Transcript The United States 1781

Structure of the Government
Loose union of
autonomous states
Unicameral Congress
Each state has 1 vote
Congress has the power to
Conduct Foreign Affairs
Declare War
Maintain Armed Forces
Raise Loans, Issue Credit, est.
Coinage
Regulate Trade with Indians
Ratification
All 13 states must ratify for
the Articles to go into effect
Maryland will not ratify
because of Western land
claims
1781: 8 states w/ land
claims cede the land to
Congress
Articles finally ratified & go
into effect
Strengths of the Articles of
Confederation
States retained the
majority of the power
Successfully won the
Revolution & negotiated
a peace
Won large amounts of
land
Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
9 of 13 votes to pass a law
13 out of 13 to amend the Articles
Representatives were frequently absent
Could not tax
Could not raise an army
No executive or judicial branches
Local vs. National Identification
Americans did not see themselves as
“Americans”
Identified themselves by their states
– ex: Virginians or New Yorkers
– Saw the country as “these” United States
Wanted the states to have the majority of the
power
State Constitutions
Ideals of Republicanism
Most had strong governors with veto power
Most had bicameral legislatures
Established Judicial branches
Property required for voting
Some had universal white male suffrage
Most had bills of rights guaranteeing basic
rights to all citizens
The United States in 1783
The Land Ordinance of 1785
Established a
system for the
Northwest
Territory to be
surveyed and
sold
Land to be sold
cheaply since
gov’t needed $
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Established how statehood could be achieved in the
Northwest Territory
3-5 states would be created
NO SLAVERY IN THIS TERRITORY
Things necessary for statehood:
1. When population reached 5,000 adult male landowners 
elect territorial legislature.
2. When population reached 60,000  elect delegates to a
state constitutional convention.
Problems in the West
After the Revolution,
Americans moved out
west
Indian conflicts!
Squatters: no
governments out west to
buy land from
People just moved and
took over land
British: still
occupied forts
in the
Northwest
Would not
leave until ALL
British debts
paid
Spanish: worried
Americans were going
to take their land
Closed port of New
Orleans effectively
killing ALL trade west
of Appalachian Mtns.
Disputed Territorial Claims
Between Spain & the U. S.:
1783-1796
The Economy
The U.S. owed $50
million to foreign
nations
Over printing of money
led to inflation, then a
depression
Had a huge trade deficit with Britain
Each state had it’s own solution
Tariffs placed on each other
States began to tax heavily to deal with problems
Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87)
Farmers in Western MA upset
about taxes and increasing
debt
They were losing land or were
put into prison
Were owed a pension since
most fought in the Revolution
Daniel Shays leads these
men in a rebellion against
MA government
Attack the courts of MA
in Springfield
MA militia forced to act to
put down rebellion
National gov’t unable to
do anything
Problems between the States
• States are fighting amongst themselves
– Territory
– Tariffs
– Commerce
– Money
• National government is supposed to solve
these problems, but the representatives only
argue and 9 states never form a consensus
Annapolis Convention (1786)
Major problems under the Articles
Virginia called for a meeting to discuss fixing the
problems
Meeting held in Annapolis, MD
Only 5 states showed up
– NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA
Decided to meet
again in May 1787
in Philadelphia