What was America like prior to the establishment of the constitution?

Answer 1

Hell

Answer 2

Well. First there was no real government. Christopher Columbus landed near the "New World" and eventually the Spanish discovered St. Augustine, Florida.

Then the Spanish ran some indians off and declared parts of Florida their territory.

The French took parts of Louisiana and the midwest up to the Great Lakes.

The English had taken what were then later called the 13 colonies of New York (formerly New Amsterdam as it was taken from the Dutch), Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania (also taken from the Dutch), Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Then the colonists who began to hate the English, decided to cecede from England and declared their independence on July 4, 1776. Then a major war happened between the English and the Colonists. The English wanted to keep the colonies as part of Great Britain and the Colonists wanted their own country.

That was called the War of Independence or the Revolutionary War.

After the war was over, the colonies formed what was then known as a confederation of sovereign states governed by a compact called the Artices of Confederation.

That confederation concept failed miserably because there was no central government. States taxed other states so goods couldn't move in commerce, and citizens of each state used different money and barter was difficult. And then, to top it all off, there was Shay's Revolution which proved that 13 independent states could not react to one tiny revolution.

So, to settle all of these problems, including interestate taxation, relations between the states, and so forth, the colonies got together and formed a constitutional convention which eventually led to the adoption of the United States Constitution and later on the Bill of Rights.

The end.

Answer 3

Each State was independent, wood burning stoves were important, soldiers had to hunt for food, there was no electricity, there were no weapons of mass destruction other than the kegs of black powder.
The weapons in those days required powder to be poured into the barrel, then a wad of cloth before the shot. There weren't and weapons that were automatic. Most of the fighting was hand to hand. The guns weren't very accurate because they weren't rifled.

Each state had their own Militias, which later became the National Guard. The people grew their own food on farms.
The local governments were made up of local citizens of the same area. There were a lot less people also.

The only form of transportation were horses, carrages &/or sleds during the winter and boats. You had to take care of yourself as well as your animals.

It was a harder life in some respects such as feeding your family. The nails that were used to build the cabins had to be made by blacksmiths or imported from England.

On the other hand it was also a simplier life in some respects. When you finished your chores your time was yours to do with as you pleased.

No government interference unless you caused it. Nothing like now where you can be picked up and taken to Guantanamo because you said something right that someone else didn't like.

You went to bed at night and got up at sunrise. I put a link below to the wikipedia about the American Revolutionary War. There are organizations that get together and meet on occasions that are into reenactments of days gone by.

Answer 4

After the arrival of the European settlers, America was a colony for people from several European nations. The states functioned as a colony for England for almost 100 years. The colonies had a revolted against England in 1776, and our present government was shaped. The books Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis, and 1776 by David McCullough are both excellent resources.
Here is a link to an interesting web site: http://www.jocolibrary.org/index.asp?DisplayPageID=786

Answer 5

well first there was the articles of conferderation which was a constitution that didn't work out so well, and before that the colonies were ruled by Great Britan. un between we really had seperate governments in each state/colony and they dealt with everything by themselves. The reason for that is because the new 13 states didn't want to have a great king, and they didnt' want a large centeral government ruling over them becuase it would be the same as it was with Great Britan. you know what I mean? that's why we are a strong and famous. we have had a lasting consitutuion for over 200 years. Not many to no countries have gone that far without seriously altering their constitutoin. For the country itself, people were getting tired of taxes from England and they were ready to start a new government, but it took them many months to start clean. we did drive out indians and we did cut down trees, and we didn't really know how to adapt to such a raw landscape, since the indians had barely touched it.

Answer 6

prior to the constitution, america was in shambles. the articles of confederation was ruling the land and it was not a stong document. america had no way to tax people and had no way of enforcing treaties with other countries. the british were still occupying land and the americans had no power to get them off of the land. also, there was no standing army. if you look at events such as shay's rebellion we can see the weakness of the country. there was no army to put down the rebellion. also there was no money for the country. it was a really weak and powerless country.

Answer 7

between the revolution and the ratification of the constitution, the US operated under a very loose federation. In essence the "national" government had no power to do anything. This led to a lot of chaos.

Each state had its own currency. One state's currency was essentially worthless in another. In some cases, it was cheaper to get currency and paper the walls than to buy wallpaper.

Some states imposed huge tariffs on goods being "imported" from other states. They also charged tariffs for the goods to just be shipped through the state to another state.

some of the states were ready to go to war with each other...

Answer 8

England

Answer 9

Before or after independence? That's a complicated question, but if you're specifically referring to the legal system the US had in place after the Revolution, then refer to the Articles of Confederation.

Answer 10

Extremely chaotic and very rustic.

By that I mean that each colony had its own currency and trade laws, so trying to ship your blacksmith goods from Virginia to New York would have been difficult.

Only a small minority of people lived in cities at that time.

Answer 11

Like a British colony.