CE notes 11-12 Independence and Confederation

Week 3: DO NOW MONDAY Who founded the first public schools? What was the name of the religious movement which spread throughout the colonies? What was the period called where the British did not enforce laws on the colonies? TUESDAY What was the first representative legislature in the colonies? What was the name of the period that brought a new way of thinking about government? Where in the colonies was direct democracy used? WEDNESDAY Which act put a tax on printed materials in the colonies? What was the name of the secret group that violently opposed the British? Which act required colonists to house British soldiers?

Independence & Confederation CEnotes 11-12

NC Standard 1.05 Identify the major domestic problems of the nation under the Articles of Confederation and assess the extent to which they were resolved by the new Constitution.

Objective SWBAT explain the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

RAP pg. 11 In your opinion do you think the colonists would have wanted another king after they won the American Revolution? Which government has more power today, the government of a state like North Carolina, or the national government in Washington, DC?

Notes p. 12 Independence and Confederation: On June 7, 1776 during the Second Continental Congress the delegates from 9 colonies decided to write a document that would bind the states together. On Nov. 15, 1777 the Second Continental Congress signed the document called The Articles of Confederation The Articles created a “perpetual union,” naming it the “United States of America.” The Articles created a national government with only ONE branch, not like the 3 branches we have today. The branch was called the legislative branch or the Confederation Congress.

Under the Articles the Confederation Congress had the following powers: Wage war Negotiate treaties Manage American Indian affairs Coin money

Notes p. 12 Strengths of the Articles of Confederation The national government under the Articles (Confederation Congress) successfully negotiated the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary war and recognized the Mississippi River as America’s western border.

Strengths of the Articles The Confederation Congress also solved the problem of how to divide up the land in the Northwest Territory and admit new states They did this using the: Northwest Land Ordinance of 1787 The Northwest Land Ordinance decided that land in the Northwest Territory would be divided into 10 new states. The national government would sell the land to raise money to pay for the Revolutionary War. This set a precedent for how USA would expand westward.

Northwest Territory: How should we split up our land?

The land looks much different in… Massachusetts: The old messy way of dividing land The land looks much different in…

…Indiana, when the Northwest Land Ordinance shows us how to split up land.

Notes p. 12 Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Strangely we mostly remember the Articles of Confederation because it did a bad job running the United States. The Articles did not give the national government enough power because the colonists were scared the government would end up like the British King.

Weaknesses of the Articles The following are all the powers the Articles DID NOT give the national government: Regulate commerce (business) between states and with other countries. Collect taxes Raise an army

Weaknesses of the Articles The Articles gave independent states more power than the national government. The Articles made it so 9 states had to agree to any act of the Congress, which was the national government. The Articles gave all the power to ONE branch, the Legislative branch. This branch only had the power to make the laws. There was NO court system or judicial branch to interpret the laws. There was NO president or executive branch to enforce the laws

Check your understanding ANSWER: Which was stronger under the Articles of Confederation: the state governments or the national government?______________________ ANSWER: Why is only having one branch of government a problem?

Notes 12 The Final Word on the Articles: The Articles DID NOT give the national government enough power to successfully run the country. This meant the states needed a stronger national government with the ability to unify the country. The failure of the Articles directly caused the creation of the new, stronger government under the US Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation PIT 11 The Articles of Confederation Strengths Weaknesses

The Articles of Confederation PIT 8 The Articles of Confederation Strengths Weaknesses Powers: coin $, wage war, negotiate treaties, native Americans Treaty of Paris -Northwest Land Ordinance=10 new states, divides up land -COULD NOT: reg. commerce, collect taxes, raise an army -States had too much power -Nat’l gov’t too weak -9 of 13 states had to agree to pass laws -One branch of gov’t (legislative)

Fill in the missing Document: Declaration of Independence US Constitution

Fill in the missing Legislature: Continental Congress US Congress (House and Senate)

Index card 1 Which of the following was a problem under the Articles of Confederation? Each state had one vote in the legislature A President carried out the nation’s laws A national court system interpreted the nation’s laws The nation had a strong central government

Index card 2 What is the most likely reason it was difficult to pass laws under the Articles of Confederation? Passage required a unanimous vote of the 13 states Passage required 9 of the 13 states The government did not have a legislature Americans were content to follow the British

Index card 3 Which of the following led to conflicts between the states under the Articles? The powers of the new federal government The states’ diplomatic alliance with King George III The states’ control over the national court system The states’ own individual powers within the new government