A More Perfect Union 1777-1790 Chapter 7

The Articles of Confederation Section 1

Goals of the State Constitutions To Stop the Abuse of Power in the states To keep the power in the hands of the people To avoid concentration of power the states divided government functions between the governor and the legislature.

States wanted to limit the power of the Governor Legislative Branch was the most powerful -Two house legislatures called Bicameral

The Articles of Confederation Our first Constitution—or plan of government The First National Government of the United States Adopted in November of 1777 All 13 states had to approve the Articles before it became official Formally became the government of the United States on March 1st, 1781

Articles of Confederation Had authority to conduct foreign affairs Maintain armed forces Borrow money Issue currency Could not regulate Trade Could not Force citizens to join the army Could not Impose Taxes

Executive Branch Did not provide for a President to run the country Without a president, there was no one to enforce the laws---No Manager

Judiciary No federal court system was established No federal courts to settle disputes

Taxes Congress did not have the power to impose and collect taxes. Congress had no  money to run the country; had to beg the states for money

Trade Articles could not regulate trade among the states. States set up their own rules, taxed each other.

Representation Each state, regardless of its population, had only one vote in Congress. The large states with larger populations said this was unfair.

Areas Consequence Weakness - Articles of Confederation Executive Did not provide for a President to run the country Without a president, there was no one to enforce the laws Judiciary No court system was established No courts to settle disputes Taxes Congress did not have the power to impose and collect taxes. Congress had no  money to run the country; had to beg the states for money Trade Articles could not regulate trade among the states. States set up their own rules, taxed each other. Representation Each state, regardless of its population, had only one vote in Congress. The large states with larger populations said this was unfair.

The Ordinance of 1785 Proposed in 1784 by Thomas Jefferson to divide the Western territory into self-governing districts The Ordinance of 1785 established a procedure for surveying and selling the western lands north of the Ohio River An ordinance is another name for a law

The Northwest Ordinance Passed in 1787 Created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio River and East of the Mississippi River. When population reached 60,000 they could petition to become a state. One accomplishments of the Articles was the handling of Western Lands

Trouble on Two Fronts The value of money printed during the Revolutionary War plummeted due to no gold or silver backing up the paper money. Money depreciated—became worthless---fallen in value Continental Congress in Large Debt Robert Morris proposed to collect a 5% import tax—didn’t pass

After the Revolutionary War, Britain kept Americans out of the West Indies and other profitable markets that they controlled The Spanish halted American expansion westward into its territory by closing the lower Mississippi River to American shipping in 1784