Road to the Convention: Articles of Confederation and American Democracy 1776-1787

The Founders were children of the Enlightenment. When crafting a new Constitution, they learned from history and from their own experiences. Between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the American people were governed at the national level by the Articles of Confederation and at the state level by state constitutions. With the U.S. Constitution, the Founding generation established a new national government. This new government was more powerful than the national government established by the Articles of Confederation, but also one of limited powers.

Constitution 101: Road to the Constitutional Convention

Big Questions

What was the Articles of Confederation, and what sort of national government did it establish? Why did the Founding generation decide to write a new Constitution?

What did the Founding generation learn from the state constitutions that the American people wrote before the U.S. Constitution?

What was Shays’ Rebellion, and how did it influence the Founding generation?

What key principles underlie the U.S. Constitution, and what sort of system of government did the Founding generation establish?

View Recorded Classes

Principles of the American Constitution, 1776-1787
with Dr. Jem Spectar - All Ages Session

Principles of the American Constitution, 1776-1787
Advanced Session

Principles of the American Constitution, 1776-1787
Introductory Session