U.S. Government Ch. 2: Origins of American Government Lessons 3: The Article of Confederation Lesson 4: Creating the Constitution

Government Under the Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation established a loose union among independent states with only a simple central government. The central government had no court system, no executive, and a unicameral legislature with only the powers named in the Articles. Government Under the Articles of Confederation

Problems in the Confederation Period The new states operated independently, issuing individual currencies and imposing tariffs on one another. The weak national government could not force states to give it money and had to rely on state courts to enforce and interpret national laws.

Lesson 4: Creating the Constitution The Constitutional Convention established a limited and representative government, and divided government powers among three branches.

Agreements and Compromises Virginia Plan: representation based on state population (House of Representatives. The New Jersey Plan: proposed equal representation by state (The Senate) The Connecticut Plan: a two part legislature, one based on population, the other with 2 members from each state.

Disputes Over Slavery Compromises over slavery enabled the delegates to create a new government but did not resolve the issue. Under the Three-Fifths Compromise, three-fifths of the enslaved African Americans were counted for both representation and tax purposes.

Ratifying the Constitution The Federalist Papers were written to defend the new Constitution in the ratification battle in New York. One of the new government’s first actions was approval of the amendments which became known as the Bill of Rights.