Essential Question:

What were the long-term problems with

the Articles of Confederation?

CPUSH Agenda for Unit 3.1:

Now that the Americans won the
Revolutionary War & are now a free and
independent country, what questions
are still left to be answered?
 When Americans declared The American
independence in 1776, republic would be a
they needed to form more enlightened
a new government version of the
Roman Senate
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
 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 govt to do
things that states could
not, like sign treaties
& form a military
Americas 1st
national govt was the
Articles of Confederation
(1777-1789)
This confederation style govt loosely connected
the states under a weak national government
 Each state could send between 2-7 representatives to
the national congress, but each state had only 1 vote
To pass a law,
9 of the 13 states Confederation
had to agree Government in
New York City

The national congress could make

laws, settle disputes between But all other
states, negotiate treaties, handle powers were left
Indian affairs, oversee a military up to the states
Americans did not want to re-create So, the national
a powerful govt like the one they govt had
just fought the Revolutionary War no president &
to break away from could not tax the
Confederation states or citizens
Government in
New York City
Western Land
Western Claims,
Lands, 1783
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?
 Areas
The of Settlement,
United States,1783
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 govt
 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
govt could generate
money since it did not
have the power to tax
SectionLand
16 ofOrdinance
the each township
of 1785
was set aside for a public school
 The Northwest
Northwest Ordinance
Ordinance of of
17871787
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
Slavery was outlawed in the NW U.S. state
 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
Todays HW: 5.2
Unit 3 Test: Monday, September 17
The Articles of Confederation The weakness the
was Americas 1st form of govt national govt was
Later, these same weaknesses originally seen as
Confederation good because it
kept the govt from solving
Government ineliminated tyranny
serious national problems
New York City
 Weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation
Activity
The inability of the government
to collect taxes led to problems

Confederation
Government in
New York City
U.S. Trade with Britain, 1783-1789
America could not
pay off debts from
the Revolutionary War

Debt
 Shays Rebellion Property foreclosures
proved to be the led an uprising among
convincing event that Massachusetts farmers
led to the Constitutional called Shays Rebellion
Convention of 1787 in 1787 but the
govt 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
 AfterAmericas
Shays Rebellion, peopleGovernment:
First National like Hamilton &
Madison began calling for
The Articles a stronger national govt
of Confederation
In 1787, delegates Instead of revising the
met in Philadelphia to Articles of Confederation,
discuss ways to the delegates replaced it
improve the Articles with the Constitution
 Closure Activity
Review each of the following rebellions by
explaining the cause & the impact of each
rebellion:
Stono Rebellion
Bacons Rebellion
Shays Rebellion
Rank order these events from most
important to least important