Essential Question Essential Question: –What were the long-term problems with the Articles of Confederation? Warm-Up Question: Warm-Up Question: –Now that the Americans have won the Revolutionary War, what major decisions must now be answered?

The Articles of Confederation

When Americans declared independence in 1776, they needed to form a new government: republic –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 A pure democracy would put too much power in the hands of the “uneducated mob” The American republic would be a more “enlightened” version of the Roman Senate

Thirteen Independent States 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

The Articles of Confederation 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

Government Structure 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

Government Powers 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

Government Powers 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

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

What was the mindset of the states when they created the Articles? What did small states fear? What did ALL fear?

The Articles created a very weak national government and had many weaknesses

The Weaknesses of the Articles 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

1) National govt. lacked power to enforce laws

2) Lacked the power to levy taxes

3) Could not regulate trade between the states

4) All 13 states had to vote yes to change the Articles

5.No military 6.No President

7. No national court system 8. No national control over trade with other countries

FOR NOW…

Day 2: Let’s Review….. There are 8 of them! List them in ANY order!

Weaknesses-Matrix Activity With your partner, analyze the picture: –Describe the “weakness” in your picture –Why it was included? - Possible Problems

One feature of the Articles of Confederation was that the government had no chief executive, such as a president or a king. As a result, the government under the Articles suffered from a lack of leadership since there was no single leader

DescriptionWhy was it included? Possible Problems A The government has no single leader. They lacked government leadership. People were fearful of having one leader. They didn’t want another tyrant king! A lack in leadership will lead to poor organization. Nothing will get done! Chaos!!!

Successes of the Articles of Confederation

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

The Northwest Ordinance 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 –Freedom or religion and trial by jury were guaranteed

The Northwest Ordinance How many people does Michigan have? How many people does the city of Rochester have? The population was 12,711 in the 2012 Census 9,876,187 (2011)

The Northwest Ordinance Northwest Ordinance of 1787 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set up an organized pattern for settlement. What would happen if there was NOT an organized pattern for settlement?

History of Oakland County Oakland County was originally divided into 25 separate townships. Each township is roughly equal in size at 6 miles by 6 miles, for a total township area of 36 square miles. The roots of this design were born out of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of Oakland County itself is a prime example of the land policy that was established, as all townships are equal in size. Section 16 in each township was reserved for financing and maintaining public education, and even today many schools in Oakland County townships are located within that section In 1819, Oakland was sparsely settled and twice it’s current size at first, but shrank as Michigan's population grew and new counties were established. Woodward Avenue and the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad helped draw settlers in the 1840s. By 1840, Oakland had more than fifty mills. Pontiac, located on the Clinton River, was Oakland's first town.

TOWNSHIP 6 miles

1 TOWNSHIP = 36 SQUARE MILES Section #16 was usually reserved for the public school of the township

Northwest Ordinance The United States gained a huge new area after the Revolutionary War Now had to decide how to divide it up into existing states or new ones

NORTHWEST TERRITORY

Minnesota Wisconsin Illinois Michigan Ohio Indiana

The organization of the Northwest Territory was important because it created an orderly plan to settle a new area of the United States!!

Farmers were upset about high taxes – if could not pay taxes they were put in jail WHY:

Economic Problems The inability of the government to collect taxes led to problems: –America could not pay off debts from the Revolutionary War Shays’ Rebellion –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

U.S. Trade with Britain, Debt

Every state was having economic trouble in the mid 1780’s An average family paid $200 a year in taxes – more than most people made in a year

DANIEL SHAYS leads a rebellion of about 1,500 men, mostly farmers They are upset about paying high taxes and want debt relief from the government

Government does not help them They gather and march on a federal arsenal – a storage place for weapons

About 900 state militia men stop the uprising The general public sides with the farmers Very close to having chaos because of taxes

SHAYS’ REBELLION

RESULT: The uprising is stopped Shays is pardoned years later

LASTING EFFECT: America realizes they need a stronger national government if they are to survive as a country.

Shay’s Rebellion in western Massachusetts 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 the Shays’ Rebellion proved to be the convincing event that led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787

Samuel Adams on Shays Rebellion “Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly, punished, but the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer DEATH!”

Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them…It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”

Weaknesses of the Articles 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