Chapter 5-1 The Articles of Confederation

 While the revolution was going on, states were setting up new governments  Most wrote new state constitutions  NEW STATE GOVERNMENTS  Each state government had 3 branches—legislative, executive, judicial  REPUBLICANISM  Most Americans wanted a REPUBLIC (a political system without a monarch)  The government would rule with the consent of the governed  No government in the world at this time was similar

 THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION  Debate lasted more than a year  Established a confederation—an association of independent, sovereign states with certain common goals.  Formally adopted by Congress in November 1777  Ratification took longer because of disputes about western lands.

 POWERS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT  States retain most of their power  Central Government only had one branch— the Continental Congress  No Executive or Judicial Branch  Each state had 1 vote in Congress  Congress had some powers  Conduct foreign relations, borrow and coin money, set up post offices, establish an army, declare war

 9/13 of states had to agree on a major law  All 13 states had to agree to amend the Articles  FINANCIAL PROBLEMS  Large war debts  Congress could not impose or collect taxes  Congress asks states for money but received only 1/6 of what it asked for

 PROBLEMS WITH THE STATES  Congress had little power over the states  States made agreements with foreign nations or Native Americans  PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS  British continued to occupy forts in the Great Lakes region  Disagreements with Spain about the Mississippi River, New Orleans, and Florida

 ECONOMIC PROBLEMS  Paper money issued during the war was not backed by gold or silver  Inflation resulted—worthless money and high prices  Congress could not collect taxes  People who could not pay their debts were jailed

WWESTERN LAND CLAIMS SSettlers streamed into lands west of the Appalachian Mountains TThe Articles did not address the question of new states DDIVIDING WESTERN LANDS JJefferson has plan to divide NW Territory into 10 districts WWhen a district’s population reached 20,000 it could send a representative to Congress, and possibly become a state. NNever went into full effect

 Land Ordinance of 1785  Land would be surveyed and divided into a neat grid of townships, each 6 miles square  Within each township, there were 36 sections, each 1 mile square.  The government would own four of the sections while a fifth would be sold to support public schools.  This process was used for many areas of new land

NNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 EEncourage orderly settlement and formation of new states PPromised settlers religious freedom and other civil rights SSlavery was not allowed in the NW Territories AA single governor was put in charge AA district could become a territory if there 5,000 adult males and could send a non-voting member to Congress WWhen the population reached 60,000 the territory could write a constitution and apply to be a state. TTHE END