Formation of American Government: Articles of Confederation

FORMATION OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT:

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

Bellwork: Journal- If you were creating a new

government, what are the five most important rules that you would include? List and explain.

Class work Read pages 222-227 in your text book Answer the 4 read to discover questions

on page 222 Define the 5 key terms on page 227.

Also define the term Social Contract Put in your NOTES section of your binder

Read to Discover What ideas and documents shaped

American beliefs about government? How did state constitutions contribute to

the development of representative government?

What powers did the central government have under the Articles of Confederation?

What did the Northwest Ordinance accomplish?

Read to Discover What ideas and documents shaped American beliefs

about government?

English Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Enlightenment How did state constitutions contribute to the development

of representative government? They all believed in the idea of representation and limited

government power What powers did the central government have under the

Articles of Confederation? Make coins/borrow money Negotiate and make treaties Settle conflicts between states

What did the Northwest Ordinance accomplish? Helped to form a political system of the region north of the Ohio

River Created the Northwest Territory

Included present day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin Also created a system for bringing new states to the union

Define Constitution

A set of basic principles that determines the powers and duties of a government.

Republicanism Support for a system of representative government known as a republic.

limited government A political principle which holds that government should be bound by

laws that limit its power. Suffrage

Voting Rights Ratification

Formal approval Social Contract

Agreement between the government and the people

FORMATION OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Early Influences English Influences

England limited the power of its king and queens in two documents Magna Carta: “Great Charter”

Required king to follow the rule of law English Bill of Rights

Kept the king or queen from passing new taxes or laws without Parliament’ approval

Enlightenment People used reason to explain things logically Belief in human goodness John Locke- belief in social contract: the government

had a duty to protect the people’s rights

During the Enlightenment, philosophers often discussed their ideas at elegant social gatherings.

How does the painting suggest the interest that the wealthy had in Enlightenment ideas?

State Constitutions Constitution- set of basic principles and laws

that state the powers and duties of the government During/After the American Revolution, almost every

colony wrote a new state constitution Constitutions showed belief in republicanism

Republicanism- support for a system of gov’t called a republic, where citizens elect representatives

Limited Government- kept leaders from gaining too much power, all leaders have to obey the law and no one has total control.

State Constitutions Cont’d Most state constitutions protected the

individual rights of citizens Some rights included

Trial by jury, freedom of the press, private ownership of property

Separation of church and state Suffrage – voting rights

Varied from state to state

Articles of Confederation For some colonial leaders, individual state

governments were not enough Other leaders feared that a central government

would gain too much power, like in Britain The Second Continental Congress appointed a

Committee of Thirteen, one from each colony This group was to create a national constitution

Met for a month and created the Articles of Confederation

Ratification – official approval

Under the Articles of Confederation

A new Confederation Congress would become the central national government

Each state would have one vote in the congress

No president or court system Confederation had limited powers

Make coins/borrow money Negotiate and make treaties Settle conflicts between states Could ASK for money and troops from states

Northwest Territory Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Helped to form a political system of the region north of the Ohio River

Created the Northwest Territory Included present day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and

Wisconsin Also created a system for bringing new states to the

union Also included a bill of rights

Required public education for all citizens of the region

Outlawed slavery in the territory

Bellwork What makes a government weak? List

as many things as possible.

Problems in the New Nation Congress could do little to protect

citizens against foreign threats Could not force states to provide soldiers

for an army No controlled army = difficulty enforcing

treaties Britain and Spain took advantage of the

weakness of the U.S.; didn’t follow all the rules and agreements

Economic Problems U.S. faced problems with G.B.

Britain closed many of its ports to American ships

U.S. merchants had to pay high duties on U.S. exports

British goods flowed freely into the U.S. British merchants could sell products cheaper

than locally made goods Loss of trade with the British shook the U.S.

economyGood

plus tax $U.

S.U.S.

G.B.

G.B.

Goods for free!

Continental Congress could not fix the problem because they did not have the power to pass tariffs-taxes on imports/exports

If one state passed a tariff, British could sell to another state who didn’t have any

No strong government hurt the U.S. economically

Economic Problems at home Interstate commerce – trade between states Congress had no power to regulate this trade Trade laws differed between states, made trade

difficult

Printing Money States printed their own money In order to pay off debts after the Revolution, states

printed large amounts of money, resulting in inflation Inflation - increased prices for goods and services combined

with the reduced value of money

Inflation continues Debtors- people who owe money Creditors- people who lend money Depression- period of low economic activity

combined with a rise in unemployment

Each state handled its problems differently some refused to print paper $ Some taxed land to raise money

When people could not pay the tax, courts began selling their property.

Some had to spend time in debtors’ prison Some sold themselves as indentured servants

Shays’ Rebellion September 1786, farmers in 3 Massachusetts

counties began a revolt Angry citizens w/pitchforks and other tools closed

down courts in the western part of the state With the courts shut down, no one’s property could be

taken Known as Shays’ Rebellion

Farmer and war veteran Daniel Shays was the main leader At a later uprising , the rebels were eventually defeated

and arrested 14 leaders were sentenced to death State freed most of the rebels, including Shays due to popular

opinion

Results of the rebellion The rebellion helped to reveal the

weakness of the Confederation government Drew attention to the Articles of

Confederation- they weren’t working The national government could offer little

help to the states when they asked Citizens were calling for a stronger central

gov’t Many felt a change was needed

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

No President or court system Could not FORCE the states to provide

money or troops Couldn’t create an army

Could not protect citizens from foreign threats

Difficult to enforce terms of international treaties