We fought the war under a treaty between the states called the Articles of Confederation. But this system has real flaws, as we now see clearly.

Under the Articles, Congress has no power to collect its own taxes or enforce its own laws. It can’t even make the states live up to our treaty with Britain.

Several states have been meeting in Annapolis to discuss trade issues. But they’ve concluded that we can’t solve our trade problems until we fix “important defects” in the whole system.