Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
The Articles of Confederation
America's First Plan of Government
After Declaration of Independence from Great Britain was declared on July 2, 1776 the United Colonies needed to form a new Confederation to govern and conduct the war against England. The Continental Congress, after painstaking debate, passed the Articles of Confederation of the United States of America on November 15, 1777. Unlike the Constitution of 1787 this confederation charter required the ratification of all 13 states before it would become the first "Constitution" of the United States of America. It was Maryland who held out ratifying the Articles of Confederation until 1781 due to border disputes with neighboring states. On March 1, 1781 with this 13th state ratification the Continental Congress ceased to exist and "The United States in Congress Assembled".
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
What was the Government under the Articles like?
To see how the government was set up we need to compare the Articles government of 1777 to our government of today.
Government Feature
Under the Articles
Under the Constitution
Executive Branch
None existed
The President and Cabinet
Judicial Branch
None existed
The Supreme court and lower courts as needed
A unicameral CONGRESS
A bicameral CONGRESS (House and Senate)
Legislative Branch
Memebers in Congress
States had between 2 and States have 2 senators and membership in House is 7 based on state population
members
Vote in Congress
One vote per state
One vote per member
How members of Congress chosen
State legislatures appoint
People chose House and Senate appointed by state legislatures
Term for Congress
1 yr. term
2 yrs. for House
6 yrs. for Senate
Whose in charge A Committee of States Congress can be called when Congress not were formed to make back into session by the decisions, but had no real in President at any time
authority
session
Amendments to the document
Needed all states to approve changes
Needed 3/4 of states to approve changes
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
What was the Articles intended to do?
A confederation is a group of individual state governments that band together for a common purpose (like the common form of money established by today's European Union). The Articles of Confederation established a system for a "league of friendship" among the independent 13 new states. But under the Articles of Confederation the new central government of the U.S. had very limited powers. Most of the power was held in the hands of the individual states. States made their own rules and laws and Congress could not demand the states to do anything.
Lets look at the weaknesses of this document.............
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
There were three main problems with the Articles Government:
1.
2.
3.
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
There were however, some accomplishments that came from the Articles of Confederation government.
The Articles created a policy for surveying land and organizing territorial governments in the western lands. This policy known as the Northwest Ordinance was first applied to the area of the United States we live in!
Articles of Confederation.notebook
September 25, 2012
1787­­A Time of Crisis
The Revolutionary War was over, but the country faced serious financial troubles. Since Congress had no power to tax, the federal government borrowed money to pay the war debt .
The states too faced a deep debt . They taxed their citizens heavily as a result drove many farmers and merchants out of business. Again Congress had no power to remedy this. Panic fell on many Americans because they felt the government could not protect their safety. During 1786 and 1787, riots broke out in several states . One such riot led by a debt­ridden farmer named Daniel Shays led to an attack of 1,200 farmers on a federal arsenal in Massachusetts. Shay's Rebellion as it became known was quickly stopped, but it was a wake­up call for the entire new nation­­­ a need for revision of the Articles and a stronger national government.