A New National Government

In some ways, winning the war for independence was the easy part of the American Revolution. The harder part for Americans was learning to govern themselves. They had fought for liberty, but what did "liberty" really mean? How much liberty — and for whom? They had fought for independence from a strong central government, but maintaining their independence might require building another strong central government in its place. In this chapter, you'll read about these debates, the development of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the role North Carolinians played in that process.

Section Contents

• The First National Government: The Articles of Confederation
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Constitutional Convention
• The Constitution of the United States
• Debating the Federal Constitution
• North Carolina Demands a Declaration of Rights
• The Bill of Rights