1. 3.1 – Experimenting with Confederation

3. US of A! Colonies became states but…
Most people were loyal to their states, instead of the nation of the “The United States of America.”
Reluctant to give up state’s power to a central government
Just rebelled against an over-powerful king
How do you balance the interest of the state with the interests of a nation?

4. State Constitutions
Constitution - the system of beliefs and laws by which a country, state, or organization is governed
Each state wrote similar constitutions
Emphasized LIBERTY rather than equality
Outlined citizen rights (freedom of speech, religion, press)Limited power given to leaders
Fear of centralized authority
Limited power given to state leaders
Outlined voting rights
Limited to white males (some states required property ownership)
No voting for women or blacks (NJ – women who owned property could vote until 1807)

5. Continental Congress Debates
Continental Congress was debating key questions during the American Revolution…
How much power should “the people” have?
State representation based on population or state?
Who gets new western lands?
Can power be shared between a federal government and state governments?

6. Democracy vs Republic How much power should “the people” have?
Government directly by the people
Pro – the people’s voice is heard for every decision
Cons –very tedious, too much power in the hands of the uneducated masses
Government in which citizens rule though elected representatives
Pros – less tedious, educated people in office
Cons – representatives don’t always act in favor of their constituents.

7. Democracy vs Republic
Compromise - the Continental Congress chose a mix of both…
Democracy – each state’s legislature was elected directly by the people of the state
Republic – each state legislature would appoint delegates to serve in Congress to represent the state’s interests
Continental Congress
State legislatures appoint delegates to Congress
State citizens elect representatives to the state legislatures
Republic
Democracy

8. Representation by Population or State?
States equal as political entities BUT have many differences…
Size
Population
Wealth
Concerning the number of appointed delegates representing each state in Congress…
Compromise – Each state gets 1 vote in Congress (decided on by 2-7 delegates per state depending on state population).
Should more populous states get more delegates and votes?
Should each state get the same number of delegates and votes?

9. Western Lands Conflicts between states over new western lands
Some states had land that stretched to the Mississippi River
Landlocked states worried that larger states would become more powerful

10. Western Lands
Compromise – All land was given to Congress and they passed…
Land Ordinance of plan for mapping and selling the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River

11. Western Lands
Compromise – All land was given to Congress and they passed… 1
Each territory appointed a Governor by Congress 2
Reach 5,000 voting residents
Write temporary Constitution
Elect government officials 3
Reach 60,000 free residents
Write state Constitution
Congress approve Constitution = STATE!
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – procedure for dividing western lands into territories which would later become states

12. Western Lands Land Ordinance of 1785 – how to map and divide land
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – how to make territories into states
BLUEPRINTS FOR GROWTH!!

13. Shared Power Between Federal and State Governments
Who should have more power?
Compromise - Delegates decided to form a confederation of states where the power would be shared among the states and federal government.
Confederation – alliance or union of political bodies
States more powerful?
Federal government more powerful?

14. Shared Power Between Federal and State Governments
Delegates got the idea for a confederation from an alliance of Native tribes called the Iroquois Confederacy
Alliance between 5 separate tribes across New York state that during the 1600s-1700s
Also called the Iroquois Nations or the Iroquois League
Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy outlined principles such as:
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Separation of religion and state
Federalism (sharing of power)
Women’s suffrage
Welfare

15. Shared Power Between Federal and State Governments
FEDERAL Powers
CAN
Declare war, make peace
Sign treaties
Regulate international/Native trade
CANNOT
Levy (set) taxes on citizens
Regulate trade between states
STATE Powers
CAN
Levy (set) taxes on state citizens
Regulate trade with other states
CANNOT
Declare war

16. “Let our government be like that of the solar system.
Let the general government be like the sun,
and the states the planets, repelled yet attracted,
and the whole moving regularly and harmoniously in their several orbits.”
- From The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787
Federal gov’t
Holds the states together in a confederation
States
Move independently of each other, but share a larger union

17. The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation – 1781, document that outlined the roles of the federal and state governments.
Included articles (sections) describing all of the compromises decided upon in the Continental Congress.

18. Trouble in Paradise: Political Problems
Confederation lacked national unity!
Each state pursued its own interests, rather than the nation’s interests.
States were scared that a strong central gov’t that might abuse them.
Regardless of population size, each state = 1 vote in Congress.
Angered more populous states like VA and MA.
Articles of Confederation could not be amended (changed) AND federal laws could not be made without a unanimous vote.
VERY difficult to get all states to agree.

19. Trouble in Paradise: Economic Problems
Congress DEEP in debt due to Revolutionary War
Borrowed from wealthy investors and foreign nations
Printed too much money  worthless currency
Articles of Confederation banned the federal government (Congress) from taxing the citizens
No way to gain revenue (money) to pay debts!
Congress tried to approve a tariff (tax on imported goods), but RI refused  without unanimous approval, the tariff failed.

20. Trouble in Paradise: Economic Problems
Inflation was high after the American Revolution and there was much debate on how to address it.
Debtors
Creditors
Borrowers
Wanted an increase in paper money  lower the value of money
Pay off debts with cheap money
Lenders
Wanted a decrease in paper money  increase the value of money
Get more money from debtors

21. Trouble in Paradise: Shays’s Rebellion
During the war, wealthy people loaned money to the states.
After the war, the wealthy people wanted the states to impose high taxes on the citizens so the gov’t could raise the revenue to pay back their loans.
Many farmers couldn’t pay these high taxes  courts approved farm foreclosures (when the gov’t takes your property if you can’t pay taxes, loans, debts, etc)  ANGRY farmers

22. Trouble in Paradise: Shays’s Rebellion
Daniel Shays
Farmer, Revolutionary War veteran
ANGRY because he can’t pay the high taxes in MA
Courts continued to approve foreclosures of farms in MA
September 1786-January Shays’s Rebellion
a series of revolts led by former Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to prevent judges in Massachusetts from foreclosing on the farms of farmers who could not pay taxes the state had levied

23. Trouble in Paradise: Shays’s Rebellion
In January 1797, Shays organized a militia of 1,200 to march to the arsenal at Springfield, MA with the goal of taking the weapons and marching on the courthouse in Springfield.
At the arsenal, state officials disbanded the mob, 4 rebels killed

24. Trouble in Paradise: Shays’s Rebellion
Why is Shays’s Rebellion significant?
Proved that the nation needed a STRONG CENTRAL gov’t!
Showed that there were LARGE problems with the way state governments and the “federal” government operated under the Articles of Confederation
Highlighted the difficulties facing the disjointed nation as the states were no longer unified in fighting a common enemy like in the war.
Many people began to think that the new national experiment was doomed to fail.

25. Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
No central unity
No president or central leader to enforce laws
No national court system to resolve disputes
Congress cannot tax citizens to pay debts
Each state = 1 vote in a one-house legislature (regardless of population)
Major decisions = 2/3 approval (war, etc)
Amendments (changes) to the document, including federal laws = all 13 approval
SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE!

26. Shay’s Rebellion Video