1. A Quick Glance at the Articles of Confederation
Using the hand as a memory guide to the
Articles of Confederation

2. Your pinkie finger is your weakest finger
Your pinkie finger is your weakest finger. Color it pink to represent the “Weak Central Government.”

3. Your ring finger has the gold ring on it. Color it gold for “No Money

4. The middle finger divides the hand in half
The middle finger divides the hand in half. Use this one to remember the boundary and border disputes between the new states.

5. The pointer finger points out blame
The pointer finger points out blame. Color it red to stand for the “States blaming each other.”

6. Color your thumb blue to show that the new nation had “No respect from other countries.”

7. Articles of Confederation
Pinkie = Weak central government
Gold ring finger = No money
Green = Boundary and border disputes
Red = States blaming each other
Blue = No respect from other countries
Articles of Confederation

8. Articles of Confederation
pinkie = weak central government
no executive branch
couldn’t enforce national laws
all 13 states had to agree to make changes
gold ring finger = no money
couldn’t levy (raise) taxes
green middle finger = boundary and border disputes
western land claims – some states tried to get more land
red pointer finger = states blaming each other
no federal court system
couldn’t keep states from issuing paper money
blue thumb = no respect from other countries
couldn’t regulate trade

9. Now draw your fist on your paper.

10. Color the fist grey for gunpowder
Color the fist grey for gunpowder. The fist represents Shay’s Rebellion, the challenge to the new government.

11. The wrist is solid. Let it represent something that worked about the Articles of Confederation—the Northwest Ordinance.

12. Northwest Ordinance

13. Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted July 13, 1787, the Second Continental Congress. Rufus Putnam and Manasseh Cutler, were influential in the drafting of the ordinance, which was passed July 13, It set up a government in the region north of the Ohio River. A territorial governor, a secretary, and three judges were to be appointed by Congress, which would retain control until the population reached 5,000 voting citizens, when an elected legislature would be set up and the territory would obtain a nonvoting representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. When any portion of the territory reached a population of 60,000 or more, it could apply for admission to the Union as a state according to conditions laid down in the ordinance; there were to be not less than three or more than five states created out of the region (five were ultimately created). The ordinance also provided that no one born in the Northwest Territory should be a slave, that no law should ever be passed there that would impair the obligation of contract, that the fundamental rights and religious freedom be observed, and that education be promoted. The ordinance was the most significant achievement of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. It set the form by which subsequent Western territories were created and later admitted into the Union as states and marked the beginning of Western expansion of the United States.

14. Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted July 13, 1787, by the Second Continental Congress.
the Union would appointed governor, secretary, and three judges to rule when the population of the territory reached "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age.”
a state constitution will be drafted and membership to the Union to be requested when the population reached 60,000.
The ordinance also provided that no one born in the Northwest Territory should be a slave, that no law should ever be passed there that would impair the obligation of contract, that the fundamental rights and religious freedom be observed, and that education be promoted.