W ARM - UP : Scenario: It is July 5, The United States has just declared its independence from Great Britain. A national government needs to be set up quickly. If you were a founding father, how would you set up this new national government? Would the national government have more or less power than the state governments, why? Would you include a strong national leader? A Congress (representatives from each state)? A court system? Taxes?

What are the Articles of Confederation?

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : ● Written from ● Adopted 1777; Ratified (approved) 1781 ● First document that governed our nation ● Limited national government ● Scared of strong central government. Why? ● Gave states most of the power

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION Unicameral: One house legislature Each state gets 1 vote. ● Is that fair? Needed 9 of 13 states to approve a law. ● There was no specific meeting place. Congress didn’t know when and where to meet. They rarely had 9 delegates needed to pass a law. Needed 13 of 13 states to amend the Articles of Confederation. ● Is it difficult to reach a unanimous decision?

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : M AJOR W EAKNESSES 1.No Chief Executive (President) to enforce laws passed by Congress 2. No national court system ● To interpret laws

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : M AJOR W EAKNESSES No national currency (each state had its own money) No power to collect taxes

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : M AJOR W EAKNESSES Very weak military ● No Draft ● No way to pay soldiers Commerce ● No control of Interstate Commerce ● What is “commerce”? An interchange of goods (trade), especially on a large scale between different countries or between different parts of the same country

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : M AJOR A CCOMPLISHMENTS Negotiated Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War ● The Treaty of Paris was signed on Sept. 3, 1783 Fun Fact: Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay (representing the United States) and David Hartley (a member of the British Parliament representing the British Monarch, King George III).

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION : M AJOR A CCOMPLISHMENTS Passage of Northwest Ordinance (1787) Created the Northwest Territory Established that the country would expand westward across North America with the admission of new states

A RTICLES OF C ONFEDERATION What letter grade would you give the founding fathers for the Articles of Confederation? Why?

S HAYS ’ R EBELLION The country sank into a recession. Poor farmers were hit hard by the recession. (Remember – the government had no way to regulate commerce and currency.) Their discontent turned violent in January 1787.

S HAYS ’ R EBELLION Massachusetts farmer named Daniel Shays led 1,200 followers in a protest of new taxes. The national government could not stop Shays’ Rebellion. It was eventually put down by the state militia. The rebellion emphasized the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. ● Why?

S HAY ’ S R EBELLION

A FTER S HAYS ’ R EBELLION Need for a stronger government Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia: started May 25, 1787 “for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.” The Constitution of the United States is created at this convention.