1. Articles of Confederation The Structure of Government
Level 1

2. Vocabulary Government: a system of rule over citizens
Branch of government: a section of a government with a specific purpose (legislative branch, executive branch, judicial branch)
Alliance: an agreement to work together
Treaty of Paris: the agreement that ended the Revolutionary War with Britain
Foreign Debt: money owed to a foreign country
Depression: drastic decline in the economy

3. Essential Question What is a government?
How did the first United States government operate?

4. Development of a Formal Plan of Government
Draft and debate in Congress,
Votes:
Large states wanted votes based on population.
Small states wanted one vote per state.
Taxes:
Northern states wanted to count the southern states' slave population for taxes
Those two issues will be seen again in the debates for the US Constitution
Land Disputes:
Fights over land in the Northwest Territory between different states
New York and New Hampshire both claimed Vermont

5. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress was the only branch of government
Each state had equal representation
one vote for each state
Congress Building Today

6. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress’s power under the Articles included:
Making war and peace
Treaty of Paris 1783:
John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin signed a treaty with Britain even though Congress told them not to.

7. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress’s power under the Articles included:
Making war and peace
What was included in the Treaty of Paris?
American independence
Boundaries: 45th parallel and the Great Lakes (N), Mississippi River (W), 31st parallel (S), Atlantic Ocean (E)
fishing rights off the coast of New Foundland, and the mouth of St. Lawrence River
US and Great Britain could use the Mississippi River
Repay debts
Return of Loyalist property
British troops would leave the US
Congress accepted it Jan. 14, 1784

8. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress’s power under the Articles included:
Conducting foreign and Native American Indian affairs
Britain wouldn’t leave the Northwest Territory because congress didn’t pay debts or return Loyalist property (Congress could only ask the states to do this).
Spain and US claimed the some of the same land
Foreign Debts: couldn’t pay debt to the Dutch and French governments
Barbary Pirates: Mediterranean Sea pirates demanded money from American ships or their ships would be attacked; US had no navy and couldn’t protect the ships

9. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress’s power under the Articles included:
The settlement of disputes between and among states
Maryland, Virginia and other states claimed the same land in the Northwest Territory
VA gave up the land claim to Congress
Maryland then signed the Articles of Confederation in March of 1781
NY and NH both claimed Vermont
States charged each other tariffs

10. The Structure of Government Under The Articles of Confederation
Congress’s power under the Articles included:
Issuance of currency and borrowing
Owed $40 million but couldn’t pay it because it couldn’t tax
Made money but there was a postwar depression and the states made their own money with different rules. Farmers lost their land and some were jailed. This led to Shays’ Rebellion. (21:36-22:44)
21:36-22:44

11. Essential Question What is a government?
How did the first United States government operate?