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• Essential Question:– What were the long-term problems with
the Articles of Confederation?
• CPUSH Agenda for Unit 3.1: – Clicker Preview Questions– Articles of Confederation notes– Today’s HW: Review Notes
When Americans declared independence in 1776, they needed to form
a new government
They wanted to form a republic where citizens vote for elected leaders
to represent them
They wanted to protect citizens & individual states from a powerful
national government
King George III
The American republic would be a more “enlightened”
version of the Roman Senate
When independence was declared, the 13 colonies became independent states
Each state had its own constitution, legislature, & an elected governor;
8 states had Bills of Rights
But, the USA needed a national gov’t to do
things that states could not, like sign treaties
& form a military
America’s 1st national gov’t was the
Articles of Confederation (1777-1789)
Confederation Government in New York City
Each state could send between 2-7 representatives to the national congress, but each state had only 1 voteTo pass a law,
9 of the 13 states had to agree
The national congress could make laws, settle disputes between
states, negotiate treaties, handle Indian affairs, oversee a military
But all other powers were left up to the states
Confederation Government in New York City
Americans did not want to re-create a powerful gov’t like the one they just fought the Revolutionary War
to break away from
So, the national gov’t had
no president & could not tax the states or citizens
Western Lands, 1783Western Land Claims, 1783
The lands between the Appalachian
Mountains & Mississippi River
that were acquired from the British in 1783 were claimed
by numerous states. Many of these land
claims overlap. How should we solve
this problem?
The United States, 1783Areas of Settlement, 1783
The Articles established a good system of
settling western lands
Western Land
Claims Ceded by the States
First, states had to cede (give up) their
claims to lands in the west to the national
gov’t
Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 to create an orderly way
to divide the west into townships & farms
Selling western lands was the only way the national
gov’t could generate money since it did not have the power to tax
Northwest Ordinance of 1787The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 gave government to the territories
When a territory had
5,000 residents, it could create a self-governing
legislature
When a territory
had 60,000 residents,
it could apply to become a
U.S. stateSlavery was outlawed in the NW
Closure Questions The Articles of Confederation
were created intentionally weak– What powers does the
national government have?
– What powers do the individual state governments have?
– What problems do you predict will occur because of these political weaknesses?
• Essential Question:– What were the long-term problems with
the Articles of Confederation?
• CPUSH Agenda for Unit 3.2: – Clicker Questions– Articles of Confederation notes– Today’s HW: 5.2– Unit 3 Test: Monday, September 17
Confederation Government in New York City
The Articles of Confederation was America’s 1st form of gov’t
The weakness of the national gov’t
was originally seen as good because it eliminated tyranny
Later, these same weaknesses kept the gov’t from solving serious national problems
Confederation Government in New York City
The inability of the government to collect taxes led to problems
Could declare war and make peace
Coin and borrow money
Deal with foreign countries and sign
treaties
Strengths of the Articles of Strengths of the Articles of ConfederationConfederation
Operate post offices
Property foreclosures led to uprising among
Massachusetts farmers called Shays’ Rebellion
in 1787 but the gov’t could not pay
for an army to stop it
Poor farmers in western MA were angered over high taxes & prospect
of debtors jail
Daniel Shays led an uprising & closed debt courts & threatened a
federal arsenal
Shays’ Rebellion proved to be the
convincing event that led to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787
America’s First National Government: The Articles of Confederation
After Shays’ Rebellion, people like Hamilton & Madison began calling for a stronger national gov’t
In 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to
discuss ways to improve the Articles
Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the delegates replaced it
with the Constitution
This became known as the Constitutional Convention
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