Transcript The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation
 A confederation is a group of individuals that
come together for a common purpose
The Articles of Confederation established a
system of cooperation among the 13
independent states
The Articles did not unite the country
Primary reason for establishing the Articles was
to organize the newly independent states for a
war against Great Britain.
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Weakness
Effects
No power to levy or collect taxes
The government was always short of money
Nine states needed to approve new laws
Passing new laws was difficult
Amendments to the Articles required the
consent of all 13 states
It was difficult to change the powers of the
government
No executive branch
No effective way to coordinate the government
No national court system
It was difficult to settle disputes among the
states
Weakness
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in
the Constitution
No power to levy or
collect taxes
The government was
always short of money
Article 1, Section 8
•Power was denied to the
government because of
experience with Great
Britain
•The country fell into debt
•States began to place heavy
taxes on its citizens
“The Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and
excises, to pay the debts and provide
for the common defense and general
welfare of the United States; “
•Citizens grew weary of
paying high taxes
•Taxation with Representation
•Shays Rebellion
Weakness
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in the
Constitution
Nine states needed to
approve new laws
Passing new laws was
difficult
Article 1, Section 7
•9 out of the 13 states
were needed
•A simple majority needed to approve a new
law
•Could not get anything
accomplished
•218 out of 435 in the House and 51 out of 100
in the Senate
•Laws that would have
improved the country
were not passed (the
power to tax)
•Easier to pass a new law when needed
Weakness
Weakness
Amendments to the Articles
required the consent of all 13
states.
No power to levy or
collect taxes
•100 % agreement necessary
to make changes
•Power was denied to
•Very difficult
to get 100%
the government
agreement
on any
issue
because
of experience
with Great Britain
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in
the Constitution
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in
Difficult to change the
Article V
the
Constitution
powers of the
government
The government
was always short of
money were not
•The Articles
Article 1, Section 8
•Consent of 2/3 of the legislature
flexible and could not
(House and the Senate) and 3/4 of
change
withfell
theinto
times
theCongress
states (38)
required
to amend
the
•The
country
“The
shall
have power
to
debt
layConstitution
and collect taxes, duties, imposts
•If something
not
•States
began toisplace
flexible
it has
a
heavy
taxes
on its
tendency to break
citizens
•Citizens grew weary
of paying high taxes
•Shays Rebellion
and excises, to pay the debts and
provide
for theStates
common
defenseis and
•The United
Constitution
a living
general
welfare
of the
States;
“
document
because
theUnited
amendment
process
makes the government flexible
•Taxation with Representation
•The government can change as the times
change and as the American people demand
that change
A Living Constitution
•American attitudes toward slavery
changed
•American attitudes toward black
suffrage change and pressure from
civil rights groups
•Nationwide crusade to stop the
production of alcohol by women’s
groups
•American attitudes toward women
suffrage changed and pressure from
womens’ rights groups
•American attitudes toward the sale
and production of alcohol changes
•“Old enough to die, old enough to
vote”
13th Amendment (1865)
•Abolished Slavery
15th Amendment (1870)
•The right of African Americans to
vote
18th Amendment (1919)
•Prohibition of Alcoholic Beverages
19th Amendment (1920)
•Woman suffrage
21st Amendment (1933)
•Repeal of Prohibition
26th Amendment (1971)
•Eighteen year-old vote
Weakness
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in
the Constitution
No executive branch
No effective way to
coordinate the government
Article II
•Did not want another
King
•13 separate states
•Fear of a strong
central government
•Left all of the power
in the hands of the
states
•With no clear leader, there is
no one person with the final
say
•There is no branch to enforce
the laws of the country
•The laws, then, are
meaningless
“The executive Power shall be vested
in a President of the United States of
America.”
•One clear leader of the country
•Head of the executive branch – responsible
for enforcing the laws of the country
Weakness
Effects
How Weakness Was Addressed in
the Constitution
No national court system
It was difficult to
settle disputes among
the states
Article III
•Each state had its own courts
to interpret the laws or to
decide what they meant
•No sense of national
unity in terms of the
legal system
“The Judicial Power of the United
States, shall be vested in one supreme
Court, and in such inferior Courts”
•Conflicts between
states could not be
resolved
•No authority with final
say in a matter
•Judicial branch is given the authority
to settle disputes between two or more
states
•Supreme Court has final say in all
legal matters in the United States
Now What?
The Constitutional Convention of 1787
2 Plans of Government
• Virginia Plan
–
a federal government similar to the one we have
today, with a president, courts, and a congress
with two houses. Representation would be based
on each state’s population – giving more voting
power to the large states
VA
• New Jersey Plan
– A federal government similar to the one under the
Articles of Confederation, included a one-house
congress in which states would have equal
representation – states would have equal voting
power regardless of size
NJ
Constitutional Compromises
• The Great Compromise
– Proposed 2 houses of
Congress
– One house would have
equal representation
VA
Representation based
on population of state
NJ
Equal representation
regardless of
population of state
Constitutional Compromises
• Three-Fifths Compromise
– Southern states wanted to count slaves
as part of their population
– Northern states were opposed to the
idea
– Delegates compromised and agreed that
slaves would count as three-fifths of a
person. This number would be used to
determine representation in Congress
Ratification? Wait Just a Minute!
• Federalists & Anti-Federalists (Nation’s First Political Parties)
– Federalists supported the new Constitution
– Strong central/federal government (Articles of Confederation)
– Wrote a series of essays/newspaper articles to gather support for their
views called the Federalist Papers. (similar to modern-day campaign
commercials)
–
–
–
–
Anti-Federalists openly opposed the new Constitution
Too much power given to federal government
Not enough power given to the states
Constitution did not have a bill of rights (no guarantee of basic
individual rights)
– Compromise reached and Constitution ratified on June 21, 1788