1. The Confederation Government

2. State Governments Rule!
Since Americans were fearful of a strong central government, most power was held by the States
States began drafting new Constitutions almost as soon as the Revolutionary War Began
Constitution – Framework for Government
New Hampshire
First state constitution
January 1776
Virginia
Virginia Constitution
Written by George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison
Included Bill of Rights
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom – 1780
Law written by Thomas Jefferson that declared the state of Virginia would not support or favor a particular religion
Virginians should make up their own mind about religion, and not be influenced by the state, or an official church
One of only 3 things on Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Constitution – 1780
Written by John Adams
Separation of powers
Included a separate and independent Judiciary
Oldest functioning Constitution in the World

3. Our First Government – The Articles of Confederation
Drafted by John Dickinson in June 1776
Approved in 1777, but not ratified until 1781
Called for states to enter into a “firm league of friendship with each other”
States held most of the power
Weak central government
Couldn’t force states to act
Dependant on each state’s cooperation
Congress was sure not give the Central Government too much power fearing it could become too much like the oppressive British monarchy that it just broke from

4. The Articles of Confederation
Continental Congress would become the Central Government
No Executive or Judicial Branch
Each state got one vote in Congress
Major Legislation had to be approved by 9 out of 13 states
Amendments had to be approved by all 13 states
States would have to cede all western land claims to Central Government
Maryland (a state with no land claims) refused to ratify Articles for three years until all states had ceded their lands

5. The Northwest Territory
The Land Ordinance (1785)
Congress had to decide what to do with the new western lands
Set up a system for surveying and dividing the land
36 square mile townships composed of 36 lots
One lot for a public school
Four lots for veterans
Remaining lots were sold to the public to raise money to pay off the war debt 5

6. The Northwest Territory
The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
The great success of the Confederation Government
Created the Northwest Territory – present day IL, IN, OH, MI, WI
Created system to which new states would join the union
Divided area into smaller territories – once population reached 5,000 men they could elect a government and send a non-voting rep to congress
Once each smaller territory had 60,000 people, it could be admitted into the union on equal footing with the other states
Created Bill of rights (trial by jury, religious freedom, etc.) for settlers
Banned slavery in the territory

7. “Your Powers are Weak!” The Articles gave most power to the states
Weak Central government
No power to tax
States and Central Government had large war debts
Central Government could only request money from the states, could not make them pay
Britain was putting high tariffs on American goods going into Britain, but the US couldn’t impose the same taxes on British goods
Trade imbalance hurt the economy and local manufacturers, farmers
One state would tax imports, so Britain would just sell to another
No power to raise an army
Could only request that States provide men, could not make them
Couldn’t force Britain from their western forts
Spain closed down New Orleans to American merchants
Couldn’t force Spain to reopen

8. “Your Powers are Weak!” Couldn’t enforce legislation
No executive branch
Couldn’t regulate trade b/w states
Each state had its own currency
States were in debt from revolution, printed
large amounts of paper currency to pay it
Inflation
Each state had its own trade laws
Taxes, laws varied from state to state
Depression
Amendments had to be approved by all 13 states
Major Legislation had to be approved by 9 of 13 states
Slow, rigorous process meant nothing got done

9. Shays’ rebellion
Massachusetts decided to tax property to pay its war time debts
Farmers and war veterans couldn’t pay tax and were sent to debtor’s prison
Due to inflation, Continental dollars were worthless
In 1786, Daniel Shays led a group who formed a revolt
Closed down local courts preventing other debtors from being sentenced to prison
Tried to raid military supply house
Rebellion put down by local militia with one round of cannon fire
Shays’ rebellion showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Federal Government couldn’t help Massachusetts financially or militarily
Federal Government could provide solid financial system
Money was worthless
A new system of government was needed