Transcript Chapter Two, Section Three

“The Nation’s First Governments”
Early State Governments:
Legislative

Legislative branch:
many were
bicameral, or divided
into two houses or
parts.
New Governments Executives

Executive branch:
each had a governor
to carry out laws.
New Governments - Judicial

Judicial branch:
each had a system
of judges and
courts to interpret
the laws and
decide how the
laws should be
applied.
Need for Unity

If the colonies were to be
successful against Great
Britain, it was imperative
that they stand united.

13 separate states would
be easily conquered by
Britain.

What does the above
cartoon mean to you?
“Articles of Confederation”
“Articles of Confederation”

The “Articles of
Confederation” was the first
attempt at a constitution for
the United States.

A confederation is a group of
states that are loosely joined
together for a common
purpose. (a league of
friendship!)
Articles of Confederation

The Articles of
Confederation created a
one house (unicameral)
legislature. There was no
president!!! Congress was
the only government body
that had power over the
army and the authority to
deal with foreign matters.
Problems Quickly Begin!

By 1781, all 13 states ratified,
or approved the Articles. It
was clear that there were some
problems…

Strict voting requirements: to
change (amend) the Articles of
Confederation required all 13
states’ approval. This made it
very difficult to change any
part of the document.
The Gov’t seemed like
THIS…
But it was really like THIS!!
During the Revolution, the Articles of Confederation Congress
was effective because it helped us UNITE to FIGHT – we won
the American Revolution…………but after the Revolution, the
problems were obvious… WRITE this…………
Other weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were:
- No central leadership (weak executive)
– No power to regulate commerce (trade)
– No power to enforce its laws
– No national court system to carry out justice
– No power to tax the people. (Left us deep in debt)
– Any changes made to the Articles required rare UNANIMOUS
consent of all 13 states!
Revolutionary War

In 1783, the “united States”
defeated Great Britain after
7 years of war. The Articles
of Confederation was
successful in accomplishing
its goal!

The new Congress found
itself deep in debt (as did the
states). Why – what weakness
of the Articles contributed to
this problem???
Failure of the
“Articles of Confederation”
Shay’s Rebellion (1786-1787)
Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787)

Daniel Shays led a rebellion against
called “Shays’ Rebellion” against
a weak federal government.
Farmers who had served in the war
and did not get paid could not
make payments on their farms.
Many lost their land after fighting
for their country.

We needed to do something about
the Articles in order to create a
stronger national government!
Failure of the “Articles of Confederation

Under the Articles, the United States
had a confederal system of
government (where there was no
strong, central power to protect the
country). This was a major flaw.
 This led to our current federal
system of government (where power
is divided and shared between the
federal government and states).
Return to Philadelphia

After Shays Rebellion, 12 of the 13 states (all but Rhode Island)
agreed to return to Philadelphia to revise/fix the “Articles of
Confederation”. It became obvious during the meeting that
they were not fixable.

Instead, this turned into the Constitutional Convention where
the delegates would write a whole new plan of government
called the U.S. Constitution. The goal of the delegates was to
create a stronger central (federal) government to replace the
Confederal one under the Articles.