1. The Articles of Confederation

2. The New States
I’m A New Yorker!
Each former colony had established its own type of governing body
Ex. the House of Burgesses in Virginia
Residents of new states felt an allegiance to that particular state and NOT to the nation as a whole
I’m a Georgian!

3. How can we create balance and not have another tyrant king?
The New States
The states had united during the Revolution under a common goal
Once the war was over, they were reluctant to unite under a strong central government
They didn’t want to trade one king for another!
The new national government needed to balance the interests of all of the states and those of the new nation
All States
New Nation

4. Creating a New Government
We no smart
Feared a true democracy where every person has a say in government
Afraid it would give too much power to the uneducated masses
Only wealthy Americans could afford to receive an education
Our government thinks since we don’t have an education we won’t be able to properly choose members of our government

5. Americans Unify Through a Republic
Leaders favored a Republic where citizens rule through their elected representatives
Elected
Representatives
Ordinary
Citizens

6. State Constitutions There were many similarities and differences between each state constitution
Limited power of government leaders (didn’t want a king!)
Guaranteed specific rights for citizens (freedom of speech, religion, the press)
Overall, they focused on liberty rather than equality and showed a fear of central authority
The right to vote
African Americans and women couldn’t vote
Some states allowed all white males to vote
Others still required voters to own property

7. The Continental Congress Debates
While the states made their constitutions, the Continental Congress attempted to create a constitution for the entire nation
They faced three issues:
How should each state be represented in the national government?
How should power be distributed?
Who should get the land west of the Appalachians?

8. How should each state be represented in the national government?
The states were all unequal in size, wealth, and population
Should delegates represent people or states?
Should each state elect the same number of representatives regardless of population?
Should states with larger populations have more representatives than states with smaller populations?
Decision: each state would have one vote regardless of population

9. How should power be distributed?
The Continental Congress proposed a new type of government- a confederation (an alliance of states) called the:
Articles of Confederation
Two levels of government that shared important powers: the state governments and the national congress

10. The Articles of Confederation: What could the national government do?
Declare war
Make peace
Sign treaties
Borrow Money
Create a postal service
Deal with Native Americans
No executive department to enforce the laws passed by Congress
No court system to interpret the meaning of the laws

11. Who should get the land west of the Appalachians?
Some states claimed land west of the Appalachian Mountains, while others had not
Maryland didn’t have any land claims and feared that states with land claims would eventually expand and overpower smaller states
States gave up their western claims and Maryland approved the Articles of Confederation in March 1781

12. The plan to divide and sell the land
The Land Ordinance of 1785
The plan for the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains
The land was surveyed and divided up
Surveyors drew geographic maps
Put grids on maps to create plots of land to sell
The Government sold each of these plots of land
Minimum of one dollar per acre
Made the Federal government a lot of money
The plan to divide and sell the land

13. Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Many people took advantage of Land Ordinance and townships quickly began to form
Population increased & townships wanted to become states
The NW Ordinance outlined procedures for a territory to eventually become a state

14. The Land Ordinance and Northwest Ordinance were the only good things the Federal government under the Articles was able to accomplish

15. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
The Confederation proved itself useless in certain economic, political, and foreign policy issues

16. The country lacked national unity
Each of the 13 states functioned independently
Focused on their own interests and not the interests of the country as a whole

17. Each state only had one vote
Confederation did not recognize differences in population
Georgia- population of 23,000 was equal to
Massachusetts- population of 235,000

18. The Articles could not be
Amended unless every
State agreed
Just one state could stall the amendment process Changes in government were hard to achieve because the states rarely all agreed

19. needed to agree to pass a law
9 out of 13 states
needed to agree to pass a law
Each state had different priorities, needs, and wants
Rarely agreed

20. No Executive branch
to enforce the laws

21. No judicial branch or national court system to settle legal
disputes

22. Congress couldn’t collect taxes
Needed money to pay off war debts ($190 million!)
Asked the states if they could tax imported goods, Rhode Island says no, so the amendment was not passed

23. Why were the Articles of Confederation so weak?
AoC writers disliked…
So under the AoC…
What was the Problem?
Taxation without representation
The federal government could not tax
Very difficult to raise money
A large central government that had absolute power
States didn’t have to follow federal laws and treaties
Federal government had no assurance that individual states would follow them
Having to follow British legislation
States had their own laws and didn’t have to follow other states’ laws
Made it difficult for the country to act in a united way
Lots of power was in the king’s hands
No executive branch or national court system
Government could not defend its borders or enforce its laws
The king could change laws at any time
Any amendment required all 13 states’ approval
Very difficult to modify

24. Causes of Shay’s Rebellion
Massachusetts farmers (like Daniel Shay) returned home from fighting in the Revolution
Once home, they faced high taxes that they couldn’t afford
Many began to lose their farms or were on the verge of losing them
They organized to revolt against high taxes and losing their farms

25. Shay’s Rebellion
Shay and his army of farmers marched to the state’s arsenal
State officials sent troops to stop the uprising and fighting broke out
Massachusetts asked the Federal government for assistance, but they federal government had no power to help under the Articles

26. Shay’s Rebellion Caused panic in all the states
All states had imposed heavy taxes to recover from debt
National government had no power to help the states
This rebellion showed how weak the Federal government was under the Articles and proved that it was time to make changes to the Federal government
“What a triumph of our enemies… to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves.”
– G. Washington