Under the Articles of Confederation the American colonistsfought and defeated Great Britain and gained independence. By theend of the "Confederation era," Congress had created a bureaucracyto administer the day-to-day affairs of the government. The issueover the western lands was solved under the Articles. The largestates holding vast amounts of western land ceded the land to thegovernment under the Articles so that all the states could share inthe wealth of those lands. The Northwest Ordinances were passedthat provided for the creation of equal, self governing states inthe Northwest Territories and the newly created states would havethe same rights and privileges as the original 13 states. Congressalso provided for a survey of the western lands to prepare the landfor sale to all. Under the Articles, the states were held togetheruntil a new government under the Constitution was created. The newnation began to emerge as one respecting the ideas that had causedthe Revolutionary War in the first place.