Before ratifying the Constitution in 1787, the thirteen states were bound by the Articles of Confederation, which authorized the Congress of the Confederation to conduct foreign diplomacy and granted sovereignty to the states. By 1787, both Congress and the states had accumulated considerable debt from the Revolutionary War, but the Articles of Confederation denied Congress the powers of taxation and regulation of foreign and interstate commerce. Alexander Hamilton, along with many other Framers, believed the solution to this and problems of federal law enforcement could be solved with a strong general government.