Georgia Constitution of 1777 & The Articles of Confederation

SS8H4 The student will describe the impact of events that led to the ratification of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

SS8H4 a Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both the Georgia Constitution of 1777 and the Articles of Confederation and explain how weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation led to a need to revise the articles.

Essential Question: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the Georgia Constitution of 1777?

Georgia Constitution of 1777 Georgia had already had a set of “rules and regulations” to govern GA at the start of the Revolutionary War On Feb. 15, 1777, Georgia adopted a new state constitution

Under the New GA Constitution: Three branches of government are created: Legislative: Makes the laws Executive: Enforces the laws Judicial: Interprets the laws

The legislative branch had the most power of all three branches Unicameral System (one-house) They could enact laws and appoint officials to the judicial and executive branches

Georgia’s Governor Power was limited due to the bad experience with Georgia’s royal governors The new governor was elected by the legislature and only spent a year in office (one year term) The governor had power in name only The legislature had all the power Veto and grant pardons

County Setup The constitution setup 8 counties: Burke, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Richmond, Wilkes, and Liberty (DO NOT COPY) Each county had its own officials, courthouse, schools, and militia

WEAKNESSES OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION

Most power was given to a Unicameral (One-house) Legislature… WEAKNESS: Allowed legislature to control government, including appointing officials. No safeguards against quickly-passed laws that are not in everyone’s best interest. 11

Legislature elected the governor, his 12 man executive council, and other state officials… WEAKNESS: Again, legislature has complete control over who is in office, allowing them to control all aspects of government.

WEAKNESS: Governor served a one-year term… Governor had very little power – did not have time to get anything done while in office, and did not have power to accomplish anything.

A New National Government The Articles of Confederation Formally adopted in November 1777 Established a confederation—an association of independent sovereign states with certain common goals The states retained most of their powers. Weak national government Legislative branch  Continental Congress Each state had only one vote, regardless of population.

Strengths of the New National Government The Articles of Confederation allowed Congress to: Establish national policies and conduct foreign relations, including relations with Native American nations Coin money and set up post offices Establish an army Declare war

Weaknesses of the New National Government Problems with the Articles: Congress had not have any money and it did not have the power to raise money from the states Congress had no power over the state governments or their citizens Congress could not make the states live up to trade agreements with other nations Congress had no power to regulate trade among states

What did both documents have in common? They both were created to set up a new kind of government They both explained how this new kind of government would work They both had a uni-cameral (one house) legislature They both gave most of the power to the legislative branch They both created a weak form of government for fear that the new government would grow too powerful and would abuse its power like King George III / Great Britain did. 17