Nobody ever nails something on the first try (except for Django). Most great ideas—from gadgets t ...
Nobody ever nails something on the first try (except for Django). Most great ideas—from gadgets to governments—had a trial-and-error stage before they were perfected. The United States was no exception. The national pride we celebrate today on the 4th of July wasn't always a thing. America didn't become America The Beautiful overnight. By now you've heard of a little event called the American Revolution, when a bunch of salty landowners, intellectuals and musketeers from the original thirteen American colonies got together and decided to kick the collective British butt off the continent. Even after the Declaration of Independence was signed (7/4/1776, hecky yes) there were some big, lingering questions. What was the new nation going to be? Was it going to be a unified nation at all, or would each colony have its own independent government? Who was in charge of bringing snacks? Did we feel like something salty or something sweet? How about drinks—was Dr. Pepper good for everyone, or did we need to throw some 7-Up into the mix? And oh yeah—how were we going to pay for this war we started? The colonies (now the independent states) needed some kind of government to keep them working together during the war. So a group of delegates, or representatives, from each state assembled in a rarefied gentlemen's club called the Second Continental Congress. At a meeting in Philadelphia these men (yes, they were indeed all men and white and mostly old) drafted the Articles of Confederation, a document outlining the basic laws of the new United States of America. But, pro-tip: don't get the Articles of Confederation confused with the Constitution. The Second Continental Congress finished the new document on November 15th, 1777. The current Constitution didn't exist until a few years later (it was framed, or written, between 1787 and 89). But hey, don't worry too much about the dates. Just think of the Articles of Confederation as Friendster and the Constitution as Facebook. One followed the other…and found a bit more success. So why did this prototype United States only last a few years? Under the Articles of Confederation, the States were basically allowed to do whatever they wanted, except wage war or make alliances with other countries. The new national government didn't have much meat on its bones—it lacked a Supreme Court, a President, and an agency to collect taxes. In fact, the whole tax-collection method was basically the honor system: states were supposed to send money to the national Congress on their own time. That's kind of like letting someone grade their own test.Maybe they'll do it…or maybe they'll just give themselves an A and move on. Anyway, under the Articles of Confederation the recently liberated colonies didn't exactly thrive. The new national Congress couldn't pay off debts from the Revolutionary War, which meant it couldn't pay the soldiers who risked their lives to fight the British. It had to print money when states didn't send in their taxes, causing inflation. The national currency, the "Continental," became worthless. (Source) America couldn't even make trade agreements with other nations, because there was always the possibility that individual states might break the rules and back out of them. The result? The economy stunk like week-old unrefrigerated fish fingers, and veteran soldiers started to rebel against state governments, looking for their paychecks and a better deal. People were even afraid that Britain or some other European country might try to sneak back in and re-conquer the feeble new nation. (Source) Most historians consider the era of the Articles of Confederation as a kind of temporary lull in the history of the American government. After some rough and tumble years, this seed of the real 'Murica eventually grew up into something bigger and better. And that, Shmoopers, is why people don't usually shoot off fireworks on November 15th (although, frankly, there's no bad day of the year for a fireworks display).
