III. Articles of Confederation
A. Articles Articles of Confederation – First governmental system in the U.S. adopted in 1781 Confederation – A loose association of states Intended to create a “league of friendship”
Primary Source - Articles of Confederation, Article II, 1781
B. Government Under the Articles Each state acted like its own separate country Weak central government – Results from memory of British government Unicameral – One house branch called Congress
Each state was given one vote regardless of population Rhode Island – 2% of pop. Virginia – 19% of pop. No executive branch No judicial branch
C. Problems Following Revolutionary War Thousands of dollars of personal property had been destroyed Foreign trade was slowed Most urgent problem was raising money to pay back huge war debts
D. Weakness of Articles Laws were hard to pass – needed a super majority (9 of 13 states) Almost impossible to amend Articles – needed all 13 states – Major flaw Congress could not tax people – had to beg for money 1785 – Asked states for 12 million and received 9 million 1786 – Forced to sell entire navy to raise money
No power to regulate trade No power to raise an army 1786 – Less than 1000 soldiers in uniform No power to coin money No executive branch made it impossible to enforce laws No judicial branch made it impossible to settle disputes
E. Shays’s Rebellion Daniel Shays – Revolutionary War hero leads 1200 Massachusetts farmers to a courthouse Farmers with pitchforks take over courthouse Federal government couldn’t end crisis for 3 months – Militia finally ends rebellion Caused Americans to agree to a stronger government - Wake up call for Americans
Shays’s Rebellion
F. Confederation Fails Main Success – Established a new government States refused to give federal government any power People from different states did not feel connected to each other
Unable to pay back huge war debt Annapolis Convention (1786) – Leaders (Alexander Hamilton) who favored a stronger government persuaded Congress to call a convention to revise the Articles “Something has to be done” – Alexander Hamilton