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The State of the Union
By 1787, the United States was a country in name only. Crippled by an ineffective central government, it was little more than a loose affiliation of independent states. Each steered its own course, raised its own money, and paid little attention to Congress.
The fragile state of the Union left it vulnerable to rising debt, internal strife, and foreign invasion. With the country in danger of folding, Congress called a meeting of state delegates to address the problem. The resulting Constitutional Convention helped pull the country back together. |