Transcript 1 Articles of Confederation

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Learning Target & GPS:
– What were the long-term problems with
the Articles of Confederation?
– SSUSH5A
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 Type in your name
 Answer this question:
–Now that the Americans won the
Revolutionary War & are a free and
independent country, what
questions are still left to be
answered?
When Americans declared
independence in 1776,
they needed to form
a new government
They wanted to form
a republic where citizens
vote for elected leaders
to represent them
They wanted to
protect citizens &
individual states
from a powerful
national
government
King George III
The American
republic would be a
more “enlightened”
version of the
Roman Senate
When 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
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
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
Confederation
had to agree
Government in
New York City
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
Americans did not want to re-create
a powerful gov’t like the one they
just fought the Revolutionary War
to break away from
Confederation
Government in
New York City
So, the national
gov’t had
no president &
could not tax the
states or citizens
Western
Land
Claims,
1783
Western
Lands,
1783
The lands between
the Appalachian
Mountains &
Mississippi River
that were acquired
from the British in
1783 were claimed
by numerous states.
Many of these land
claims overlap.
How should we solve
this problem?
Areas
of Settlement,
The
United
States,1783
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
SectionLand
16 ofOrdinance
the each township
of 1785
was set aside for a public school
The
Northwest
Ordinance
of
1787
Northwest
Ordinance
of
1787
gave government to the territories
When a
territory had
5,000 residents,
it could create
a self-governing
legislature
Slavery was outlawed in the NW
When a
territory
had 60,000
residents,
it could apply
to become a
U.S. state
Think About It

The Articles of Confederation
were created intentionally weak
– What powers does the
national government
have?
– What powers do the
individual state
governments have?
– What problems do
you predict will occur
because of these
political weaknesses?
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 Why
did the early American
leaders develop a national
government as weak as the
Articles of Confederation?
The Articles of Confederation
The
weakness
the
was America’s 1st form of gov’t national gov’t was
originally seen as
Later, these same weaknesses
kept the gov’t from solving
Confederation good because it
Government ineliminated tyranny
serious national problems
New York City
Weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation
Activity
The inability of the government
to collect taxes led to problems
Confederation
Government in
New York City
U.S. Trade with Britain, 1783-1789
America could not
pay off debts from
the Revolutionary War
Debt
Shays’ Rebellion
proved to be the
convincing event that
led to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787
Property foreclosures
led an uprising among
Massachusetts farmers
called Shays’ Rebellion
in 1787 but the
gov’t could not pay
for an army to stop it
Poor 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
AfterAmerica’s
Shays’ Rebellion,
peopleGovernment:
like Hamilton &
First National
Madison began
calling for
a stronger national gov’t
The Articles
of Confederation
In 1787, delegates
Instead of revising the
met in Philadelphia to Articles of Confederation,
discuss ways to
the delegates replaced it
improve the Articles
with the Constitution
Closure Activity
 Review each of the following rebellions by
explaining the cause & the impact of each
rebellion:
– Stono Rebellion
– Bacon’s Rebellion
– Shays’ Rebellion
 Rank order these events from most
important to least important