The Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league” among the 13 free and independent states, constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs. Congress drafted and passed the Articles in November 1777 and the states ratified them in 1781. Even when not yet ratified, the Articles provided domestic and international legitimacy for the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with Europe, print money, and deal with territorial issues and relations with Native Americans.
Outcry for a convention to revise the Articles grew louder. Alexander Hamilton was particularly vocal in arguing that a strong central government was necessary to levy taxes, pay back foreign debts, regulate trade, and generally strengthen the United States. He, along with a group of like-minded nationalists, earned President George Washington ‘s endorsement. In May 1786, Continental Congress member Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles. His recommended changes included granting Congress power over foreign and domestic commerce and providing means for it to collect money from state treasuries.
Subsequently, at what came to be known as the Annapolis Convention, in 1786, the few state delegates in attendance endorsed a motion that called for all states to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787 to discuss ways to improve the Articles. This meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention. While its initial aim was to revise the Articles, it would eventually lead to the drafting of an entirely new Constitution.
