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)

This “confederation” style gov’t loosely connected the states under a weak national government

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 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

Land Ordinance of 1785Section 16 of the each township was set aside for a public school

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

Confederation Government in New York City

The Articles of Confederation was America’s 1st form of gov’t

The weakness 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

U.S. Trade with Britain, 1783-1789

Debt

America could not pay off debts from the Revolutionary

War

Property foreclosures led an 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