The Constitution: A More Perfect Union

After the Revolution, the new nation operated under the Articles of Confederation. Fearing a tyrant like King George, this system gave almost all power to the states, leaving the national government too weak to collect taxes or keep order.

This weakness led to disaster. In Massachusetts, angry farmers led by Daniel Shays launched a revolt known as Shays' Rebellion.

Because the national government was powerless to stop the uprising, leaders realized they needed a stronger system. They met in Philadelphia in 1787 for the Constitutional Convention.

At the Convention, big states (like Virginia) and small states (like New Jersey) fought over power. Big states wanted representation based on population; small states wanted equal votes for everyone.

They solved this with the Great Compromise. They created a Congress with two houses.

In the House of Representatives, votes depend on population (pleasing big states). In the Senate, every state gets two votes (pleasing small states). This balance allowed the Convention to move forward.

A deep divide existed between Northern and Southern states over slavery. Southern states wanted to count enslaved people to get more representatives in Congress, even though they treated them as property, not citizens.

Northern states argued that if enslaved people couldn't vote, they shouldn't count.

The delegates reached the Three-Fifths Compromise: they agreed to count 3 out of every 5 enslaved people for representation and taxes. This decision gave Southern states more power but embedded the injustice of slavery into the Constitution.