Essential QuestionEssential Question:

–What were the long-term problems with the Articles of Confederation?

Warm-Up Question:Warm-Up Question:

–Now that the Americans have won the Revolutionary War, what major decisions must now be answered?

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation

When Americans declared independence in 1776, they needed to form a new government:

–They wanted to form a republicrepublic where citizens vote for elected leaders to represent them

–They wanted to protect citizens & individual states from a powerful national government

A pure democracy would put too much power in the hands of the “uneducated mob”

The American republic would

be a more “enlightened” version of the

Roman Senate

Thirteen Independent StatesWhen independence was declared, the 13 colonies

became independent states

Each state had its own constitution, legislature, & an elected governor;

8 states had Bills of Rights

But, the USA needed a national gov’t to do things

that states could not, like sign treaties & form a military

The Articles of Confederation

America’s 1st national gov’t was the Articles

of Confederation (1777-1789)

This “confederation” style gov’t loosely connected the states under a weak national government

Government Structure Government Structure

Each state could send between 2-7 representatives to the national congress,

but each state had only 1 vote

To pass a law, 9 of the 13 states had to agree

Government Powers Government Powers

The national congress could make laws, settle disputes between states, negotiate treaties,

handle Indian affairs, oversee a military

But all other powers were left up to the states

Government Powers Government Powers

Americans did not want to re-create a powerful gov’t like the one they just fought the Revolutionary War to break away from

So, the national gov’t had no president & could not tax the states or citizens

Successes of the Articles of Confederation

The United States, 1783Areas of Settlement, 1783

The Articles established a good system of settling

western lands

Western Land

Claims

Ceded by the States

First, states had cede (give up) their claims to lands in the west to the

national gov’t

Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 to create an orderly way to divide the west into

townships & farms

Selling western lands was the only way the national gov’t

could generate money since it did not have the power to tax

Land Ordinance of 1785Section 16 of the each township was set aside for a public school

The Northwest OrdinanceThe Northwest Ordinance of 1787Northwest Ordinance of 1787

gave government to the territories:

–When a territory had 5,000 residents, it could create a self-governing legislature

–When a territory had 60,000 residents, it could apply to become a U.S. state

–Slavery was outlawed in the NW

Essential QuestionEssential Question:

–What were the long-term problems with the Articles of Confederation?

Warm-Up Question:Warm-Up Question:

–Why did U.S. leaders create such a weak national gov’t when they made the Articles of Confederation?

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Activity

The Weaknesses of the ArticlesThe Articles of Confederation was

America’s 1st form of gov’t:

–The weakness the national gov’t was originally seen as good because it eliminated tyranny

–Later, these same weaknesses kept the gov’t from solving serious national problems

Economic ProblemsThe inability of the government to

collect taxes led to problems:

–America could not pay off debts from the Revolutionary War

–Property foreclosures led an uprising among Massachusetts farmers called Shays’ RebellionShays’ Rebellion in 1787 but the gov’t could not pay for an army to stop it

U.S. Trade with Britain, 1783-1789

Debt

Shay’s Rebellion in western

MassachusettsPoor farmers in

western MA were angered over high taxes & prospect of debtors jail

Daniel Shays led an uprising & closed debt courts & threatened a federal arsenal

Shays’ Rebellion proved to be thethe convincing event that led to the

Constitutional Convention of 1787

America’s First National Government: The Articles of Confederation

Weaknesses of the ArticlesAfter Shays’ Rebellion, people like

Hamilton & Madison began calling

for a stronger national gov’tIn 1787, delegates met in

Philadelphia to discuss ways to improve the Articles

Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the delegates replaced it with the Constitution