Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive

Independence brings problems

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Description Like the young lad who decided to leave home to start out on his own, the Young USA found that independence brought problems of its own, along with responsibilities and many terrifying challenges. First, there was the problem of organizing a central government which could mold thirteen sovereign commonwealths into a truly United States. The Articles of Confederation experiment failed because it denied the Central Government the necessary strength to enforce its laws. Then a fortuitous chain of meetings and discussion ultimately led to the gathering in Philadelphia of May 1787, out of which came the remarkable Constitution. After eleven years the bitterly contested ratification was complete and the first stage of the so-called “critical period” was passed.

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