The tendency in government was plagued by distrust by many officials over how to establish a democratic system where people were granted basic rights. It was a long and tiresome debate on how to create a new government that will unite the people under a fair authority. There have been many setbacks and unsuccessful plans to the process. One issue was dealing with the surplus of goods manufactured before the revolution. British loyalists were demanding a government that best represented their interests based on British rule. Many were skeptical about forming a government quickly in the aftermath of the war. A majority of the colonists had become weary after the long conflict and were eager to establish a government protecting rights.
There has been progress made in the effort to establish a sovereign government and success was achieved in drafting a formal legislation. Politicians discussed drafting the articles of confederation that will serve as the basis for creating a new type of government. The northwest ordinance ordered states to unite into a republic government in an effort to unite them through equality. A major leap toward drafting legislation was the articles of confederation that defined the powers of the government. It was attempt to bring the states together under a common idea until a stronger constitution was created. Without the articles of confederation states would be divided on how to govern each town. The land ordinance was created to sell acreage of land to help pay off the national debt. Before the sale the land had to be surveyed to clear any confusion on acre distance measurement. More importantly the northwest ordinance gave powers to the government on how to rule the colonies equally. One big achievement was that slavery was forbidden by the ordinance except for current present slaves.
Many obstacles stood in the way of forming a government including foreign relations with England. Britain had refused to send a minister to draft a commerce treaty and continued to keep the navigation laws in place. Trade with Britain was cut off including the West Indian trade which was profitable. British lord Sheffield was confident that they would win back trade with America after war. The redcoats had still occupied posts on United States soil in parts of the north east and continued their fur trade. They were supported by Indian tribes vowing to fight Americans in exchange for trade deals. Americans were angered by these actions and demanded that the government impose tariffs on fur exports but it was not willing to create a tariff law. British agents were calculating a plot to take back control of an area of the United States.
Spain was hostile to the republic and controlled most of the lands near the Mississippi river. They had worked with the Indians to prevent American expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains. A rebellion led by Shay’s demanded paper money, taxes and foreclosures on farmers in western Massachusetts. The local authorities quickly made a response to this revolt by raising a small army with contribution from the wealthy citizens. A convention was in the works to debate the articles of confederation. The chairman was George Washington who was elected by an overwhelming majority of the delegates. Many of the delegates were conservative consisting of lawyers, farmers, land surveyors and shipmen. The purpose was to strengthen the nation government through reforms that would improve the republic. Delegates also wanted to preserve the civil liberties of citizens and preserve the life and property from dangerous rebellions. Hardly any of the delegates had decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation.
