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Music Hello and welcome to a history of the United States, Episode 153, The Articles of Confederation.

Stanley Katz opens his 1987 essay, The American Constitution, a revolutionary interpretation,

with an exploration of American mentality around the bicentennial of independence, particularly comparing

1976 with 1987. It certainly makes for an interesting line of thought. The date of American

independence, as enshrined in the public consciousness, is 1776. This is when the Declaration of Independence

was signed, when the founding fathers decided a firm break with Britain would be the only way to

address the problems they had been facing since the close of the Seven Years' War. Yet, if 1776

starts American independence, it doesn't really start American history.

American history, really, begins with the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that established

the framework still governing the United States to this day.

The Constitution offers a sense of stability

and continuity that other revolutionary moments can't provide a starting point. This gives us a

fascinating little interlude of six years between 1783 and 1789, which are so easily overlooked, but which are crucial to the creation of American identity.

This is what we now turn our attention to.

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