 Background  13 states were starting to write their own constitutions  Congress was drawing up its own blueprint for a national government  In 1776, people felt more loyalty to their own states than to a nation  The states seemed unwilling to turn power over to the national government

 November 15, 1777 – Continental Congress completed and passed the Articles  Proposed that it go into effect after every state had approved it  1781 – All states finally ratify the Articles

 However, there were again land disputes based upon colonial charters  Claims often overlapped  6 States (Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) without western claims argued it should be public land belonging to the national government

 Most states ratified the Articles  Maryland - would not ratify it until all lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River became public land  Virginia – (huge land claims) present-day states of Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin – refused to comply  Too powerful????

 1778 – Virginia (the only state to ratify by the deadline  1781 – Maryland (the last state) ratify the Articles  Articles become the first constitution of the United States  Main author – John Dickinson  Loose alliance of states rather than a strong, central government  Writers feared a strong central government – why????

 Each state had one vote  Powers included:  Declaring war  Raising an army and navy  Making treaties  Borrowing Money  Establishing a postal system  Conducting business with Native Americans and other countries

 National government was much weaker than the state governments  Had no authority over individual citizens and very little control over state governments  Could make laws, but the writers provided no measures to carry out those laws (Articles left it to the states to enforce laws passed by Congress)  Made no provision for a court system (if the states disagreed, they had no place to resolve their differences)

 Every state could send delegates to Congress, but each state (whatever its size) had only one vote  Larger states viewed this as unfair  Congress held powers to war and peace, however, they didn’t have the power to collect taxes……..so……..  No requirement of the states to send money  Known as a “shadow without substance”

 3 – Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation  2 – last two states to ratify the Articles of Confederation  1 – Power of the Articles of Confederation