1. Articles of Confederation
Chapter 7: Confederation to Constitution EQ: How do new ideas change the way people live?
Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Convention
Constitution

2. Timeline
1777
Patriots win the battles of Saratoga
Articles of Confederation Adopted
1781
Articles of Confederation go into Effect
British surrender at Yorktown
1783
Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War
1786 – 1787
Shay’s Rebellion in Massachusetts
1787
Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia
United States Constitution is written
1788
United States Constitution is Ratified
1789
George Washington becomes the first President of the United States

3. Academic Vocabulary (pg.182)
Bicameral
Republic
Ordinance
Articles of Confederation (pg.184)
Northwest Ordinance 1787 (pg. 186)
Shay’s Rebellion (PowerPoint)

4. Articles of Confederation
Chapter 7, Lesson 1

5. Confederation Congress
From 1776 to 1787, the USA was governed by a group of men called the Confederation Congress.
These men accomplished four important things:
Governed the nation during the war
Negotiated the Treaty of Paris
Ratified the Articles of Confederation
Passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

6. The Making of a Republic
The Confederation Congress agreed to create a republic.
A government in which citizens rule through elected officials
All states adopted a constitution (plan of government)
Most states set up a two-house (bicameral) legislatures.

8. The Northwest Territory
The Confederation Congress set up ordinances (laws) on how to divide the Western lands that it now controlled.

9. The Northwest Ordinance 1787
The Northwest Ordinance described how these new lands were to be governed. It was important because it set a pattern for the orderly growth of the United States.

10. Requirements of the Northwest Ordinance
Conditions for Settlement
Conditions for Statehood
Slavery was outlawed in the Northwest Territory
Freedom of Religion was guaranteed
Trial by Jury was guaranteed
When a territory had at least 60,000 people, they could apply to become a new state

11. Activity Complete the Northwest Territories Worksheet Cause and Effect
Map Skills

12. The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)
During the American Revolution, the original 13 states ratified (or agreed to) a document called:
The Articles of Confederation.
- Articles provided for a central government

13. The Articles of Confederation
Powers Given to Federal Government in the Articles
Powers NOT GIVEN to the Federal Government in the Articles
Wage war
Make peace
Sign treaties
Issue money
No power to enforce laws
No power to levy taxes
No power to regulate trade
Required all 13 states to approve changes to the Articles

14. The Weakness of the Articles of Confederation led to problems after the war.
Because the Federal government couldn’t levy taxes, they had no way of getting money to pay soldiers that had fought in the war.
This led to rebellions and violence.

15. Problems continued:
Individual states had the power to tax their citizens. Some states took advantage. Massachusetts was taxing its people into poverty.
This led to Shay’s Rebellion

16. Shay’s Rebellion
Daniel Shay was a farmer that had served in the Continental Army.
He was about to lose his farm because he could not pay the state taxes.
He led a group of angry farmers to steal weapons from the government and the Governor sent troops to stop them.
The rebellion ended quickly but emphasized the weaknesses of the government to collect taxes and protect the citizens. As a result Congress called a meeting to address these issues.

17. Activity Complete the following Question:
Write the Question and Answer
Lesson 1: “Articles of Confederation”
Read pg
Questions #1-6
Lesson 2: “Forging a Constitution”
- Read pg
- Question #1-4