The Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation

The Declaration of Independence Written to King George III of England Written mostly by Thomas Jefferson Declared that power of government should come from the governed (democracy) Purpose of government is to protect human rights-the basic rights to which all people are entitled

King George III of England Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Declaration of Independence All Americans are equal under the law. Every person has an equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. One of the greatest documents in our country’s history

Declaration of Independence

The Articles of Confederation Adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 and approved in 1781 Revolutionary war ended in 1783 Confederation is a loose association or states It created a “firm league of friendship” among the 13 states

The Articles of Confederation Each state had equal powers and were mostly independent of other states Central government had very little power National government had a congress of made up of one representative from each state It took 9 out of 13 votes to pass a law Left sovereignty (absolute power) with the states

Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation Weaknesses Had to get 9 states to agree No president or king to enforce the laws No court system to interpret the laws Congress could not tax so they had no money to pay U.S. debts or soldiers who fought in Revolutionary War

Problems caused by Articles Each state saw itself as an independent state rather than as part of United States States had limited contact with each other so couldn’t find common ground Their boundary and trade arguments between states National government didn’t have the power to stop these arguments The United States appeared weak to other countries

Exit Slip On a sheet of paper. Respond to the prompts and turn in… 1. Tell something you learned about the Declaration of Independence 2. What were 2 reasons the Articles of Confederation did not work?