America was trying to get its own identity.Under the Articles
of Confederation, the thirteen states in the union enjoyed a high level of independence; each functioned like a country of its own. A very weak federal Congress yoked the states together.Though Congress oversaw the country’s foreign affairs and regulated its currency, its power was severely restricted by the fact that it could not enforce its regulations or consign troops.These powers, like most powers in the union, belonged to the state governments, and for this reason the process of acting as one nation in foreign affairs was slow and arduous.
