The states now faced serious and complicated questions about how to make their rules. What did it mean to replace royal authority with institutions based on popular rule? How was "popular sovereignty" (the idea that the people were the highest authority) to be institutionalized in the new state governments? For that matter, who were "the people"?

While the state constitutions were being created, the Continental Congress continued to meet as a general political body. Despite being the central government, it was a loose confederation and most significant power was held by the individual states. By 1777 members of Congress realized that they should have some clearly written rules for how they were organized. As a result the Articles of Confederation were drafted and passed by the Congress in November.

The central failure of the Congress was related to its limited fiscal power. Because it could not impose taxes on the states, the national government's authority and effectiveness was severely limited. Given this major encumbrance, the accomplishments of the Congress were quite impressive. First of all, it raised the Continental Army, kept it in the field, and managed to finance the war effort.

The economic problems faced by the Congress deeply touched the lives of most Americans in the 1780s. The war had disrupted much of the American economy. On the high seas the British navy had great superiority and destroyed most American ships, crippling the flow of trade. On land, where both armies regularly stole from local farms in order to find food, farmers suffered tremendously.

Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center in conversation with Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute. Created by Aspen Institute.

The 1780s has often been termed the "critical period" for the new nation. The dangers posed by economic crisis and the disillusionment that came with the collapse of Revolutionary expectations for dramatically improved conditions combined to make the decade a period of discontent, reconsideration, and, in the end, a dramatic new proposal for redirecting the nation. Just as the Revolution had been born of diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives, even among the Patriots, so too, ideas about the future of the United States in the 1780s were often cast in dramatic opposition to one another.

The crisis of the 1780s was most intense in the rural and relatively newly settled areas of central and western Massachusetts. Many farmers in this area suffered from high debt as they tried to start new farms. Unlike many other state legislatures in the 1780s, the Massachusetts government didn't respond to the economic crisis by passing pro-debtor laws (like forgiving debt and printing more paper money). As a result local sheriffs seized many farms and some farmers who couldn't pay their debts were put in prison.

At the same time that Shays' Rebellion attempted to force the government to take a new course of action in response to hard times, another group of Americans gathered to consider a very different vision for the future of the republic. The group was especially concerned about economic policy and the way that competing state policies often worked at cross-purposes. Responding to such concerns, the Virginia legislature called for a convention to meet in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786 to discuss commercial matters. Only twelve delegates came from five states, but they agreed to meet again the next year in Philadelphia.

In spite of the common vision and status that linked most of the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention, no obvious route existed for how to revise the Articles of Confederation to build a stronger central government.

"Representation" remained the core issue for the Philadelphia Convention. What was the best way for authority to be delegated from the people and the states to a strengthened central government?

Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center in conversation with Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute. Created by Aspen Institute.

Changes in voting qualifications and participation, the election of Andrew Jackson, and the formation of the Democratic Party"”due largely to the organizational skills of Martin Van Buren"”all contributed to making the election of 1828 and Jackson's presidency a watershed in the evolution of the American political system.

Our Emancipation Story is a retelling of the events of 1848 on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands which led to the emancipation of the enslaved in the former Danish West Indies. The events are told through four poems by local poet Richard Schrader. The purpose of the project is to integrate local writers into art, history, and literature in our Virgin Islands classrooms. It endeavors to build a VI literary canon and to encourage student wrietrs to add to the writers that came before them. The script was written by Regina Keels and filmed and produced by Douglas Canton.

Presidents Washington ($1), Lincoln ($5), Jackson ($20), and Grant ($50) all appear on currency. But what about this guy Alexander Hamilton on the ten-spot? How did he get there? A sawbuck says you'll know the answer after reading this piece.

By the 1920s, a majority of the US population lived in cities rather than in rural areas. In this video, Kim explores the economic opportunities cities offered to women, migrants, and immigrants, as well as the passage of new immigration restrictions.

In this second video giving an overview of World War II, we see Germany and the Axis powers only continue to gain momentum in 1940.

In this second video giving an overview of World War II, we see Germany and the Axis powers only continue to gain momentum in 1940.

In 1941, the Axis gains further momentum with control of most of Continential Europe. Hitler decides to break pact and invade Stalin's Soviet Union. United States enters World War II after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1941, the Axis gains further momentum with control of most of Continential Europe. Hitler decides to break pact and invade Stalin's Soviet Union. United States enters World War II after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1942 we see the Axis get pushed back in North Africa and get bogged down in the Soviet Union. The tide of war turns in favor of the Allies.