You have framed a question about the complex history of the 1780s from your interpretation of secondary and primary sources that discuss or represent events from the 1640s to the 1770s. The first step would be to "zoom in" on the period you are actually trying to learn about. So you should first gain a synoptic view of that time by consulting secondary works specific to the period and the question, from which you can then follow references, to both more specialized secondary and primary sources. A good place to start would be Richard M. Morris, The Forging of the Union, 1781-1789 (1987).