1. The United States Under the Articles of Confederation
The United States in 1787

2. The Articles of Confederation
Main Idea
In order to carry on the war and build a new nation, Americans had to create a framework of government, but their first attempt had many weaknesses.
Reading Focus
What were some key aspects of the new American republic?
What was the structure of the new national government?
What problems did the Confederation face?
What were the WEAKNESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS of the Articles of Confederation?
What did the government accomplish in the Northwest Territory?

3. State Governments & the American Republic
State Governments Constructed Similarly
State Constitutions
Most had a “bill of rights”
Most states had property rights for voting
Some states had universal white-male suffrage
Many states had state-established religions, while others disestablished religion
Legislative Branch: Legislatures were elected by the people to make laws.
The elected legislatures held more power.
Most state legislatures were bicameral, or made of (2) two houses, a lower and an upper house
Judicial Branch: Independent Judiciary (courts) would interpreted the laws.
Courts established to hear civil & criminal cases
Executive Branch: The governor of the state carried out the laws.
Remembering the powerful royal governors, the states chose to limit the governor’s power, though most governors had a strong veto power.

4. Republicanism in the New Republic
Americans wanted a republic, a political system without a monarch. It would rule “with the consent of the governed,” in which people as a whole are sovereign.
Ideal of republicanism was that property-owning citizens should be independent, expectation that they perform civic duties, as they should be active in government
Rejection of traditional government & society based on aristocracy and inherited power
It stresses liberty & rights as central values and strongly opposed to corruption.
In reality, women, African Americans, Native Americans, and poor white laborers seldom owned property or took part in government.

5. Occupational Composition of Several State Assemblies in the 1780s

6. Republican Motherhood
The Revolutionary War brought a Shift in Women’s Roles.
Managed farms and businesses
Fought in battle or defended their homes
Organized boycotts
Supported war effort
Republican Motherhood
encouraged mothers to raise their sons to be patriotic future leaders and their daughters to be intelligent, patriotic, and competent so they could run households and educate their own children.
Judith Sargent Murray
a contemporary author, maintained that young women should be educated in reasoning, not just household skills.

8. A New National Government: The Articles of Confederation
Established a confederation—an association of independent sovereign states with certain common goals
Formally adopted the Articles of Confederation in November 1777
Powers of the new government
The states retained most of their powers.
Weak national government
Legislative branch, Continental Congress
Each state had only one vote, regardless of population.

9. The Articles of Confederation allowed Congress to…
Establish national policies and conduct foreign relations, including relations with Native American nations
Coin money and set up post offices
Establish an army
Declare war
Nine of the 13 states had to agree on any major law.
All 13 states had to agree to amend the Articles.
The new government’s major problems involved money.
Large war debts
No power to impose or collect taxes
Could not afford an army or navy
Could not repay money it borrowed from foreign governments and from individual Americans during the war

10. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Problems with the States
Congress had very little power over the individual states.
It could not settle disputes between states because there was no national court system.
Problems with Foreign Nations
Because it was so weak, Congress had trouble taking advantage of the territory that the United States had won in the Treaty of Paris.
The British did not leave their forts in the Great Lakes region.
The British and their Native American allies kept American settlers out of the Northwest Territory.
Negotiating with Spain about uses of the Mississippi and port of New Orleans was difficult.

11. The United States Experiences Economic Problems Under the Articles of Confederation
Private citizens and businesses in every state had money problems after the war.
New England’s trade with Britain and the British West Indies was lost. Traders had to pay high customs duties.
The southern economy was hurt without Great Britain’s bonuses to support key colonial industries such as indigo and naval stores.
Paper money that was not backed by gold or silver was issued—led to inflation.
States could levy (raise & collect) taxes.
Some states required taxes be paid in gold or silver.
People who could not pay were jailed.

12. Wholesale Price Index: 1770-1789

13. American Exports, To & From Britain: 1783-1789

15. Disputed Territorial Claims Between Spain & the U. S.: 1783-1796

16. Indian Land Cessions: 1768-1799

17. Settling the West Under the Articles of Confederation
The Northwest Territory
Was a need to organize the settlement of the vast Northwest Territory—present-day Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan
MAP at Right: the United States in 1787

18. Settling the West Under the Articles of Confederation
Western Land Claims
Settling the West Under the Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation did not address the question of the creation of new states nor how they would be admitted to the Union.
States had to give up their western land claims to the central government.
Most states gave up their lands by the early 1790s.

19. Dividing Western Lands & the Land Ordinance of 1785
Western territory was divided into 10 districts.
Dividing Western Lands & the Land Ordinance of 1785
Land Ordinance of 1785
Land would be surveyed and divided into a neat grid of townships, each 6 miles square.
Each township had 36 sections, each 1 mile square.
Government owned four of the sections.
One section would be sold to support public schools.
This same regular grid was used in other territories. It ended many boundary disputes.

20. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Encouraged orderly settlement and the formation of new states, all controlled by law
Promised settlers religious freedom and other civil rights
Did not allow slavery in the Northwest Territory
A single governor was put in charge.
A district could become territory with a population of 5,000 adult males. Then could send a nonvoting representative to Congress
A territory could write a constitution and apply for statehood with a population of 60,000.

22. Annapolis Convention (1786)
12 representatives from 5 states [NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA]
GOAL  address barriers that limited trade and commerce between the states.
Not enough states were represented to make any real progress.
Sent a report to the Congress to call a meeting of all the states to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to examine areas broader than just trade and commerce.
If NOTHING was accomplished, then what was the SIGNIFICANCE of the Annapolis Convention?

23. Shays’s Rebellion Pointed Out Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation
Daniel Shays led Massachusetts farmers in a revolt over high taxes and heavy debt in August 1786.

24. What was the significance of Shays’ Rebellion?
What Weakness of the Articles of Confederation did Shays’s Rebellion Expose?
Outcome of Shays’ Rebellion:
Shays’s Rebellion was peacefully put down by state troops in January 1787.
Tried to force the shutdown of the Supreme Court in Massachusetts
No one’s property could be taken to pay off debts if the court was closed.
Many citizens agreed with the rebels and their cause.
State officials freed most of the rebels.
What was the significance of Shays’ Rebellion?

26. Shays’ Rebellion:
There could be no stronger evidence of the want of energy in our governments than these disorders.
—George Washington

27. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
A unicameral Congress, which took 9 of 13 votes to pass a law
Required 13 out of 13 votes to amend the Articles
Representatives were frequently absent
Congress had little power (example: it did not have the power to tax nor could it raise armies)
No executive or judicial branches
No system of checks & balances
Most power held by the states

28. Achievements of the Articles of Confederation
Congress negotiated the Treaty of Paris with the British to bring a formal end to the Revoltionary War.
States ceded (gave up) land to the Federal Government in order to create new states
The Land Ordinance of 1785 & the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided a way in which new states could be admitted into the Union
Congress set up departments of Foreign Affairs, War, Marine, & the Treasury

29. Many Americans Called for Changes in the National Government
Shays’s Rebellion showed the weaknesses of the Confederation government, which could not respond to Massachusetts’s call for help.
People saw that the ideals of liberty were not protected.
People called for a stronger central government that could protect the nation in times of crisis.
The Virginia legislature called for a national conference to change the Articles of Confederation.
The Annapolis Convention held in September 1786 failed to act.
The Constitutional Convention was called in May 1787 in Philadelphia to revise the Articles.

30. Resources Slide Resource 1
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31. Resources Slide Resource 19
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Articles of Confederation document 29