Transcript The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Why did the Founding Fathers
Choose a Confederation plan of
government?
The first system of government
designed by the Founding Fathers was
Why Did the Founding
Fathers
a Confederation.
Under a Confederate
believe
the
to be
system,
theArticles
Nationalneeded
or Central
replaced by
the US
Constitution?
Government
is given
only
a few powers,
while most of the power is reserved for
the States.
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
The Articles had 2 major
achievements:
1)Bringing the Revolutionary War
to a successful conclusion
2) Northwest Ordinance (plan for
governing the western lands)
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
Declare War &
Establish an
Army/Navy
No Power to
Draft Soldiers
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
Make Peace &
Sign Treaties
No Power to
Enforce Treaties
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
Borrow Money
No Power to
Collect Taxes
from the States
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
Organize a
Post Office
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
No Chief Executive
No national court system
No Power to Regulate
Interstate Commerce
No National Currency
Difficult to Pass laws
(2/3 vote)
The Articles of Confederation
America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Congress was given
the power to:
Difficult to
Amend
(unanimous vote
needed to change the
articles)
The Articles of Confederation
• Congress given the •
•
power to:
•
• Declare War
•
• Make Peace
•
• Sign Treaties
•
• Borrow Money
• Establish an Army & •
•
Navy
•
• Organize a Post
•
Office
No Chief Executive
No National Court System
No Power to Draft Soldiers
No Power to Control Interstate
Commerce
No Power to Enforce Treaties
No Power to Collect Taxes from
the States
Difficult to Pass Laws (2/3 vote)
No National Currency
Difficult to Amend
(Unanimous Vote Needed to
Change Articles)
Conclusion
Why did the Founding Fathers
Choose a Confederation plan
of government?
They feared that a strong central
government would create tyranny,
and stamp out the peoples natural
God given rights.
Conclusion
Why Did the Founding Fathers
believe the Articles needed to be
replaced by the US Constitution?
The nation needed to function as
ONE united country & not 13
small unorganized nations.
Shay’s Rebellion proved the need
to strengthen the government.
Weak Government = Problems!
Here's an explanation of how the
weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation led to Shays' Rebellion,
which led to the creation of the
Constitution.
Daniel Shays
• Captain in the
Revolutionary War
• Retired from the army
• Wanted to be a farmer
in Massachusetts
Uh oh...no money!
• Remember! The Congress didn't have the
power to tax states...they could only ask
for money!
• The states said no!
• So Congress couldn't pay its bills!
• So they printed more money!
• So they caused inflation and made money
worth less!
How can you be a farmer if you
have no money?
Get a loan from the bank!
Plant your seeds!
When your crops are
grown, harvest
them, sell them, and
pay your loan back!
Uh oh...problems!
What if the
bank wants
its money
back NOW?
But your
crops
haven't
grown
yet?
THE REPO MAN COMES!
The bank repossesses the farms and kicks
the former soldiers out of their homes!
Why didn't they have any
money?
•Inflation!
The money they did have
was worthless.
•Taxes!
The state of Massachusetts had
placed high taxes that hit the farmers very
hard.
Who cares about having a farm
anyway?
• Without property, you can't
feed your family!
• Without property, you can't
vote!
• Without property, you can't
make money!
• Without making money, you
get thrown into debtor's prison!
Give me my house!
• Daniel Shays and the
farmers pick up their
guns and go to the
state courthouse to
stop them from
foreclosing on their
homes.
• AND IT WORKED!!!
So they kept doing it...
And made the people in the government
afraid!
The government made new
laws that were meant to
punish Shays and his
followers.
The Congress can't help
Since the Articles of Confederation did not
give Congress the power to raise a
standing army, the federal government
could not help stop the rebellion.
The Climax
The state of Massachusetts sets up an army.
Shays and his followers try to take over a
federal arsenal to get more guns so that
they could fight the army.
Shays and his men lost the battle.
Some of them got the death penalty
for having participated in the rebellion.
To the Constitution...
• The failure of the federal government to
solve the problem of Shays' Rebellion
made people understand that the Articles
of Confederation had made the
government too weak.
• A Constitutional Convention was called to
solve the problem.
How the Constitution
addressed the problems of the
Articles of Confederation
Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
Weakness
Solution
 No power to tax
Article I sec 8
 No national executive
Article II
Congress has power
Presidential power
 Unicameral legislature
 No judicial/national
court
Article I
Bicameral legislature
Article III
National Courts
Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
Weaknesses
 No regulation of commerce
Solutions
Article I sec 8
foreign & interstate commerce
 No power to maintain army
Article I sec 8
 Government dominated by
Article VI
states
 Need 9/13 to pass a law &
unanimous consent to
amend
army & navy
Constitution & Federal
Govt are supreme
Articles I & V
I = majority for laws
V = 2/3 & ¾ to ammend