Chapter 2, Section 3  What were the Articles of Confederation?  Why were the 1780s a critical period in United States history?  What did America do to create a stronger government in the 1780s?

The Articles of Confederation established “a firm league of friendship” among the States. Chapter 2, Section 3 Powers Congress was given the power to declare war, deal with national finance issues, and settle disputes among the States. Obligations The States promised to obey Congress, and to respect the laws of the other States. Most other powers were retained by each State

 During the Revolution, the new United States needed a functioning government  Modeled after colonial governments  States would retain sovereignty  Founders were fearful of concentrated power due to past experience with the British

 Articles established a “firm league of friendship” among the states  Bills were passed on nine of thirteen votes  Amending the Articles took unanimous consent of the states

 Unicameral (single house) legislative body  Each state had one vote regardless of population size  Congress given sole authority to govern the country  An executive committee oversaw government when Congress was not in session  Congress would establish temporary courts to hear disputes among the states

 Declare war and make peace  Make treaties with foreign countries  Establish an army and navy  Appoint high-ranking military officials  Requisition, print, and borrow money  Establish weights and measures  Hear disputes among the states related to trade or boundaries

 No power to raise funds for an army or navy  No power to tax, impose tariffs, or collect duties  No executive branch to enforce laws  No power to control trade among the states  No power to force states to honor obligations  No power to regulate the value of currency

Chapter 2, Section

 Administered the seven-year war effort  Negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain in 1783  Established the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Map of the land settled in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

 Trade with foreign nations  Financing the nation  Foreign relations  Interstate relations A 1783 cartoon satirizing relations between Britain and America

 Post-war debt owed to U.S. citizens and foreign nations  Printing of Continental Dollars caused inflation  Economic depression due to loss of trade, decreased value of the dollar, and increased state taxes  Potential Remedies › Pass a tax law to raise revenue to pay debt › Force states to stop printing paper money  Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing these solutions

 British passed Navigation Acts to destroy American shipping industry  Spain restricted access to Mississippi River and New Orleans  British troops occupied portions of the NW Territory  Barbary Pirates freely preyed on U.S. shipping  Potential Remedies › Raise an army to force foreign governments to comply with treaty › Raise a navy to protect American merchant ships  Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing these solutions

 States placed trade restrictions on neighboring states  State legislatures were not meeting their financial obligations to the nation or treaty obligations to British citizens  States didn’t honor court decisions regarding territory disputes  Potential Remedies › Pass laws to control interstate trade › Force states to comply with financial and treaty obligations  Weakness in Articles of Confederation preventing these solutions

 Postwar breakdown in social and economic systems made problems worse  Lack of power made the national government ineffective  The creators of the Articles had emphasized state sovereignty, not national unity 1786 American coat of arms

Boston in 1787

Caricatures of Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck, leaders of the rebellion

 Many felt the problems were local and required local solutions  Several leaders saw problems were national in scope  They met at Annapolis to discuss problems of interstate trade  Pushed for a convention to address the weaknesses of the Articles  Congress agreed to call a convention with a mandate to “revise” the Articles

 Representatives from Maryland and Virginia met at Mount Vernon, Virginia, in 1785 to discuss trade issues.  The meeting was so successful that the Virginia General Assembly requested a meeting of all thirteen States, which eventually became the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Chapter 2, Section

1. The government set up by the Articles of Confederation had › (a) the power to make treaties and build a navy. › (b) a bicameral congress. › (c) separation of powers. › (d) a President to carry out its laws. 2. Which of the following was a weakness of the Articles of Confederation? › (a) Congress could not make treaties. › (b) Congress could not borrow money. › (c) The States did not agree to obey the Articles. › (d) Congress could not lay or collect taxes or duties. Chapter 2, Section 3 Want to connect to the Magruder’s link for this section? Click Here!Click Here!

 Who were the Framers of the Constitution?  What were the differences between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan?  What were some of the compromises on which the Constitutional Convention agreed?  What sources did the delegates draw on and how did they react when they completed the Constitution? Chapter 2, Section

The Virginia Plan  Three branches of government  Bicameral legislature  “National Executive” and “National Judiciary” The New Jersey Plan  Unicameral Congress  Equal representation for States of different sizes  More than one federal executive

 The Connecticut Compromise (aka Great Compromise) › Delegates agreed on a bicameral Congress, one segment with equal representation for States, and the other with representation proportionate to the States’ populations.  The Three-Fifths Compromise › The Framers decided to count a slave as three-fifths of a person when determining the population of a State.  The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise › Congress was forbidden from taxing exported goods, and was not allowed to act on the slave trade for 20 years. Chapter 2, Section

Influences  The Framers were familiar with the political writings of their time, such as works by Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke.  They also were seasoned, variously, by the Second Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation and experiences with their own State governments. Chapter 2, Section Reactions When the Constitution was complete, the Framers’ opinions of their work varied. Some were disappointed, like George Mason of Virginia, who opposed the Constitution until his death in Most agreed with Ben Franklin’s thoughts when he said, “From such an assembly [of fallible men] can a perfect production be expected? It…astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does…”

1. The first national government for the United States was › (a) the First Continental Congress. › (b) the Second Continental Congress. › (c) the Articles of Confederation. › (d) the Constitution of the United States. 2. The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia involved delegates from each of the following states except › (a) Maryland. › (b) Rhode Island. › (c) New York. › (d) Virginia. Chapter 2, Section 4 Want to connect to the Magruder’s link for this section? Click Here!Click Here!