Transcript Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the
United States
ARTICLES OF Confederation
The next few slides
are information
You do not have to take notes on
these
When we last left our Founding
Fathers….
• Declaration just signed (July 4, 1776)
• American Revolution kicks into full swing
After winning its
independence from Great
Britain in the
Revolutionary War, our
new country needed to
fashion some form of
governmental system.
The Articles of Confederation
represent the first
constitutional agreement
made between the 13
American states.
So…What happened next?
• Worked on it for 17
months (OMG!)
• Not ratified until March of
1781
• Required all 13 states for
ratification (approval)
Can you image talking about the
same thing for that long!?
• 11 agreed right away
• Delaware: 1779
• Maryland: 1781
So what did it say?
Article II:
That means
“power”
That means
“ability to
make laws”
“Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and
independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and
right, which is not by this confederation expressly
delegated to the United States, in Congress
assembled.”
…which pretty much means each state got to
do their own thing and kept the power
So what did it say?
Article III
They would have
“…a firm league of
friendship with each
other…”
…which pretty much means they’d “try” to get along.
But states kept fighting with each other and didn’t
respect each others laws and system of governing
So, it created a
“Confederation: a union
of persons, parties, or
states; a league”
So pretty much this document, written by
the Second Continental Congress, set up a
WEAK central government with only a
legislative branch (Congress).
Troubles with the Articles
• Congress had NO POWER to collect taxes
…but we needed taxes to pay of our debt from the war
• Congress had NO POWER to regulate trade
…so people were being “ripped off” and states
started to fight over crops and prices of items
Shay’s Rebellion
Because Daniel Shay’s had fought in the Revolutionary
War, but not been paid for his military service, he
was in a lot of DEBT and was about to have his farm
foreclosed.
So him and other farmers decided to revolt against our
newly formed government.
and then something
happened to get
EVERYONES
attention
Shays, with an
army of about
2,200 men, took
their guns,
swords and
pitchforks to the
capital of
Massachusetts
in PROTEST!
What happened next?
In the words of George Washington, the
government created by the Articles of the
Confederation was "little more than the shadow
without the substance.“ (pretty much…it wasn’t working!!)
As the need for a stronger federal government
began to be realized, leaders from throughout
the states got together to decide how to create it.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was
responsible for drafting the Constitution of the
United States, which replaced the A of C.
Read Together – page 74
1. Read the passage on the “Articles of
Confederation” .
2. You can do it as a “bump” activity with your
partners.
3. Highlight key information in the passage.
4. Answer questions #7-8.
RATIFY
To vote to approve
AMEND
To change
DELEGATE
Representatives/elected officials at a meeting
CONFEDERATION A group of individuals or states who band together for a
common purpose
AFFIRM
To verify that something is true
REPEAL
To cancel a law
RESIDE
To stay in a place
CONSTITUTION
A written plan of government
Vocabulary Check
A.
Ratify
E. Affirm
B. Amend
C. delegate
D. confederation
F. repeal
G. reside
H. constitution
F
___ 1. To cancel a law
G 2. To stay in a place
___
C
___ 3. Representatives/elected officials at a meeting
H 4. A written plan of government
___
B 5. To change
___
E
___ 6. To verify that something is true
A 7. To vote to approve
___
D 8. A group of individuals or states who band together for a common purpose
___
Articles of Confederation
Take the Notes- page 88
• Essential Question- Identify what the Articles of
Confederation is and explain how the weaknesses
in the document led to writing a new
Constitution.
Notes
• Date: 1777 – ratified 1781 by all 13 states
• Authors: delegates at the 2nd Continental
Congress
• Purpose: to create the first form of
national government ( a constitution) for
the new independent states
Did you know?
George
Washington
might had been
our first
president, but he
did not start until
1789. We had no
president under
the Articles of
Confederation!
Notes (continued)
• Problems with the Articles:
1) most power resided (stayed) with the
states
2) Created a weak central/national gov’t
 No power to tax the states
 No power to enforce laws on the
states
 Needed all 13 states to agree to
amend any laws
•
Notes
Influence on the Constitution:
• weaknesses in the Articles was causing the
country to fall apart
• led to the writing of our current constitution
Fundamental Principles
• Democracy
• Limited government
• Representative government
Review Together
• Click on the link below to review the Articles of
Confederation.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO7FQsCcb
D8
Study the cartoon below and answer
the questions together.
• Identify the problems of
the Articles of
Confederation.
• Who does the artist
imply has no power
under the Articles?
• Using your background
knowledge, what does it
mean by “rough sailing
ahead”?
Congratulations!!! You are finished the
lesson but you have to complete the
activities below too…
• Write a summary for the lesson.
• Did you highlight new vocabulary in your notes?
• Complete the assignment on the bottom of page
87.