Debate and The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the
Constitution)
Federalists wanted a strong central government, to promote economic development and public improvements. They wanted to see the Constitution get ratified, or approved. Virginia
Federalists who supported ratification of the Constitution were George Washington and James
Madison.
Anti-Federalists feared an overly powerful central government. Some of them, like Patrick
Henry, did not want to ratify (approve) the Constitution at all. Other anti-federalists, like George
Mason, would ratify it as long as it included a Bill of Rights to protect individual freedoms.
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. The 1 st
amendment protects key freedoms, like speech, religion, peaceful protest, and the press. The 4 th
amendment protects individuals from unreasonable search and seizure, and requires that the government has a warrant
(permission) from a judge before it can search your property. Other amendments protect the right to a jury trial and other rights of people accused of crimes.