What is Government? Read page 116 in the SS TEK book.

After having a king the colonies knew they wanted a voice in their government. They decided to set up a Representative Democracy. is a type of government where the people are ruled by popularly elected representatives. Representative Democracy

The Basic Principle Country should be a republic – A republic is when the citizens rule through elected representatives

Articles of Confederation America’s First Government

The Articles of Confederation 1781 In May of 1776 the Continental Congress asked the states to organize their governments and each move quickly to adopt a state constitution. The Continental Congress also appointed a committee to draw up plans for a new central government to coordinate the war for Independence. They wrote the Articles of Confederation, which created a league of independent states. Under the Articles of Confederation it created, Congress had limited authority. Although the Articles had many weakness, Americans were able to win the war of Independence.

Articles of Confederation An agreement by the states to work together to replace the monarchy (king)

Weakness of the Articles of Confederation No President Weak Central Government Government Can’t tax Can’t Regulate Trade (between states) No Court system Government can’t raise an Army Changing Constitution required unanimous approval Passing laws required 9 of 13 states approval.

Articles of Confederation Weaknesses states more powerful than national government national government couldn’t tax states = no army or navy no chief executive (president) or federal courts states print own money and set tariffs (taxes) = WEAK CENTRAL GOVERNMENT that protected the states

Weak central Gov. NO $ Gov. can’t Tax Boundary Disputes (states lines) Quarreling among states No Respect! From foreign nations Shay’s Rebellion Poor farmers who can’t pay taxes are threatened with jail. Shay leads a revolt against the state gov.. Bottom Line: Country is falling apart and needs a stronger government

Shays’ Rebellion Rebellion by Massachusetts farmers angry over high taxes Farmer named Daniel Shays led an armed rebellion of 1000! Massachusetts finally raises a militia and defeats Shays men

Results of Shays’ Rebellion Proved the Articles of Confederation were too weak to govern the nation Needed a NEW PLAN of government!

The Articles ONLY Success!!! Northwest Ordinance 1787 Territory could apply for statehood when population = 60,000 New states would be equal to old states

What to do about the Articles of Confederation They only way to correct the Articles of Confederation is to start with a clean slate. The founding fathers called a meeting to address the concerns of the Articles of Confederation and come up with a new government that fixed all the mistakes of the Articles of Confederation.

Problem Solved Issues lead to drafting of the Constitution by James Madison in 1787