By the late 1780's many Americans had grown dissatisfied with the Confederation. It was unable to deal effectively with economic problems and weak in the face of Shay's Rebellion. A decade earlier, Americans had deliberately avoided creating a strong national government. Now they reconsidered. In 1787, the nation produced a new constitution and a new, much more powerful government with three independent branches. The government the Constitution produced has survived far more than two centuries as one of the most stable and most successful in the world.
             The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution resembled each other in some cases and differed from each other greatly in other aspects. The Articles of Confederation were a foundation for the Constitution. Sometimes even called the Pre-Constitution. It was really the first step to a strong federal government. However, the Confederation, which existed from 1781 until 1789, was not a big success. It lacked power to deal with interstate issues, to enforce its will on states, and had little stature in the eyes of the world. It was time for a revision, a new perspective, and a radical change in our government system.
             This begins the formation of the Constitution. The main goal of this document was to create a strong, effective central government. Since this was not the goal of the founding fathers, in some ways they had to start from scratch. Many changes were made from the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution laid the foundation for a nation and not a loose association of states. Under the Articles, Congress was not authorized to raise money by taxation. Contrary, the Constitution allowed collection and levy taxes ("the power of the purse"). The Constitution differed by demanded a strong national executive. This executive was elected by an electoral college, based upon population and number of representatives selected by state legisla...