Articles of Confederation America’s first constitution

Strengths States sent delegates to Congress Each state had one vote The national government had the power to wage war, make peace, sign treaties, issue money, appoint ambassadors, and settle conflicts between states

Weaknesses NO President (Executive) NO Army NO Courts (Judicial) NO Taxing Power = $ problems The national govt. could not force the states to obey it’s laws (regulate trade) 9/13 states to pass a law 13/13 states to amend (make changes) Each state issued its own money One vote per state, regardless of population States were sovereign (governed themselves)

Effects/Results/Outcomes Northwest Ordinance of 1787 *Set up rules for statehood once 60,000 people *Outlawed slavery in new states (Northwest territories) *Free Education in new states

Cont’d Shay’s Rebellion *It placed national attention on weaknesses of the government under the Articles. It showed that the gov. could not keep order and that a stronger national gov. was needed. It made it hard for the Confederation to ignore the weaknesses and called for meetings to “fix” the Articles which led to the Constitutional Convention.