445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation

The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence.

John Dickinson wrote a bold plan, one with a strong central government, religious liberty protections that included women, and a question in the margins about whether Congress should abolish slavery. Congress stripped out nearly all of these ideas and provisions. What replaced it sparked a debate over federal vs. state power that has never gone away.

This is the third episode in our How Independence Happened series. In Part 1, we explored Richard Henry Lee's Virginia Resolution of June 7, 1776. In Part 2, we examined the Model Treaty and how the new United States made foreign alliances. In this third part, we're joined by historians Jane Calvert and Jonathan Gienapp so we can investigate the Articles of Confederation, the third element of independence.

Jane's Website | Book

Jonathan's Website | Book

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/445

EPISODE OUTLINE

00:00:00  Introduction

00:03:34 The Articles of Confederation

00:08:29 Why A Confederation Was Important

00:12:49 Why the Second Continental Congress Create A Formal Union

00:21:44 Drafting the Articles of Confederation