When Americans declared independence in 1776, they needed to form a new government They wanted to form a republic where citizens vote for elected leaders to represent them They wanted to protect citizens & individual states from a powerful national government King George III The American republic would be a more “enlightened” version of the Roman Senate

When independence was declared, the 13 colonies became independent states Each state had its own constitution, legislature, & an elected governor; 8 states had Bills of Rights But, the USA needed a national gov’t to do things that states could not, like sign treaties & form a military America’s 1 st national gov’t was the Articles of Confederation ( )

This “confederation” style gov’t loosely connected the states under a weak national government

Confederation Government in New York City Each state could send between 2-7 representatives to the national congress, but each state had only 1 vote To pass a law, 9 of the 13 states had to agree The national congress could make laws, settle disputes between states, negotiate treaties, handle Indian affairs, oversee a military But all other powers were left up to the states

Confederation Government in New York City Americans did not want to re-create a powerful gov’t like the one they just fought the Revolutionary War to break away from So, the national gov’t had no president & could not tax the states or citizens

Western Lands, 1783 Western Land Claims, 1783 The lands between the Appalachian Mountains & Mississippi River that were acquired from the British in 1783 were claimed by numerous states. Many of these land claims overlap. How should we solve this problem?

The United States, 1783 Areas of Settlement, 1783 The Articles established a good system of settling western lands

Western Land Claims Ceded by the States First, states had cede (give up) their claims to lands in the west to the national gov’t

Congress passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 to create an orderly way to divide the west into townships & farms Selling western lands was the only way the national gov’t could generate money since it did not have the power to tax

Land Ordinance of 1785 Section 16 of the each township was set aside for a public school

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 gave government to the territories When a territory had 5,000 residents, it could create a self-governing legislature When a territory had 60,000 residents, it could apply to become a U.S. state Slavery was outlawed in the NW

Closure Questions The Articles of Confederation were created intentionally weak –What powers does the national government have? –What powers do the individual state governments have? –What problems do you predict will occur because of these political weaknesses?

Essential Question Essential Question: –What were the long-term problems with the Articles of Confederation? Warm-Up Question: Warm-Up Question: –Why did the early American leaders develop a national government as weak as the Articles of Confederation?

Confederation Government in New York City The Articles of Confederation was America’s 1 st form of gov’t The weakness the national gov’t was originally seen as good because it eliminated tyranny Later, these same weaknesses kept the gov’t from solving serious national problems

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Activity

Confederation Government in New York City The inability of the government to collect taxes led to problems

U.S. Trade with Britain, Debt America could not pay off debts from the Revolutionary War

Property foreclosures led an uprising among Massachusetts farmers called Shays’ Rebellion in 1787 but the gov’t could not pay for an army to stop it Poor farmers in western MA were angered over high taxes & prospect of debtors jail Daniel Shays led an uprising & closed debt courts & threatened a federal arsenal Shays’ Rebellion proved to be the convincing event that led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787

America’s First National Government: The Articles of Confederation After Shays’ Rebellion, people like Hamilton & Madison began calling for a stronger national gov’t In 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia to discuss ways to improve the Articles Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the delegates replaced it with the Constitution

Closure Activity Review each of the following rebellions by explaining the cause & the impact of each rebellion: –Stono Rebellion –Bacon’s Rebellion –Shays’ Rebellion Rank order these events from most important to least important