Articles of Confederation America’s First Form of Government (created during the Revolutionary War) (YELLOW IS KEY!!!)

Thirteen Countries Each colony became a state Each state acted like 13 independent countries. People were loyal to their state, more than they were to the country as a whole.

State Governments Each state had its own government. WITH MORE POWER THAN CONGRESS

States Work Together Each state sent representatives to Congress. Congress helped plan and direct America in the Revolutionary War However, Congress had no power over any state.

Congress Each State = 1 Vote No Executive No Judicial System Citizens of Each State Elects State Gov’t NH MA RI CT NY PA NJ DE MD VA NC SC GA Congress Each State = 1 Vote No Executive No Judicial System

Articles of Confederation An agreement by the states to work together. Formed a weak CENTRAL GOVERNMENT. No judicial branch (no national court system) No executive branch (no president) One-house legislative branch (Congress), with little power.

Why a Weak CENTRAL GOVERNMENT? Parliament and the King were too strong! The colonies had rid themselves of such a government. An executive (president) reminded them of a King, so the states did not want this in their central government.

Problems with the Articles Congress COULD NOT TAX the people. Taxes would have helped the U.S. get out of debt from the war. Each state raised its own taxes = states had more power than Congress Congress could not fix trade problems between states (think about how the British had interfered with colonial trade – taxing the merchants)

Gridlock in Congress To pass a law, 9 of 13 states must agree (that’s almost 70% Today, we require 51% and it’s STILL hard to pass laws!) Very few laws were passed because it was so hard to get the required votes (remember how hard it was to choose music?) To amend (change) the Articles of Confederation, all states must agree.

Land Issues States won lots of new land after the war. Each state claimed some of that land as their own.

Northwest Territory Land owned by the Central Government Land NORTH of the Ohio River and EAST of the Mississippi River OHIO, INDIANA, MICHIGAN, ILLINOIS, MINNESOTA (PART OF IT) AND WISCONSIN

Land Ordinance of 1785 Land in the Northwest Territory was divided into 6x6 square mile plots called Townships. Land in these townships was sold to the people by the Congress. This was a source of INCOME for our U.S. government.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Northwest Ordinance System set up to create new states from the land in the west. When 60,000 people lived in a territory, they could apply to become a state. Protected the rights of the people living in the Northwest Territory Freedom of Religion Right to a Trial by Jury No Slavery allowed in the Northwest Territory

Shay’s Rebellion Farmers in Massachusetts could not afford to pay their state taxes (remember, the national gov’t couldn’t tax, so this was Massachusetts making them pay taxes) The Massachusetts gov’t took the farmers’ land and put them in jail if they couldn’t pay their taxes. Farmer named Daniel Shays lead a rebellion of angry farmers. They tried to capture weapons at the federal arsenal.

Shay’s Rebellion Congress had disbanded the army, so they had no soldiers to send out to try to stop the rebellion. Massachusetts sent out a state militia to stop the rebellion. Showed that the Central Government had no power to prevent violence and unrest within the states. Convinced people that the Articles of Confederation needed to be changed.

Call for Change The Articles of Confederation needed be be changed: Reasons: To fix the problems and create a government that can accomplish something Remember: a law to be passed in Congress required 9 of 13 states to agree and changes to the Articles required ALL 13 states to agree. Congress could not tax the people, so the U.S. had a hard time paying off war debt because they had no way to generate income to get out of debt. Congress could not prevent violence and unrest in the U.S.

STRENGTHS OF THE A OF C WEANESSES OF THE A OF C Power to declare war Organize land in the west Sell off land in the West (Land Ordinance) Rights of citizens in the west Each state had one vote in Congress Borrow money States had its own independence Northwest Ordinance – established a way to expand our country in an orderly way Money was worthless Couldn’t afford to pay for an army Could not tax the people, so did not have money No power to regulate trade Could not enforce laws Could not force citizens to join the army Could not protect its own people Took 9 out of 13 votes to pass laws Took 13 out of 13 to change/amend the A of C