The delegates to the constitutional convention decided to

The Articles of Confederation was America's first constitution used after gaining independence from Great Britain. Considering that America separated from the British due to a tyrannical central government, the delegates who created America's first constitution wanted to ensure that the new US government would not end up the same way. This is why the Articles of Confederation gave state governments significant power and the federal government almost no power.

For example, the federal government could not tax, coin a common currency, or effectively raise an army. These were just some of many problems the new constitution caused within American society. To fix this document, delegates met at the Constitutional Convention. However, after much debate, the delegates realized that the Articles of Confederation could not be fixed and instead they needed to start with a completely new document. This new document, our current US Constitution, would be greatly shaped by debates over the size and scope of the federal government. This would see the beginning of political factions within the US as the federalists and anti federalists debated how much power the federal government should truly possess.