After the thirteen colonies declared themselves independent from Britain, they needed a government to unite them. That government was described by the Articles of Confederation, written between 1776 and 1777, but only in force after their ratification from 1781 to 1789.

The Articles of Confederation were deliberately weak, since among the things most feared by their writers was the creation of a new King in place of the British King whose shackles they had just thrown off. The Articles thus had no president and no federal court system; consequently, there was no way to resolve problems that arose between the states. The Articles were also inflexible; it required a unanimous vote to amend them.

By 1787, it was clear that a new form of government was needed. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held as leaders from the states met to debate the new form of government. Three major issues arose: representation, slavery, and civil rights. The issue of representation pitted states with large populations against those with small populations.

The issue of slavery pitted southern states with large enslaved populations against northern states with higher numbers of abolitionists and fewer slaves. The issue of representation was solved by the Connecticut Compromise (or “Great Compromise”) which created a House of Representatives with representation for each state proportional to its population and a Senate in which all states had equal representation.

The solution to the issue of slavery was more problematic. Language was included in the Constitution to prevent Congress from outlawing importation of slaves until 1808, and stating that slaves would be counted as population for the purposes of representation and taxation at 3/5ths the value of the white population (the “Three-fifths Compromise”).

The issue of civil rights pitted those who wanted a strong central government (Federalists) against those who wanted strong guarantees of state and individual rights (Anti-Federalists). The Anti-Federalists agreed to ratify the constitution if guarantees of state and individual rights were added to the Constitution. These became the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (the Bill of Rights).

From 1812 to 1815, the British and the United States fought the War of 1812, over issues of international trade and sovereignty. The Treaty of Ghent (1814) essentially affirmed the status quo of the relationship between the United States and Britain.

In Latin America, revolutions had not led to the establishment of democracies. Instead, in many countries, military dictators called caudillos had taken power. Caudillos varied in their ideologies. Some were liberal and enjoyed the support of the people, while others were conservative and were supported by the traditional elites and the Church.

The Mexican leader Santa Anna, who held the presidency 11 times, is an example of a caudillo. Under Santa Anna, there was an attempt to centralize power. A consequence of this effort was the rebellion of American colonists in the northern Mexican province of Texas. This rebellion led to the creation of a short-lived country: the Lone Star Republic (1836-1845).

Mexico, however, did not recognize Texan independence. When Texas was admitted into the United States in 1845, this provoked the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The conclusion of the war was marked by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United States gained control over the northern half of Mexico which became the American Southwest.

In Canada, rebellions against the British took place in 1837-1838. In both Upper and Lower Canada, part of the reason for the rebellion was a desire to break the power of the colonies’ ruling oligarchies. Both rebellions were defeated, but the British appointed John George Lambton, 1st earl of Durham, to investigate the situation. The Durham report recommended the union of Upper and Lower Canada to help them be more competitive with the United States, and in 1841 the two Canadas were united.

There were still other colonies in British North America, however (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), and it was not until 1867 that these were joined together with Canada as the Dominion of Canada by means of the British North America Act or Constitution Act (1867). This was a major step toward independence and self-government on the part of Canada.