Independence? What Now? A Look At America’s First Government

The Articles of Confederation Needed a national government to conduct a war and run a country June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee made two proposals at the Philadelphia Convention: Independence from G. Britain A National govt.

So… The Articles of Confederation (AOC) = our nation’s 1 st constitution Adopted 1777 Final approval in 1781  went into effect

Articles of Confederation & The U.S. Constitution A Double Bubble Map Comparison

Had one branch of government Articles of Confederation

Created a President Constitution

Created a government BOTH

Created a court system Constitution

Gave large and small states equal power Articles of Confederation

Created a Congress BOTH

Created a military BOTH

No officials to ensure laws were carried out Articles of Confederation

Did not have the power to tax Articles of Confederation

Declare war and Sign treaties BOTH

National government could regulate trade C o n s t i t u t i o n

Required unanimous consent of the 13 states A r t i c l e s o f C o n f e d e r a t i o n

Problems of the AOC Congress did not have the power to raise money 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 the states Citizens thought that their property rights were threatened

Shay’s Rebellion 1786: financial trouble, debt, failing businesses, soldiers not being paid Congress could not control the country and people worried Farmers in MA, led by Daniel Shays Began to close down courts where their cases were being heard (farms being taken away) Spread to other cities and states January 1787, Shays led 2,000 rebels to Springfield, MA to raid the federal arsenal for weapons

Why was it Important? The national government had been unable to put down the rebellion People asked: how could the country continue to exist if it could not maintain law and order? Led to the Constitutional Convention Delegates in Philadelphia met “for the sole and express purpose of revising the AOC.”