PROLOGUE: The Articles of Confederation

The American colonists, with their recent experience of an overbearing British central authority, were deeply suspicious concentrating too much power into the hands of a central government. As a result, their first attempt at a constituting document, the Articles of Confederation, proved unsatisfactory at meeting the needs of the new nation that was forming.

Other sections of KTBB Constitution Minute:
Section 1: Constitutional Covention || Section 2: Ratification || Section 3: Creating the Bill of Rights || Section 4: The Ammendments || Section 5: The Courts and the Landmark Decisions || Section 6: The Present Day || Section 7: The Founding Fathers

Episode 126: The Articles of Confederation

The American founders, having suffered the tyranny of an overbearing British Crown, were not fans of strong, centralized government. They therefore drafted the first organizing document of the United States in such a way as to severely limit the power of the central government. But that limited power proved unworkable, and led inevitably to the need for a better solution. Listen to Episode 126

Episode 137 - Adequate to the Exigencies

By the summer of 1786, things were not going well in the new nation. Among the many problems was the lack of any mechanism in the Articles of Confederation for uniform regulation upon the states. The states were falling into destructive competition with one another. So, four men who would come to be called among the Founders, called a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Listen to Episode 137