Creation of the articles of confederation and the beginning of American nationhood

The main issue of the article is the development of American nationhood and history of creation of the Articles of Confederation. The main goal is to show that the ideas, which underlie the Articles of Confederation, existed well in advance of proclamation of the Independence. The author emphasizes the objective laws of formation of the Union of American states on confederative principles. She foreswears traditional negative estimation of the period under the Articles of Confederation. Although the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1777 and ratified in 1781, discussions about the necessity of creation of States Union and unified law had been beginning well in advance of the proclamation of the independence. The first plan of the Colonial Union appeared at the end of the 17th century. During the colonial period, plans of the Union were mainly concentrated on the problem of mutual defense from external menace. Beginning of the Revolution showed the necessity of the Union on permanent basis and for decision both external and internal problems. It is very important to emphasize that many revolutionists of the American War of Independence supported the idea of the Union, which would be based on confederative basis. According to this idea, the central government didn’t get a wide range of authority and was significantly restricted, meanwhile rights of states’ legislatures were considerably extended. Such situation can be explained by the fact that Americans were afraid that the creation of strong central power would contradict ideas of the American Revolution. Besides, it is very important to take into consideration the differences that existed between American colonies in economic, political and cultural spheres. Rebellious Americans had not felt themselves as something unified during the colonial era that is why the process of integration in Revolutionary and post-revolutionary periods was so difficult.