"The Republican Experiment 1783–1789,"

As the newly independent United States entered the 1780s, individual states seemed intent on looking out for local interests rather than the national welfare as illustrated through the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1777. This document was meant to create a viable central government. Many people, however, regarded this new government as powerless. By 1785, American leaders like George Washington and James Madison concluded that national independence had not yielded the results they had fought for during the Revolution. They worried about property rights and the depressed state of the economy and determined that the United States needed a strong central government to address these challenges. This led to the writing and ratification of the United States Constitution in 1787. After reading Chapter 6, "The Republican Experiment 1783–1789," consider the various political and economic policies of the U.S. government as well as foreign and domestic issues within the context of the ten-year time period between the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1777 and the ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Analyze the extent that the United States Constitution represented a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation, which had been the previous plan of government. Write an essay in which you address to what extent the United States Constitution was a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation. Address political and economic policies of the new government under the Constitution as well as specific domestic and foreign issues that took place during the decade between the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1777 and the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1787 to support your answer.