The Confederation Government

State Governments Rule! Since Americans were fearful of a strong central government, most power was held by the States States began drafting new Constitutions almost as soon as the Revolutionary War Began Constitution – Framework for Government New Hampshire First state constitution January 1776 Virginia Virginia Constitution -1776 Written by George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison Included Bill of Rights Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom – 1780 Law written by Thomas Jefferson that declared the state of Virginia would not support or favor a particular religion Virginians should make up their own mind about religion, and not be influenced by the state, or an official church One of only 3 things on Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone Massachusetts Massachusetts Constitution – 1780 Written by John Adams Separation of powers Included a separate and independent Judiciary Oldest functioning Constitution in the World

Our First Government – The Articles of Confederation Drafted by John Dickinson in June 1776 Approved in 1777, but not ratified until 1781 Called for states to enter into a “firm league of friendship with each other” States held most of the power Weak central government Couldn’t force states to act Dependant on each state’s cooperation Congress was sure not give the Central Government too much power fearing it could become too much like the oppressive British monarchy that it just broke from

The Articles of Confederation Continental Congress would become the Central Government No Executive or Judicial Branch Each state got one vote in Congress Major Legislation had to be approved by 9 out of 13 states Amendments had to be approved by all 13 states States would have to cede all western land claims to Central Government Maryland (a state with no land claims) refused to ratify Articles for three years until all states had ceded their lands

The Northwest Territory The Land Ordinance (1785) Congress had to decide what to do with the new western lands Set up a system for surveying and dividing the land 36 square mile townships composed of 36 lots One lot for a public school Four lots for veterans Remaining lots were sold to the public to raise money to pay off the war debt 5

The Northwest Territory The Northwest Ordinance (1787) The great success of the Confederation Government Created the Northwest Territory – present day IL, IN, OH, MI, WI Created system to which new states would join the union Divided area into smaller territories – once population reached 5,000 men they could elect a government and send a non-voting rep to congress Once each smaller territory had 60,000 people, it could be admitted into the union on equal footing with the other states Created Bill of rights (trial by jury, religious freedom, etc.) for settlers Banned slavery in the territory

“Your Powers are Weak!” The Articles gave most power to the states Weak Central government No power to tax States and Central Government had large war debts Central Government could only request money from the states, could not make them pay Britain was putting high tariffs on American goods going into Britain, but the US couldn’t impose the same taxes on British goods Trade imbalance hurt the economy and local manufacturers, farmers One state would tax imports, so Britain would just sell to another No power to raise an army Could only request that States provide men, could not make them Couldn’t force Britain from their western forts Spain closed down New Orleans to American merchants Couldn’t force Spain to reopen

“Your Powers are Weak!” Couldn’t enforce legislation No executive branch Couldn’t regulate trade b/w states Each state had its own currency States were in debt from revolution, printed large amounts of paper currency to pay it Inflation Each state had its own trade laws Taxes, laws varied from state to state Depression Amendments had to be approved by all 13 states Major Legislation had to be approved by 9 of 13 states Slow, rigorous process meant nothing got done

Shays’ rebellion Massachusetts decided to tax property to pay its war time debts Farmers and war veterans couldn’t pay tax and were sent to debtor’s prison Due to inflation, Continental dollars were worthless In 1786, Daniel Shays led a group who formed a revolt Closed down local courts preventing other debtors from being sentenced to prison Tried to raid military supply house Rebellion put down by local militia with one round of cannon fire Shays’ rebellion showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Federal Government couldn’t help Massachusetts financially or militarily Federal Government could provide solid financial system Money was worthless A new system of government was needed