American History- Unit 2, Section 6.5 Articles of Confederation (revisited) and Shays’ Rebellion

Americans Debate Republicanism Colonies Become States During the American Revolution, Colonies were united by revolutionary sentiment and the thirst for independence What happened after the American Revolution?

They returned to old patters of thought: People’s allegiance was to the state in which they lived Partially explains why they were reluctant to unite under a strong central government The challenge became- how to develop a government that balanced state and federal interests

Unity Through a Republic 18th Century Americans favored a Republic over a “pure” Democracy Republican form of government The people are the sovereign- which means? The power comes from the people The people them select others to represent them (representatives)

The Continental Congress Debates Representation by Population or by State? In the Confederation Congress states were equal as political entities, even though they were unequal in size, wealth, and population This caused serious questions to arise Should delegates to the new government represent the people or the states? Should the number of representatives be determined by population?

Supreme Power: Can it be Divided Congress knew it did not want a strong central government Their apprehension to place too much power in one person’s hands reflects the experiences the colonies had under a monarchy

The Articles attempted to balance the issue Confederation Congress’ response to this question (can supreme power be divided) The Articles of Confederation The Articles attempted to balance the issue State governments limited the power of the national Congress States had supreme power in most issues The national government was supreme in others

Articles of Confederation Overview Written in 1777 by John Dickinson, a Penn. Statesman Accepted by Congress in 1781 and is considered the first national constitution

Weaknesses Congress had no power to raise taxes Biggest factor that caused the failure of the Articles Congress had no power regulate foreign or state trade Laws had to be approved by 9 out of 13 states Congress did not have the power to enforce laws

Weaknesses Cont’d Political Economic Because people’s allegiance was predominantly to the state, each state pursued its own political and economic interests rather than the nation’s Economic Lacking the power to tax, the Congress has to ask states to impose taxes to help repay the war debt to foreign countries The request failed

Tax Issues Bring Foreign Relations Problems Since states were not paying the government, the government could not repay it debts to British merchants, or the Spanish Lead to British refusing to evacuate its military forts on the Great Lakes Spain closing the Mississippi River to American navigation…who did this hurt the most? Western farmers who needed to ship their crops out through New Orleans

Strengths The Treaty of Paris 1783 was signed The Northwest Ordinance was past Congress had the power to declare war and peace, print money, make treaties and settle state disputes

Strengths Cont’d Settling Western Land The Land Ordinance of 1785, stated that land in the west was to be surveyed using a grid system to establish 6 mile blocks The Northwest Ordinance assisted in the orderly expansion of the United States, it outlined a plan for applying for statehood to western territories Promised no slavery, education system, freedom of religion, and trial by jury in western lands 5,000 free males who own 50 acres can start gov’t Population of 60,000 could become a state

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory was east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River. The states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin would be formed from this area.

Samuel Adams Said What?! “Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death”

Reasons for Shays’ Rebellion Farmers are required to pay debts in gold, they have no money because they were not paid during the war Wealthy lawmakers invested their money in the war too. And seek to get money from the farmers debts Poor farmers are not represented in the Mass legislature and cannot pass debt relief laws

Shays’ Rebellion Daniel Shays leads group of Revolutionary War veterans on a campaign to… Free debtors from debtors prisons Close courts that hear cases against farmers— prevents more indebted farmers from being sent to debtors prison After 10 months (August 1786- June 1787) Massachusetts militia is called out to stop it

Consequences of Shays’ Rebellion Any doubts that amendments needed to be made to the Articles are removed Prompts national leaders to create a stronger central government Rebellion would not have happened if the central government had more power The central government had sole power to declare war under the articles, however, it had to rely on state militias to supply troops If central government had its own army it could have quelled the rebellion quickly

Mass Governor’s September 2, 1786 Proclamation Condemns Shays’ Rebellion and similar riots as “treasonous” Riot Act- Written by Samuel Adams Passed by Massachusetts legislature fall 1786 Prohibits 12 or more people more meeting and gives the government the power to shoot rioters

What Shays’ Rebellion Reveals Significance The Massachusetts government uses the state militia to suppress a group of people were rebelling against unfair taxes Ironic? In the American Revolution, Massachusetts lead the charge against England’s unfair taxes Less than 5 years after the United States gained independence- the Massachusetts government is doing exactly what they criticized Britain for doing

Does this change how you think about the American Revolution? Were the British taxes that unjust? Or did Americans simply oppose any form of taxation? If the War for Independence was truly fought over the issue of taxation there should have been no Shays’ Rebellion According to revolutionaries, colonists were the only ones who should tax colonists- because only the colonists new what taxes other colonists could reasonably be expected to bear Should have been no Shays’ Rebellion- Americans were the ones taxing Americans so taxes should not have been unjust