Here is an actor playing George Washington in a show at the National Archives. He is talking about the Articles of Confederation.

"In my mind, it prolonged the war by several years. Every time I needed men or money to prosecute the war, I had to go to 13 sovereign heads of state, hat in hand. Even now, under peacetime conditions, we are like a giant with 13 heads, tottering towards a cliff."

Alexander Hamilton was a young lawyer who served as an aide to General Washington during the revolution. Hamilton called for a convention of the 13 states to create a new central government. He expressed his opinion in letters, speeches and newspaper articles.

Finally, there was James Madison. He was one of the authors of the state constitution in Virginia in 1776. When Madison, Hamilton and Washington looked at the Articles of Confederation, they saw an unhappy picture.

There were thirteen governments that each tried to help themselves at the expense of the others. Each state had its own army. Nine states had their own navy. The states had these forces to protect themselves – from each other.

For example, Virginia passed a law which said it could seize ships that did not pay taxes to the state. Virginia did not mean ships from Great Britain or Spain. It meant ships from other states, like Maryland and Pennsylvania.

“Basically, the thought was, we need a military defense structure, we need a modest army and a navy, we need to regulate trade with Europe, and individual states in a loose confederation won’t do the job.”