Articles of Confederation: Our first attempt at that thing called government

Introduction The first government created by the founding fathers was not based on our current Constitution but was the Articles of Confederation: Articles of Confederation: The first independent government in America that eventually failed

Introduction The Articles of Confederation loosely tied the 13 independent states together More of a treaty than a real government Delegates at the convention were afraid of giving too much power to the National government Why would they fear a strong national government? Because they were fighting a war against a King who abused his power and didn’t allow colonies a say in government The Articles allowed the States to have more power than the National government

Powers given to the National Government Declare war Conduct foreign policy Settle disputes between states Manage relations with the Native Americans One Branch: Legislative (No President or Supreme Court)

Problems with the Articles of Confederation Congress had no power to tax There was no consistent currency between states Congress had to ask states to send troops in times of need Congress had no power to enforce treaties Congress needed an unanimous (100%) vote to change the Articles Each state, regardless of population, had one vote States could nullify (reject) Congress’ laws There was no executive branch to enforce laws and see that they are carried out

Activity Think, pair, share With a partner at your table start looking at the activity sheet with the parts of the Articles of Confederation Try to figure out why those might cause a problem for the National Government

The Northwest Ordinance Northwest Ordinance: Set up a system for dividing up public land and creating new states States: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin When a territory’s population reaches 60,000 then they can become a state Significance: Banned Slavery in these areas of the United States

Shays Rebellion: The End of the Articles of Confederation Massachusetts started collecting war debts by seizing people’s land Daniel Shays lead a rebellion of poor farmers against the Massachusetts government Massachusetts asked Congress for help, but there was no army and no states wanted to send troops Massachusetts, one of the most powerful states, is almost taken over by angry farmers Significance: Shays Rebellion showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation Forces America to make changes to its government

Conclusion The states needed to fix the errors in government after Shay’s rebellion This fix: Create a stronger national government The articles were so broken, they had to start over. Their next attempt created our modern constitution. Articles: Lasted 12 years Constitution: 228 years and counting