1. Independence &
Confederation

2. What do you think?
In your opinion do you think the colonists would have wanted another king after they won the American Revolution?
Which government has more power today, the government of a state like North Carolina, or the national government in Washington, DC?

3. Symbolism of the Rattlesnake
First political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin
13 colonies need to join together to fight and break away from British rule
The first flag ever carried into battle by the United States Marine Corps during the American Revolution.
The timber rattlesnake and eastern diamondback rattlesnake both populate the geographical areas of the original thirteen colonies.

4. What is this political cartoon of 1754 trying to say
What is this political cartoon of 1754 trying to say? What influential document does it go along with?

5. American Revolution
Starts in 1775 with the Battles at Lexington and Concord
“The shot heard round the world”
The war ended with an American victory in October
With the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the United States officially wins independence!
25,000 American soldiers killed

6. Contribution of Women: Contribution of African Americans:
Women boycotted British goods, spied on the British, followed armies as they marched,
Did the washing, cooking, and tending for soldiers, delivering secret messages,
In a few cases like Deborah Samson, fought disguised as men.
Contribution of African Americans:
Free blacks in the North and South fought on both sides of the Revolution, but most fought for the colonial rebels.
Crispus Attucks, who died in a conflict in Boston in 1770, is considered the first martyr of the American Revolution.
Both sides offered freedom and re- settlement to slaves who were willing to fight for them, especially targeting slaves whose owners supported the opposing cause.

7. Independence and Confederation
On June 7, 1776 during the Second Continental Congress the delegates from 9 colonies decided to write a document that would bind the states together.
On Nov. 15, 1777 the Second Continental Congress signed the document called The Articles of Confederation
The Articles created a “perpetual union,” naming it the “United States of America.”
The Articles created a national government with only ONE branch, not like the 3 branches we have today. The branch was called the legislative branch or the Confederation Congress.

8. Under the Articles the Confederation Congress had the following powers:
Wage war
Negotiate treaties
Manage American Indian affairs
Coin money

9. Strengths of the Articles of Confederation
The national government under the Articles (Confederation Congress) successfully negotiated the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary war and recognized the Mississippi River as America’s western border.

10. Strengths of the Articles
The Confederation Congress also solved the problem of how to divide up the land in the Northwest Territory and admit new states
They did this using the:
Northwest Land Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Land Ordinance decided that land in the Northwest Territory would be divided into 10 new states. The national government would sell the land to raise money to pay for the Revolutionary War.
This set a precedent for how USA would expand westward.

11. Northwest Territory: How should we split up our land?

12. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Strangely we mostly remember the Articles of Confederation because it did a bad job running the United States. The Articles did not give the national government enough power because the colonists were scared the government would end up like the British King.

13. Weaknesses of the Articles
The following are all the powers the Articles DID NOT give the national government:
Regulate commerce (business) between states and with other countries.
Collect taxes
Raise an army

14. Weaknesses of the Articles
The Articles gave independent states more power than the national government.
The Articles made it so 9 states had to agree to any act of the Congress, which was the national government.
The Articles gave all the power to ONE branch, the Legislative branch. This branch only had the power to make the laws.
There was NO court system or judicial branch to interpret the laws.
There was NO president or executive branch to enforce the laws

15. Check your understanding
ANSWER: Which was stronger under the Articles of Confederation: the state governments or the national government?______________________
ANSWER: Why is only having one branch of government a problem?

16. The Final Word on the Articles:
The Articles DID NOT give the national government enough power to successfully run the country. This meant the states needed a stronger national government with the ability to unify the country.
The failure of the Articles directly caused the creation of the new, stronger government under the US Constitution.

17. The Articles of Confederation
Strengths
Weaknesses

18. The Articles of Confederation
Strengths
Weaknesses
Powers: coin $, wage war, negotiate treaties, native Americans
Treaty of Paris
-Northwest Land Ordinance=10 new states, divides up land
-COULD NOT: reg. commerce, collect taxes, raise an army
-States had too much power
-Nat’l gov’t too weak
-9 of 13 states had to agree to pass laws
-One branch of gov’t (legislative)

19. Fill in the missing Document:
Declaration of Independence
US Constitution

20. Index card 1
Which of the following was a problem under the Articles of Confederation?
Each state had one vote in the legislature
A President carried out the nation’s laws
A national court system interpreted the nation’s laws
The nation had a strong central government

21. Index card 2
What is the most likely reason it was difficult to pass laws under the Articles of Confederation?
Passage required a unanimous vote of the 13 states
Passage required 9 of the 13 states
The government did not have a legislature
Americans were content to follow the British

22. Index card 3
Which of the following led to conflicts between the states under the Articles?
The powers of the new federal government
The states’ diplomatic alliance with King George III
The states’ control over the national court system
The states’ own individual powers within the new government