<P> On January 21 , 1786 , the Virginia Legislature , following James Madison 's recommendation , invited all the states to send delegates to Annapolis , Maryland to discuss ways to reduce interstate conflict . At what came to be known as the Annapolis Convention , the few state delegates in attendance endorsed a motion that called for all states to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787 to discuss ways to improve the Articles of Confederation in a `` Grand Convention . '' Although the states ' representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were only authorized to amend the Articles , the representatives held secret , closed - door sessions and wrote a new constitution . The new Constitution gave much more power to the central government , but characterization of the result is disputed . The general goal of the authors was to get close to a republic as defined by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment , while trying to address the many difficulties of the interstate relationships . Historian Forrest McDonald , using the ideas of James Madison from Federalist 39 , describes the change this way : </P>
<P> On January 21 , 1786 , the Virginia Legislature , following James Madison 's recommendation , invited all the states to send delegates to Annapolis , Maryland to discuss ways to reduce interstate conflict . At what came to be known as the Annapolis Convention , the few state delegates in attendance endorsed a motion that called for all states to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787 to discuss ways to improve the Articles of Confederation in a `` Grand Convention . '' Although the states ' representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were only authorized to amend the Articles , the representatives held secret , closed - door sessions and wrote a new constitution . The new Constitution gave much more power to the central government , but characterization of the result is disputed . The general goal of the authors was to get close to a republic as defined by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment , while trying to address the many difficulties of the interstate relationships . Historian Forrest McDonald , using the ideas of James Madison from Federalist 39 , describes the change this way : </P>
what group had the most power under the articles of confederation
what group had the most power under the articles of confederation
central government
central government