Articles of Confederation The First Government of the United States

What happened after the war? ▪ The United States was newly independent and it was a giant baby. ▪ It faced many political and economic difficulties – What does this mean? ▪ The new government that was established was not able to deal with these difficulties ▪ This government was written by the Continental Congress and adopted in 1781 – Articles of Confederation ▪ More power went to the states then to Congress

Economic Problems: Trade ▪ When under British control the United States had a guaranteed market for their goods ▪ Now they have to compete with everyone else ▪ Other nations refuse to make trade agreements with us because Congress lacked the power to enforce the agreements

Economic Problems: Debt ▪ Government is unable to pay it’s debts ▪ To keep the war going, Congress had to borrow money from the Americans and we owed a TON of money to other nations. ▪ Congress can’t levy taxes – so they have no way to get money to pay back their debt ▪ Vicious cycle because other nations have no faith that we will be able to pay them back so they don’t loan us money.

Economic Problems: Territorial Disputes ▪ Control of the American frontier is a huge conflict ▪ Britain kept military posts in the Northwest Territory even though they no longer were owners of the U.S. ▪ Spain thinks they own territory west of Georgia and refuse to let Americans navigate the lower Mississippi River. – Why is this a problem?

Economic Problems: State vs. State ▪ The states don’t know how to get along ▪ Many states claim that their boundaries run west to the Mississippi River – These boundaries start to overlap one another ▪ States disagree on the navigation rights of the rivers ▪ States taxed on each others products and also set up their own taxes on foreign products

Why do the Articles of Confederation work? ▪ Lead people through the last few years of the Revolution ▪ Keeps the 13 states together until they can create a stronger government ▪ Passage of 2 important laws – Ordinance of 1785 – Northwest Ordinance ▪ Ordinance of 1785 – Provided for the sale of public land to settlers ▪ Northwest Ordinance – Set up a plan for governing the Northwest Territory

Why are people unhappy with it? ▪ Many people like the weak government – They just fought a war to get rid of a strong central authority (The King) ▪ But many people want something stronger ▪ Shay’s rebellion makes the need for a stronger central government even more important Shay’s Rebellion ▪ Weak economy means farmers don’t have the money to make their mortgage payments – Fall behind in their payments – Banks then foreclose (get rid of) the farmers property ▪ Daniel Shays organizes farmers who fear this foreclosure and they march on Springfield to seize the weapons there ▪ Common people couldn’t stop them so it increased the want for a stronger national government to help fix these issues

ProvisionWeakness States were organized into loose confederation, with single branch of government; Congress There was no executive to enforce laws and no judiciary to settle disputes Congress could request funds from statesCongress lacked power to tax Congress could request troops from statesCongress had no power to raise an army on it’s own Congress could issue money and regulate weights and measures States could also issue money. Congress could not regulate states domestic and foreign trade Each state had one vote in CongressHeavily populated states were not represented proportionately Any measure required 9 of 13 votes for passage; amending Articles required a unanimous vote Legislation was difficult to pass; amendment was virtually impossible