The end of the American Revolution led to the beginning of a new republic. The United States was a new nation looking forward to the individual rights and freedom that it fought for during the American Revolution.

Click the link below to watch the video about the steps that were taken after America declared its independence.

In this resource, you will learn about some of the domestic issues that faced the new republic. First, review some of the important steps that occurred before the new republic emerged.

• After declaring independence on July 4, 1776, Americans were left with no central government.
• The Continental Congress immediately went to work on a plan for a central government.
• The first attempt at a constitution was the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation was written in the midst of major fighting during the war. Those involved in writing the document reflected on their fear of a strong central government. The result was a document that had no central authority and was too weak to help the new nation face the issues that it initially encountered. The Articles of Confederation was, however, an important step in the United States solidifying itself as a nation. The Articles of Confederation was in force from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789.

On May 14, 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. After days of discussion and debate, a decision was made to draft a new document instead of revising the original Articles of Confederation.This document brought with it the concern of too much central power, the election, and allocation of representatives.

Still concerned about the possibility of a central government violating the rights of its citizens, those debating the adoption of the Constitution decided to add a "bill of rights" that would outline the rights of individual citizens. On September 28, 1789, the first ten amendments of the Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights, were passed by Congress. The amendments were ratified, or added to the Constitution, on December 15, 1791.

The new nation was in need of a leader. The new Congress had one in mind. They unanimously elected George Washington, the former commander of the Continental Army who had shown so much bravery during the American Revolution. Washington accepted his position and was inaugurated on April 30, 1789. Since he was the first President of the United States, he did not have an example to follow. Washington relied on the new Constitution to lead the United States.

In the following sections, you will examine the issues that faced the new nation from 1789 to 1850 and determine how the leaders of the United States worked to solve them.