CHAPTER 2 SECTION 3 THE CRITICAL PERIOD

WHAT WERE THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION? The Articles set up a national congress with delegates from all 13 states Congress could: make war, borrow money, make treaties, set up a currency There was no: president, system of justice or power to raise money (tax) At first, the Articles seemed great! States had lots of power and Congress’s power was limited Over time, obvious weaknesses arose

WHAT WAS THE CRITICAL PERIOD? War with Britain cost a lot of money Farmers were in debt and soldiers needed to be paid Congress had no way to raise it’s own money Most of the money should have come from the states but Congress had no way to make them pay No money to fund an army or navy States started printing their own money and were fighting over trade

WHY WAS THERE A NEED FOR A STRONGER GOVERNMENT? See Chart on page 34 Because it was obvious the Articles needed to be revised, a meeting was called. Meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention Originally called meeting to fix the Articles though, not write the Constitution