Independence? What Now?

Independence? What

Now?A Look At America’s First Government

The Articles of Confederation

Needed a national government to conduct a war and run a country June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee made two proposals at the Philadelphia Convention:

Independence from G. Britain A National govt.

So…The Articles of Confederation (AOC) = our nation’s 1st constitution Adopted 1777 Final approval in 1781 went into effect

Articles of Confederation

& The U.S. Constitution

A Double Bubble Map Comparison

Had one branch of

government Articles of Confederation

Created a President

Constitution

Created a government

BOTH

Created a court system

Constitution

Gave large and small

states equal power

Articles of Confederation

Created a Congress

BOTH

Created a military

BOTH

No officials to ensure

laws were carried out

Articles of Confederation

Did not have the power

to taxArticles of Confederation

Declare war and Sign

treatiesBOTH

National government

could regulate trade

Constitution

Required unanimous

consent of the 13 states

Articles of Confederation

Problems of the AOCCongress did not have the power to raise money Congress had no power over the state governments or their citizens Congress could not make the states live up to trade agreements with other nations Congress had no power to regulate trade among the states Citizens thought that their property rights were threatened

Shay’s Rebellion 1786: financial trouble, debt, failing businesses, soldiers not being paid

Congress could not control the country and people worried

Farmers in MA, led by Daniel Shays Began to close down courts where their cases were being heard (farms being taken away)

Spread to other cities and states

January 1787, Shays led 2,000 rebels to Springfield, MA to raid the federal arsenal for weapons

Why was it Important? The national government had been unable to put down the rebellion People asked: how could the country continue to exist if it could not maintain law and order?Led to the Constitutional Convention

Delegates in Philadelphia met “for the sole and express purpose of revising the AOC.”