Do Now  Brainstorm what type of government you would want to put in place in 1776  Imagine you’re from that time  Strong or weak government?  Democracy? Monarchy? Oligarchy?  Who gets to vote? What powers should the states have?

Main Ideas  Fear of monarchy and tyranny  Limit central government  Emphasis on state sovereignty  Unicameral Legislature (One House Congress)  Each state gets 1 vote  Written in 1777, ratified in 1781  Was used even before ratification  Government was needed to fight Revolutionary War

 Needed 9 out of 13 states to pass a bill (Supermajority)  Unanimous vote to change the Articles  “firm league of friendship” among states

Strengths  Treaty of Paris 1863 signed  Had the power to declare war and peace  Print money (not standard throughout colonies)  Make treaties  Settle state disputes  (no way to enforce them)

How should the US add more states?  Once again, think about how new states should be added to the United States.  Should they be added?  What are the requirements?  Slave or free?  Make existing states bigger?

Western Lands  Land Ordinance of 1785  Land in west set up into 6 mile blocks

Northwest Ordinance  How could a territory become a state?  5,000 males  Own 50 acres  Can start a government  Population of 60,000 could become a state  Promised  No slavery  Education  Freedom of religion  Trial by jury

What was the Northwest?

Weaknesses  Congress couldn’t collect taxes  Depended on states  Couldn’t pay war debts  Couldn’t pay Continental soldiers  Congress couldn’t regulate foreign or state trade  Could print money but so could the states  No common currency: trade down in federal, state and foreign money  Merchants were able to decided which currency they’d accept

 Laws needed a supermajority (9 out of 13 states) to pass  Hard to get  No court system  Could establish military – but was not allowed to raise money  States acted as countries  Looked out for their own best interests  Congress could not enforce laws  One vote per state gave smaller states more power

Shays’ Rebellion  Western Massachusetts  Economic depression  Daniel Shays – Revolutionary War veteran  Farmers must pay debt in gold  Not paid during war  Farmers are poor  Don’t own land, rent land  No say in Massachusetts legislature

Acts of Rebellion  Farmers free debtors from prison  Close courts that are hearing cases against farmers  Mass militia called to stop

Legacy of Shays’  Maybe the United States needs a stronger central government?  If you were a politician at the time, what would your reaction to Shays’ Rebellion be?  Think, write,  Discuss as a class

Reactions to Shay’s  Sam Adams  “ 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 ”  Riot Laws – prohibits more than 12 people from gathering  Gives government power to shoot rioters  Same guy from Boston Massacre?

 Thomas Jefferson  "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government. God forbid that we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion."

 George Washington  “if three years ago any person had told me that at this day, I should see such a formidable rebellion against the laws & constitutions of our own making as now appears I should have thought him a bedlamite - a fit subject for a mad house.” He wrote that if the government “shrinks, or is unable to enforce its laws... anarchy & confusion must prevail.”

Issues that had to be addressed after Revolutionary War  Shay’s Rebellion  Trade with foreign countries  Foreign relations  Countries that had been established and had allies for hundreds of years, America was brand new  Relationship between states  Competition  No central government to enforce anything