The Articles of Confederation

The New States I’m A New Yorker! Each former colony had established its own type of governing body Ex. the House of Burgesses in Virginia Residents of new states felt an allegiance to that particular state and NOT to the nation as a whole I’m a Georgian!

How can we create balance and not have another tyrant king? The New States The states had united during the Revolution under a common goal Once the war was over, they were reluctant to unite under a strong central government They didn’t want to trade one king for another! The new national government needed to balance the interests of all of the states and those of the new nation All States New Nation

Creating a New Government We no smart Feared a true democracy where every person has a say in government Afraid it would give too much power to the uneducated masses Only wealthy Americans could afford to receive an education Our government thinks since we don’t have an education we won’t be able to properly choose members of our government

Americans Unify Through a Republic Leaders favored a Republic where citizens rule through their elected representatives Elected Representatives Ordinary Citizens

State Constitutions There were many similarities and differences between each state constitution Limited power of government leaders (didn’t want a king!) Guaranteed specific rights for citizens (freedom of speech, religion, the press) Overall, they focused on liberty rather than equality and showed a fear of central authority The right to vote African Americans and women couldn’t vote Some states allowed all white males to vote Others still required voters to own property

The Continental Congress Debates While the states made their constitutions, the Continental Congress attempted to create a constitution for the entire nation They faced three issues: How should each state be represented in the national government? How should power be distributed? Who should get the land west of the Appalachians?

How should each state be represented in the national government? The states were all unequal in size, wealth, and population Should delegates represent people or states? Should each state elect the same number of representatives regardless of population? Should states with larger populations have more representatives than states with smaller populations? Decision: each state would have one vote regardless of population

How should power be distributed? The Continental Congress proposed a new type of government- a confederation (an alliance of states) called the: Articles of Confederation Two levels of government that shared important powers: the state governments and the national congress

The Articles of Confederation: What could the national government do? Declare war Make peace Sign treaties Borrow Money Create a postal service Deal with Native Americans No executive department to enforce the laws passed by Congress No court system to interpret the meaning of the laws

Who should get the land west of the Appalachians? Some states claimed land west of the Appalachian Mountains, while others had not Maryland didn’t have any land claims and feared that states with land claims would eventually expand and overpower smaller states States gave up their western claims and Maryland approved the Articles of Confederation in March 1781

The plan to divide and sell the land The Land Ordinance of 1785 The plan for the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains The land was surveyed and divided up Surveyors drew geographic maps Put grids on maps to create plots of land to sell The Government sold each of these plots of land Minimum of one dollar per acre Made the Federal government a lot of money The plan to divide and sell the land

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Many people took advantage of Land Ordinance and townships quickly began to form Population increased & townships wanted to become states The NW Ordinance outlined procedures for a territory to eventually become a state

The Land Ordinance and Northwest Ordinance were the only good things the Federal government under the Articles was able to accomplish

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation The Confederation proved itself useless in certain economic, political, and foreign policy issues

The country lacked national unity Each of the 13 states functioned independently Focused on their own interests and not the interests of the country as a whole

Each state only had one vote Confederation did not recognize differences in population Georgia- population of 23,000 was equal to Massachusetts- population of 235,000

The Articles could not be Amended unless every State agreed Just one state could stall the amendment process Changes in government were hard to achieve because the states rarely all agreed

needed to agree to pass a law 9 out of 13 states needed to agree to pass a law Each state had different priorities, needs, and wants Rarely agreed

No Executive branch to enforce the laws

No judicial branch or national court system to settle legal disputes

Congress couldn’t collect taxes Needed money to pay off war debts ($190 million!) Asked the states if they could tax imported goods, Rhode Island says no, so the amendment was not passed

Why were the Articles of Confederation so weak? AoC writers disliked… So under the AoC… What was the Problem? Taxation without representation The federal government could not tax Very difficult to raise money A large central government that had absolute power States didn’t have to follow federal laws and treaties Federal government had no assurance that individual states would follow them Having to follow British legislation States had their own laws and didn’t have to follow other states’ laws Made it difficult for the country to act in a united way Lots of power was in the king’s hands No executive branch or national court system Government could not defend its borders or enforce its laws The king could change laws at any time Any amendment required all 13 states’ approval Very difficult to modify

Causes of Shay’s Rebellion Massachusetts farmers (like Daniel Shay) returned home from fighting in the Revolution Once home, they faced high taxes that they couldn’t afford Many began to lose their farms or were on the verge of losing them They organized to revolt against high taxes and losing their farms

Shay’s Rebellion Shay and his army of farmers marched to the state’s arsenal State officials sent troops to stop the uprising and fighting broke out Massachusetts asked the Federal government for assistance, but they federal government had no power to help under the Articles

Shay’s Rebellion Caused panic in all the states All states had imposed heavy taxes to recover from debt National government had no power to help the states This rebellion showed how weak the Federal government was under the Articles and proved that it was time to make changes to the Federal government “What a triumph of our enemies… to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves.” – G. Washington