Articles of Confederation America’s first attempt

AIM/DO NOW AIM: What was the objective of the Articles of Confederation? What were the shortcomings of the Articles? Do Now: Look at the political cartoons and answer the questions.

Meme of the day

Colonies still superior to nation In fight for Independence Colonies united but in the forming of a new government they were more concerned with securing laws that benefited them not ones that necessarily benefited the nation. Why is this? The system had been set up as individual colonies governing themselves through Britain

Experimenting with Confederation What is a Republic? 1) Republic -a gov’t in which citizens rule through their elected representatives. 2) Republicanism- the ideas that gov’t should be based on the consent of the people Why would the founders want a Republic instead of a true democracy? How is the electoral collage an example of a Republic?

Continental Congress The Cont. Congress had to answer 3 questions: 1) Representation? By state or population? 2) Can supreme power be divided? 3) Who gets the western lands? Each state would have only one vote had to be unanimous. The Congress proposed a new type of gov’t in a set of laws called the Articles of Confederation. AOC -2 levels of gov’t that shared fundamental powers. State gov’t was supreme in some matters and nat’l gov’t was supreme in others. Confederation – Alliance between the states

AOC The AOC gave the nat’l gov’t the right to: 1)Declare war 2)Make peace 3)Sign treaties 4)Borrow $$ 5)Set standards for coins 6)Establish a postal service 7)Deal with Native American affairs

Mid Assessment “Let our government be that of the solar system. Let the general government be like the sun and the states the planets, repelled yet attracted, and the whole moving regularly and harmoniously in the several orbits.” - John Dickinson 1787 Why were the states afraid of centralized authority and a strong national government?

Problems emerge However, the AOC did not create an executive dept to carry out and enforce the laws of Congress, and no nat’l court system to interpret the meaning of laws. Large states are not properly represented Maryland would not approve the AOC until all states gave up their claims to the western lands. Eventually all states gave up their claims and the AoC went into effect in 1781.

The AOC had several weaknesses: 1) It lacked nat’l unity 2) Regardless of population, each state had only one vote in congress 3) Changes could only be made only if all states approved 4) Congress could not tax to pay off war debt 5) Congress could not regulate interstate or foreign trade 6) No executive or judicial branch

Benefits Western Lands The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 - divided the lands into territories and set requirements for admission of new states.

Homework Make a political cartoon addressing the problems with the Articles of Confederation. Or write a newspaper article expressing your displeasure with the current AOC and the problems it has caused.