The Articles of Confederation

1. ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION

2. 1. Constitution – a plan of government
2. Inflation – a continuous rise in the prices of goods and services
3. Ratification – official approval
4. Bicameral – having two branches
5. Tariff – a tax on imports and exports
6. Depression – a period of low economic activity and widespread
unemployment
7. Currency – the money a country uses

3. • The United States of America now needed to form a new government
• To do this, the people drew from many previous political ideas:
- England’s Magna Carta,
a document dating back to 1215,
made the king subject to the law
- The English Bill of Rights – 1689
declared the supremacy of Parliament
* These two documents assured that representatives of the people
would have a strong voice in England’s government

4. • Americans had already used forms of self-government in their town meetings,
in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and in the Mayflower Compact

5. • Early in the War for Independence,
the Continental Congress had asked
each state to organize their
governments and adopt a state
constitution.
• The states adopted constitutions that
limited the power of the governor
because they did not want too much
power in the hands of a single ruler
• The states also established bicameral
legislatures (law-making branches) to
further divide powers

6. • In 1776 the delegates of the Second
Continental Congress knew they
would need a central government to
coordinate the war effort against
Britain
• In November 1777, the Congress
adopted the Articles of
Confederation
• The Articles were sent to each state
legislature for ratification. After
much debate, all states had ratified
by March of 1781

7. • Under the Articles of Confederation:
- Congress became the single branch of national government
- Each state had one vote in Congress, no matter how large their
population
- Congress could settle conflicts among states, issue coins, borrow
money, and make treaties with other countries
- The new government did not have a president or a national court system,
and only the states could collect taxes (not the Congress)
- The individual states held most of the power

9. • The Land Ordinance of 1785 set up a system for surveying and dividing
Western lands
The Land Ordinance of 1785 set forth how the government of the United States would measure, divide
and distribute the land it had acquired from Great Britain north and west of the Ohio River at the end of
the American Revolution.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Land_Ordinance_of_1785

10. • The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
established the Northwest Territory
and created a system for bringing
new states into the Union
• The Ordinance also stated that
slavery would not be allowed in the
Territory. This clause marked the
country’s first attempt to stop the
spread of slavery, but it did not free
people who were already enslaved.

12. • The new country faced many difficulties
- No national army
- Could not enforce treaties such as the
Treaty of Paris
- By 1784, there was little or no trade with
Great Britain
- Britain forced American merchants to
pay high tariffs
- This had a negative impact on the U.S.
economy

13. *Presidents of the
Congress under the
Articles of Confederation
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14. • The Confederation Congress had no power to
correct the country’s problems
• The states worked to increase their own trade
rather than trying to improve the economy of
the country as a whole
• After the war, the states struggled to pay off
war debts
• They printed paper money which had no gold
or silver reserves to back it up, thus it had little
or no value

15. • Inflation became a
problem in many states
• With no common currency,
Congress had no power to
stop inflation
• Inflation in the states and
the loss of trade with
Britain created an
economic depression

16. SHAYS’ REBELLION
• In August 1786, farmers in three Massachusetts counties began a revolt
• Former Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led hundreds of men in a
forced shut down of the Supreme Court in Springfield, Massachusetts
• State troops defeated Shays’ forces in January 1787
• Shays’ Rebellion highlighted the weakness of the Confederation government; it
was clear that a stronger central government was needed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWxUY0IlG2w

18. • After a failed meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, (in which only 5 states were
represented), a convention was called in Philadelphia to discuss trade
issues and to consider possible changes to the structure of government
• The Constitutional Convention would take place in May 1787, and would
include delegates from all 13 states.