The Articles of Confederation

Yes, we had a different form of government before the Constitution

What type of government do you think Americans would want to create after breaking away from Great Britain?

The Big Question What should the relationship be between the

new states and the national government? This proved to be very difficult to define

Back Before/During Revolution Colonies had their own distinct governors,

councils, and colonial assembliesThey thought of these colonies as the primary

political unit (Remember when John Adams referred to

Massachusetts as his “country”?)

RepublicAmericans at this time worried about

establishing a democracy – why do you think this would be?

So they decided to set up a republic – a government in which the citizens rule through elected representatives

Republicanism – idea that the government should be based on the consent of the people

State ConstitutionsEach state created its own constitutionGuaranteed rights: freedom of speech,

religion, and the pressEmphasized liberty rather than equalityReflected fear of centralized government

State ConstitutionsDiffered widelyAfrican Americans generally not allowed to

voteSome states granted voting to all white malesOther states (like Maryland) – property

ownership also a requirement

New Jersey!Women had been denied right to vote in most

statesBut NJ gave voting rights to all free property

owners but neglected to specify males!Some NJ women gained right to vote as a

resultBut in 1807 this right was revoked

Again so the main concernUS didn’t know how to balance concerns of

state and national governmentsThere were no political systems that could

serve as models (unless they wanted to look back to the Roman Empire and Italian city-states of the Renaissance)

What do you think the Continental Congress decided to do?

Delegates had to Answer 3 QuestionsRepresentation by Population or by State?

Does each state receive just 1 vote or should they be given # votes based on population?

Supreme Power: Can it be Divided?Should there be a strong centralized

government or should separate states have more power?

Western Lands: Who Gets Them? What happens to the land west of the

Appalachians?

Representation by Population or State? Members of Continental Congress saw

themselves as representing independent states.

Each state would have one vote regardless of population!This will probably cause problems later down

the line…

Supreme Power: Can it be Divided? Articles of Confederation – new form of govt

Adopted on November 15, 1777Enforced from March 1, 1781 to 1789.

2 levels of government shared fundamental powers

State govts supreme in some matters, while national govt supreme in others

New natl govt power to declare war, make peace, and sign treaties, borrow $, set standards for coins, establish postal service, and deal with Native Americans

ProblemThere was no separate executive department

to carry out and enforce acts of Congress and no national court system to interpret the meanings of laws!!!!

Articles had a lot of problems…Economic issues like taxation and dealing

with national debtPolitical issues like nature of Congressional

representationForeign-relations problems that

Confederation powerless to solve

Lacked National UnityThis was the most serious problemEach state looked out for its own interest

rather than the best interest of the countryGeorgia had population of 23,375;

Massachusetts 235,308 – each had 1 voteIs that fair?

Articles could not be amended without the approval of every single state!

More ProblemsWhat happens when we have war?

Answer: There’s a lot of accumulated debtRevolutionary War cost $190 millionContinental Currency was worthlessCongress lacked power to tax (!!!) so

Congress requested approval to impose a tariff, or tax on imported goodsHow do you think the Congress responded to

this call for help?

Well…They had wanted to use money from

proposed tariff to pay off foreign loansBut…One state (Rhode Island) rejected the

proposed taxSo it wasn’t adopted Confederation Congress had no control over

interstate or foreign trade

Creditors vs. DebtorsCreditors (lenders of $); debtors (borrowers)After war – wealthy people who lent $ to

states favored high taxes so states could pay them backHigh taxes put farmers in debt

Debtors and creditors disagreed over usefulness of paper $Debtors wanted to increase money supply to

lesson its value and so they could pay off debtsCreditors wanted to keep supply of money low

to keep its full value

Foreign-Relations ProblemsBritish refused to evacuate its military forts

on Great Lakes since US could not repay its debts to British merchants (when did they promise they would pay back these debts?)

1784 – Spain closed Mississippi River to American navigationThis hurt farmers substantially

One good thing did happenRemember that 3rd thing the Articles needed

to address: Western Lands: Who Gets Them?Well – they actually figured out a solution to

this, and it was a good one. So pay attention to the next slide!

Land Ordinance of 1785Lands west of the Appalachians – made these

land parcels small and affordableGovernment would survey the land, dividing

it into townships of 36 square milesEach township would be divided into 36

sections of 1 square mile, or about 640 acres, each. You could purchase 1 section

Typical farm – equal to ¼ section (160 acres) Minimum price was $1

ContinuedSection 16 would be used for school buildingsLocal people used the sale of this land to

build a school and hire a teacherCentrally located so students wouldn’t have

to travel farYay school!

Northwest Ordinance of 1787Congress provided procedure for dividing land into

territoriesSet requirements for becoming a state (they

overlook Native American interests as usual)3 basic stages for becoming a state:

Congress would appoint territorial governor and judges

When there were 5,000 voting residents – settlers could write temp constitution and elect own govt

When 60,000 free inhabitants – settlers could write state constitution which had to be approved by Congress before statehood granted.

So…Land Ordinance of 1785 – Established plan

for dividing unclaimed land in the westNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 – How a

territory would become a state

To Sum This Up…Americans’ fear of giving too much power to

national government resulted in government that lacked sufficient power to deal with nation’s problems.

The forthcoming Constitutional Convention would change all this though!

Your TurnPlease compose a list of the weaknesses of

the Articles of Confederation (and any strengths if you can think of them)