445 How Independence Happened, Pt 3: The Articles of Confederation

2026-06-30

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The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence. John Dickinson wrote a bold plan, one with a strong central government, religious liberty protections that included women, and a question in the margins about whether Congress should abolish slavery. Congress stripped out nearly all of these ideas and provisions. What replaced it sparked a debate over federal vs. state power that has never gone away. This is the third episode in our How Independence Happened series. In Part 1, we explored Richard Henry Lee's V...

The man Congress chose to draft the United States’ first constitution refused to vote for independence.

John Dickinson wrote a bold plan, one with a strong central government, religious liberty protections that included women, and a question in the margins about whether Congress should abolish slavery. Congress stripped out nearly all of these ideas and provisions. What replaced it sparked a debate over federal vs. state power that has never gone away.

This is the third episode in our How Independence Happened series. In Part 1, we explored Richard Henry Lee's Virginia Resolution of June 7, 1776. In Part 2, we examined the Model Treaty and how the new United States made foreign alliances. In this third part, we're joined by historians Jane Calvert and Jonathan Gienapp so we can investigate the Articles of Confederation, the third element of independence.

Jane's Website | Book
Jonathan's Website | Book
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/445

EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:34 The Articles of Confederation
00:08:29 Why A Confederation Was Important
00:12:49 Why the Second Continental Congress Create A Formal Union
00:21:44 Drafting the Articles of Confederation
00:22:38 John Dickinson's Role in Drafting the Articles
00:45:50 The Founding Generation's Ideas About Government
01:05:40 Viewing the Articles of Confederation in Context
01:13:07 The Unwritten Constitution of the People
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 179: Governance During the Critical Period
🎧 Episode 258: John Dickinson, Life, Religion, & Politics
🎧 Episode 323: American Expansion and the Political Economy of Plunder
🎧 Episode 366: James Wilson & the U.S. Constitution
🎧 Episode 443: How Independence Happened, Pt 1: The Lee Resolution
🎧 Episode 444: How Independence Happened, Pt 2: The Model Treaty
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