 A system of government used in the United States from 1781 to 1788  A confederation is a loose association of states for defensive purposes

 Rules the state, not the citizens within the states  Powers: Make treaties, declare war, borrow money  One house legislature, each with one vote  No executive branch to enforce laws  No judicial branch to settle disputes  High majority to pass laws (9 out of 13)

 No money and no power to get it  No power to coin money  No power over state governments or their citizens  Unenforceable trade agreements  Unable to regulate competition between states  No way to protect the people’s rights

 Wealthy people loaned the government money to fight the war. They wanted these loans to be repaid.  Massachusetts raised taxes to pay.  Farmers were hit hard by these taxes. The taxes reminded them of British taxes that helped cause the Revolution.

 Daniel Shays led a rebellion that made it impossible for tax-collectors to do their jobs.  Daniel Shays and his small army went to an arsenal.  Congress had no money to raise an army. The state gathered an army.  Shays was arrested and sentenced to death but appealed the sentence and eventually regained his freedom.

 Citizens learned they could defy the government when it acted against the people’s wishes.  Prominent Americans saw that steps had to be taken to strengthen the national government and avoid civil unrest.  May 1787 the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to decide what had to be done with the government.

 The students will work in groups to brainstorm ideas for solving some of the problems caused by the Articles of Confederation.  Ideas will be recorded on a T-chart.  Students will then create hypotheses about the ease or difficulty of creating solutions to these problems and the thought processes involved.