The young nation, barely three years old, was dying. Ten years after the Declaration of Independence, America was struggling to hold itself together. The Articles of Confederation, designed during the Revolution, demolished even the inkling of monarchy by forcing the national government to abide by the whim of the states. During the Revolutionary War the states held together out of necessity, but after the war, the states became hostile to their neighbors. It quickly became evident that a serious crisis has settled upon the United States. Something had to be done to save the country from the downward spiral. Men such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin came together to write their solution: the United State Constitution.