THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
ADOPTED BY THE THIRTEEN STATES IN 1781
 Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress could:
 Declare war and peace
 Manage foreign affairs
 Create and manage a postal service
 Establish an Army & Navy
 Borrow money
 Determine the value of money
THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
 Passed by Congress in 1787
 Determined how territories should be governed
 Determined how territories could become states.
 Banned slavery in the territories
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
 The states had all of the “important” power
 The Congress had little power
 There was no chief executive (a president or something similar)
 There was no judicial system (who would mediate arguments between
states?)
 And the
BIGGEST problem???
 Congress could not regulate (or require) taxes to be paid by the states to
the federal government!
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
 FACT: George Washington had to BEG Congress for money
to buy bullets, food and clothing for his soldiers
 This was simply because NONE of the states wanted to pay
taxes to the BIGGER government….. They wanted any
taxes to go directly to their own, individual state
 And under the Articles of Confederation, they didn’t HAVE
to pay taxes…..unless ALL 13 states AGREED to do so!!!
 Any changes require approval of ALL 13 states
 In 1786 at Annapolis, Maryland, a convention for all the
states was held to discuss problems in the states regarding
the Articles of Confederation
 Only 5 of the states sent representatives
 This was EXTREMELY disappointing!!!
 Everyone who DID attend agreed that SOMETHING needed
to be done!
SHAY’S REBELLION
 1786-1787
 Daniel Shays was a farmer from Massachusetts
 He, along with many other farmers, were in great debt
 Why were they in debt? They grew food to feed the troops during the war, but the
government never paid them the money promised
 Although Shays’ tried to approach the government for payment or help; they
refused to listen (they didn’t have the money to pay him because people weren’t
paying their taxes!!)
 Shays and several other farmers started a rebellion in order to get attention and be
heard!
 4 people died during this rebellion…. Which DID get people’s attention…..
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
 In Philadelphia in 1787, the states came together
 They were originally going to IMPROVE the Articles of
Confederation…..
 But instead…..they tossed them out
 It was at this place and time, the Constitution of the United States was
written and adopted as our NEW and IMPROVED form of government
 There was ONE good thing that came from The Articles of
Confederation:
 As a young nation it provided us with an experience of self-government under a
written document