Articles of Confederation WALT Identify and Explain Democracy’s Basic Principles. WASI Create a visual representation of the positive and negative aspects of the Articles of Confederation. Create a slogan and advertisement for Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Why did the Founders think a new constitution was needed? Lesson 10 Pages 40-44 We the People

Independence is declared in 1776 The Continental Congress formed a committee to write a plan of government for the country. The result: Articles of Confederation. Our 1st Constitution

The Creation of the Articles of Confederation The Founders had to deal with a number of difficult questions when it came to writing a new constitution for the United States. A fear of giving up too much power to a central government. A fear that some states might have so much power in the national government that they could dominate the others.

Articles of Confederation Founders created a weak national government. Each state had one vote no matter how large its population. The legislature (Confederation Congress) had only one house. There was no executive branch.

Articles of Confederation The states kept most of the power. Every action taken by Congress had to be with the consent of cooperation of the states. 9 of the 13 states had to approve any decision Congress made in order for it to become a law. All 13 states had to agree to any change in the Articles of Confederation.

Achievements Under the Articles of Confederation The national government was responsible for: Successfully waging the war for independence against Great Britain. Negotiating the Treaty of Paris. Providing each state recognized the laws of other states. * Passing the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

The Northwest Ordinance Gave people in the northwestern lands the right to organize their own governments. They could ask to be admitted as new states with the same rights as the original 13 states. This law also provided for public education and forbade slavery. The western settlers were guaranteed freedom of worship, the right to trial by jury, and due process of the law.

Problems under the Articles of Confederation Congress had no money and no power to get it! Voluntary contributions from the state governments. States argued about their fair shares of governmental expenses. Some states even refused to pay what they had agreed to pay. The national government could do NOTHING about this!

Problems under the Articles of Confederation Congress had no power over the state governments and their citizens. If individual citizens or a state government ignored a resolution passed by Congress, there was no way to make them obey.

Problems under the Articles of Confederation Congress could not make the states live up to trade agreements with other nations. Sometimes citizens refused to pay for goods they purchased abroad. This made people in foreign countries unwilling to trade with the United States.

Problems under the Articles of Confederation Congress failed to protect American citizens from unfair discrimination by the states. Americans who had supported the British during the Revolution faced many hardships. States refused to pay for property that had been taken from the Loyalists. Debt owed to Loyalists from before the Revolution were not honored after the war.

Problems under the Articles of Confederation Congress had no power to prevent unfair competition among the states. States taxed goods from other states and trading often became impossible. Business slowed down and people lost their jobs.

We need a change! Because of these problems, people who were being hurt by these actions argued that the state governments were not protecting their property. They believed: All states should have the same money. Legal agreements made in one state should be honored throughout the nation. A strong national government was needed!

Financial distress! Ten years after the Declaration of Independence was written Americans were in trouble! Businesses failed, trade suffered, and many people were in debt. Soldiers that fought in the Revolutionary War had not been paid!

Farmers unite! The state tax in Massachusetts caused many problems for the people. Farm prices were low. Farmers could not pay their debts. Many lost their homes and farms. Farmers were put in prison for not paying the tax. Farmers felt the state was not protecting their interests!

Farmers unite! Farmers began to close down local courts to keep the states from taking their farms. These closures spread into neighboring states.

November 1786 Several hundred angry farmers under the leadership of Daniel Shays. They needed weapons to use in their rebellion. They followed Shays to capture the arsenal at Springfield where arms were kept for the state militia. Shays and his men were defeated.

Shays’ Rebellion Although they were defeated, many people feared that such actions would become widespread. The national government was no help during this rebellion because it had no troops! People began to question how the country could continue to exist if it couldn’t keep law and order!

Annapolis, Maryland In 1786 Virginia invited all the states to send representatives to a meeting. They were going to discuss the problems with trade among states. Only 5 states sent representatives. The members of this meeting asked the Confederation Congress for a convention of all the states to revise the Articles of Confederation. This convention would be called the PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION