1. Origins of American Government

2. Basic Concepts of Government
The English colonists in America brought with them three main concepts:
The need for ordered government
The idea of limited government—that government should not be all-powerful
The concept of representative government—a government that serves the will of the people

3. The English Colonies
All had unique characteristics shaped by English origins
Three different Charters:
Royal Colonies
Proprietary Colonies
Charter Colonies

4. Growing Colonial Unity
1. New England Confederation
In 1643, several New England settlements formed the New England Confederation
2. The Albany Plan
Benjamin Franklin proposed plan
Annual congress of delegates from each colony would be formed
3. The Stamp Act Congress
group of colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York
Prepared Declaration of Rights and Grievances against British policies and sent it to the king

5. 4. First Continental Congress
Colonists sent a Declaration of Rights to KGIII
The delegates urged colonies to refuse trade with England until British tax and trade regulations were repealed

6. 5. Second Continental Congress
colonies sent reps to gather in Philadelphia
Served as first government of the United States from 1776 to 1781

7. 6. American Independence!
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

9. *Most other powers were retained by each State
The Articles of Confederation
Powers
Declare war
National finance issues
Settle disputes among the States
Obligations
States promised to…
Obey Congress
Respect the laws of the other States
*Most other powers were retained by each State

10. Make up CAP response assignment
LETS TALK ABOUT CAPs!
Quality of responses
Make up CAP response assignment
Topic Selection

11. Bell Ringer
In your opinion, what was the biggest weakness of the Articles of Confederation? Why?

12. How are we going to fix this?!
Read about the plans on pages
Describe the plans (bullet points)
Decide whether large or small, free or slave states would benefit

13. LETS TALK ABOUT the Debate!

14. Weaknesses of The Articles…
Outcomes
Congress had no power to levy or collect taxes
The government never had enough money
Congress had no power to regulate foreign trade
States quarreled and foreign trade was difficult
Congress had no power to enforce its laws
Relied on the states for law enforcement
Approval of 9 states needed to enact laws
Laws were extremely difficult to pass
13 states needed to approve amendments to the Articles
Nearly impossible to change the powers/structure of government
Central government had no executive branch
No way to coordinate the work of the government
No national court system
Central government couldn’t settle disputes among the states

15. Call for a Stronger Government
Representatives from Maryland and Virginia met at Mount Vernon, Virginia to discuss trade issues
Virginia General Assembly requested meeting of all thirteen States (a.k.a. the Constitutional Convention!)
Welcome!
1785: Mount Vernon Convention
1786: Annapolis Convention, formally titled as a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government—called for Constitutional Convention

16. Leaders of the PhilLY Convention
James Madison: co-author of the Articles of Confederation
Gouverneur Morris: Lawyer, helped develop the U.S. system of money
Alexander Hamilton: was a lawyer who favored a strong central government
George Washington: was the successful leader of the Continental Army

17. Who was missing?!
Patrick Henry said he “smelt a rat” and refused to attend
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were not selected as delegates by their states
Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were in Paris
John Adams was on diplomatic missions to England and Holland