In 1607 Jamestown became the first permanent British Colony in North America. Twelve additional colonies were established and the colonists ruled themselves for the next 158 years.
Things changed at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, when the British Parliament began imposing what the colonists considered unjust taxes. In 1764 England was deeply in debt and looked to the colonies to solve their financial problems.
In 1764 the British Parliament passed the Coinage Act which required the colonies to pay their taxes with gold and silver coins. Because the colonies did not have an adequate supply of gold and silver coins, the colonists were forced to borrow the money they needed from the London bankers.
As a result the economy in the colonies deteriorated and in 1776 the Colonists declared their independence. The thirteen colonies formed an alliance to win their independence.
At the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the colonies were recognized as 13 independent sovereign nations. They wrote a Constitution and formed a new union of sovereign states. This Constitution was known as the Articles of Confederation.
They colonists had experienced British tyranny and wanted a government where the rights of the people in each of the states would be secure. They deliberately set up a government where the power was equally shared among the states. They knew that when power was concentrated in an all powerful national government the liberty of the people would be threatened.
In 1787 a convention was held in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation in order to create a more perfect union. The result was the adoption of a proposed Constitution. This Constitution was an attempt to embrace the principles in the Declaration of Independence.
Only six of the 55 men who signed the Declaration of Independence also signed the proposed Constitution. Most of them favored a small central government where the government would be the servant of the people and the states. Those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution were known as the Anti Federalists. Those who wanted a much bigger and stronger central government similar to the one they in Great Britain.
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