1. By: Maria Boza-Hernandez and Carmen Hernandez
CHAPTER 7:
Forming A Government
By: Maria Boza-Hernandez
and Carmen Hernandez

2. Section 1: The Articles of Confederation
What ideas and documents shaped American beliefs about Government?
How did state constitutions contribute to the development of representative government?
What powers did the central government have under the Articles of Confederation?
What did the Northwest Ordinance accomplish?

3. Ideas about Government
Magna Carta (required the king to follow the rule of law like other people)
English Bill of Rights (kept king/queen from passing new taxes/changing laws without Parliament approval).
Enlightenment- the use of reason and expressing beliefs of human goodness.
Philosopher John Locke believed that an agreement existed between political leaders and people (government’s duty to ensure people’s unalienable rights).
Other inspirations…
-Iroquois League
-Great Awakening (to question political institution and more government control).
Mayflower Compact
-1639 Fundamental
Orders of Connecticut
Constitution- a set of basic principles and laws that state the powers and duties of government.

4. The State Constitution
During the American Revolution, almost every colony wrote new state constitutions. It mostly showed…
Republicanism- a support for a system of representative government called a republic.
-Citizens elect representatives who are responsible to the people.
Limited Government- in which government is bound by laws and limits its power.
-Most Americans wanted to keep leaders from having total power.
Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom which gave people in Virginia freedom of worship and to say their opinions about religion.
-promoted separation of church and state
- by 1833, no state government had control over churches.
Suffrage = voting rights.
-Some states allowed taxpayers white men to vote, some states only allowed white men who owned property.
-Seven of the first states gave free African American men the right to vote. By 1860s, the African American rights had been taken away or limited high properties or requirements of residence.

5. Forming a Union
Second Continental Congress believed that a national government was necessary in order to hold the country together. Revolution leaders thought it would be too powerful.
June 12, 1776, the Committee of Thirteen made up one member from each colony. This group was assigned to create a national constitution . Committee members met for a month to talk about…
Articles of Confederation- document that created the
first central government in the U.S. (November 15, 1777)
-a new Confederation Congress would become the central
national government.
-did not have president or a court system
-could make coins and borrow money
-negotiate and make treaties with other countries
-settle conflicts and ask states for money and soldiers, but
could not force states to give them money or provide troops.
Ratification= official approval
-all 13 states had to ratify the Articles
Many states claimed territory =
slow process.

6. The Northwest Territory
The new central government needed to raise money in order to pay war debts. They hoped to sell the western land to the public. It passed…
Land Ordinance of 1785: a system for surveying and dividing public territory.
-land was split into townships of 36 square miles, divided into 36 lots of 640 acres each, 1 lot set aside for school and the other 4 lots for Revolutionary War veterans and the rest for sale.
To form a political system for the region North of the Ohio River, Congress passed…
Northwest Ordinance of 1787: helps establish political structure and gave admission for new states in the Union. This lead to….
Northwest Territory: includes present-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
-when the population reached 60,000,
they could draft their constitution. Then they could
enter the Union with Congress’ permission.
The ordinance required public education for
citizens of the region. Thomas Jefferson said, “There
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
[forced labor] in the...territory.”

7. Section 2: Problems in the New Nation
How did other nations treat the new government of the United States?
What economic problems arose under the Articles of Confederation?
What were the causes and consequences of Shays’ Rebellion?

8. A Lack of Respect
Thomas Amis was sailing his ship in order to carrying trade goods like he has done before. One day he broke a new Spanish law, which limited the navigation rights along the Mississippi River. The Spanish Troops captured Thomas and took all of his goods.
Congress could not enforce an army to protect its citizens.
Spain took advantage of US weaknesses.
-Closing down ports in the Mississippi River
Many criticized the weak Confederation Congress

9. Trouble with Trade Faced economic problems:
-Great Britain closing down ports after the Treaty of Paris
-forcing merchants to pay high duties on U.S exports (rice, tar, and tobacco)
-had to hire British ship to ship British goods
-British products were sold at low prices
Confederation Congress could not pass tariffs (taxes on imports or exports).
If one state passed a tariff, British could go to another state.

10. Economic Problems at Home
Confederation Congress could not pass interstate commerce (trade that is conducted between states). Trade laws differed = difficult for merchants who crossed state lines because they were not the same.
Congress struggled to collect overdue taxes
Some states large amount of their own paper money causing inflation (increased prices between goods and services with the reduced value of money). Congress could not stop inflation.
Debtors (people who owe money) were happy because they could pay back their debts at a lower price than the amount of money they borrowed. Creditors (people who lend money) were unhappy because they got paid back at a lower price.
The rising inflation with the loss of trade with Great Britain caused a depression (a period of low economic activity and a rise in unemployment).

11. Continued: Economic problems at Home
Instead Massachusetts decided to collect taxes in order to pay war debts. Farmers were upset because they had trouble paying new taxes.
When people could not pay their debts, Massachusetts courts began forcing them to sell their property and some farmers had to serve terms in a debtor’s prison. Others had to be an indentured servant. Leaders had little sympathy for them.

12. Shays’ Rebellion
September of 1786: Shays’ Rebellion (Uprising of Massachusetts's farmers, led by Daniel Shays, to protest high taxes, heavy debt, and farm foreclosures).
State government threatened death to any captured rebels.
September: rebels forced the supreme court in town of Springfield to close.
State troops defeated them in a battle on
January By February, many of them
surrendered/arrested.
14 leaders were sent to death, many freed
Including Daniel Shays because the state leaders
Knew that many citizens were agreeing with the
rebels. This showed that the Articles were not
working