The nation had many problems to face during and after the American Revolution, which was fought almost entirely without accepting a written constitution. The product of 5 years of development was the Articles of Confederation, which were accepted in 1781. The Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems of the new nation by dealing with the financial problems, the question of the western land, and most of all they held the thirteen states together as one union at a time when they were becoming more sovereign.

The Articles of Confederation solved the financial problems of the new nation as a result of creating a national currency. The colonial currency that was in use previous to the Articles of Confederation was ultimately worthless and cost more to print than its face value. This eliminated the large problem of states not being able to trade with each other due to...