Shannon+O.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the general land survey and ownership provisions used throughout later American expansion. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up western land claims and cleared the way for the entry of new states.

The only thing the Articles of Confederation had going for them was that they provided a framework for holding the 13 colonies together after independence. They had no provision for an executive or judicial branch, any individual state could veto anything, there was no power of taxation (the states gave what they felt like), state legislatures elected the Congress--no hint of people voting. Individual states felt free to have their own foreign policy and print their own money. All this is why when the Constitutional Convention met in 1787 and Madison was asked to draft amendments, he simply scrapped the whole thing and started over.

We didn't keep it cause it had no power and replaced it with the Constitution. The articles of confederation served as the ruling document of the United States for a short while, however they did not give the federal government nearly enough power. Since America had just overthrown a tyrannical British government they wanted a very weak federal government and protection from dictators. The American government under these articles was not able to create taxes or money, and there was also civil unrest culminating in an anarchist movement lead by Daniel Shays that was able to take over a town and shut down its courthouse. (The name escapes me as of now)

With the new republic on the verge of collapse, founding fathers James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton created the Federalist Papers, a precursor to the current American Constitution. These papers argued for a more centralized government. However, they were criticized by many for not having a bill of rights. So eventually the Federalist Papers were changed slightly into the American Constitution, and a Bill of Rights was also added