America operated under the Articles of Confederation until the Constitution was ratified 1788(?).
After the Revolution, Captain Daniel Shays found himself in debt and threatened with debtors prison. He led a revolt against tax collectors in western Massachuesetts, but this was quickly put down, although it created quite a scare for the new nations wealthy elites...the whole incident showed up the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. The end result was the Constitution and a stronger central government.