The United States Constitution overcame the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and provided for the organization of the new government. In the late 1700s British colonies were setting up a new government. They started governing a new nation be writing the Articles of Confederation. Delegates met at the Constitutional Convention to discuss the Constitution. The Constitution was debated because it had no Bill of Rights. Governing a new nation the Constitutional Convention and debating the Constitution was how the US overcame the Articles of Confederation and formed a government. When governing a new nation, the US wrote new state Constitutions, the Articles of Confederation and divided land. Eleven out of thirteen states wrote new state Constitutions. State Constitutions avoided the same problems they had with the British. They limited the power of the central government and the governor. The Articles of Confederation was written in 1777. The states were given power. The Congress could make laws, coin/borrow money, build roads and post offices, deal with foreign nations and declare war. Congress could not regulate trade, collect taxes and enforce laws. The states did not want to give lands to the government. Disputes over land slowed ratification of the Articles of Confederation. The land ordinance of 1785 broke land into six-square mile townships. The land ordinance of 1787 banned slavery and set up a three-step process for state hood. Governing a new nation led to compromises at the Constitutional Convention. The compromise of the constitutional convention caused the Great Compromise, a representative government and the three-fifths compromise. The House of Representatives and Senate were made. The senate had two votes per state. The House of Representatives was based on the state’s population. The compromises satisfied people who supported the Virginia