Episode Details

This week I talk about the first draft in United States Government - the Articles of Confederation.

Banded together in their quest to defeat the British, the colonies established a basic framework to formalize their current power structure. Nervous about centralizing power, the framers were focused on vesting as much authority as possible into the individual states. However, a series of events known as Shays Rebellion helped put into focus just why a centralized government would be needed if the republic was going to remain standing.

Sources Used This Episode:

• The Quartet by Joseph Ellison
• You Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C Davis
• The John Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation by Jane E Calvert, The Panorama (LINK)

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