In May 1787, the democratic government that had emerged from the American Revolution was only eight years old. But already, it threatened to crumble. And although the Articles of Confederation had organized the 13 states into a loose union, the Articles proved inadequate to the task of effectively governing that union. At the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Hamilton proposed a new government to solve these issues. Study Hamilton's role in the creation of the U.S. Constitution in an article from American Experience: "The Duel."