When the British left the thirteen colonies to their own devices after the Treaty of Paris, the new republic had many problems that went beyond simply recovering from a war.
Political Problems
Most immediate was the need to codify the governmental structure of the new nation. To that end, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the 2nd Continental Congress. Proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia in 1877 -- the same R.H. Lee who had proposed a Declaration of Independence -- it is an under-remembered fact that this was not a sovereign government. It was a confederate congress that had thirteen voting members, with all matters needing to be unanimously supported before they could be adopted. It had no power other than to deal in international relations -- treaties, wars, and the "public domain," or lands taken from the Indians. The true sovereignty lay with the states, each of whom dealt with their own affairs.
Economic Problems
The biggest problem was the shattered economy of the early republic. Deep in debt, the Confederation Congress had no power to tax to raise money to pay the debt. And the debts were many and varied. Foreign debt had been acquired by both the 2nd Continental Congress and individual states; this was money owed primarily to the French, the Dutch, and the Spanish. Most citizens had no problem paying these debts in some way.
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