In February 1787, the Confederation Congress endorsed a convention for the "sole and express purpose" of revising the Articles. Delegates who assembled at Philadelphia in May soon moved beyond isolated amendments. Fiscal dependence, trade conflict, diplomatic weakness, limited administration, the absence of a general national judiciary, and the unanimous amendment rule interacted with one another. Adding a commerce power without revenue or enforcement would leave other failures in place. The delegates' decision to draft a new framework reflected a judgment that the implementation chain itself needed redesign. It did not mean that every delegate agreed on what the replacement should contain.

The Constitution's major provisions can be read as answers to specific weaknesses. Article I empowered Congress to lay and collect federal taxes and to regulate interstate and foreign commerce. Article II created a separate presidency charged with executing national law. Article III established a federal judiciary, while Article VI made the Constitution, valid federal laws, and treaties supreme over conflicting state law. Article V replaced unanimous amendment with demanding but usable proposal and ratification rules. Article VII provided that ratification by conventions in nine states would establish the Constitution among the ratifying states rather than requiring all thirteen legislatures to approve an amendment to the Articles.

Replacement remained controversial because national capacity and limited government pull in opposite directions. Federalists argued that responsibilities without adequate powers produced paralysis. Anti-Federalists later warned that the proposed remedies could endanger liberty and state authority. The Constitution therefore did more than enlarge national power: it divided that power among branches, retained the states, enumerated federal powers, and subjected government to legal limits. The correct historical conclusion is not that centralization was obviously good. It is that repeated failures convinced enough political leaders and ratifying voters that the old structure could not reliably meet national responsibilities, while the debate shifted to how stronger power could be controlled.

Video lesson: The ARTICLES of CONFEDERATION, Explained [AP Government Foundational Documents]