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Willy Ben Chen
1.pptxArticles of Confederation
The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee chaired by John Dickinson to draw up a new legal document for the union of the states in 1776.
The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 by all 13 states when the Revolutionary War was still raging.
Articles of Confederation
Designed specifically to have a weak central government.
The only branch of government is Congress.
States have incredible powers and are held together through a “league of friendship.”
Articles of Confederation
Congress was a unicameral legislature – it contained only one house.
Each state received one vote.
9 out of 13 states had to approve a piece of legislation before it became law.
13 out of 13 states had to approve amending the Articles.
Articles of Confederation
Congress had the power to
declare war
assign treaties,
entertain foreign relations
operate post offices.
decide on disputes between states and territorial issues
Articles also stipulated that Canada was allowed to enter the Union if they desired.
Articles of Confederation
Congress had the power to pass laws but could not enforce those laws.
If a state did not support a federal law, then it could simply ignore it.
Congress had no power to levy taxes or regulate trade.
Without a federal court system or executive leader, there would be no way to enforce these laws, either.
Northwest Ordinance
Admitted territories to the Union as states.
Each territory was to be governed by Congress until it had a population of 60,000.
Then settlers could vote whether to become a permanent state with all the rights of the other states in the Union.
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance
forbade slavery in the territories
granted freedom of religion
gave the right to trial by jury.
promised fair treatment to Native Americans. It did not, however, extend the same rights to them.
Economic Issues
The Continental Congress had borrowed money to fight the Revolutionary War, but could not repay their debts.
States had also fallen into debt and were raising taxes to pay off those debts.
States' self-printed money was worthless, so the state governments were demanding payment of tax in gold or silver.
States were foreclosing on farms that could not pay their taxes
Shays’ Rebellion
Daniel Shays gathered support from other farmers who had similar problems.
They forced some Massachusetts courts to shut down so they could no longer rule on tax cases.
Shays and the rebels tried to march on an armory in Springfield, Massachusetts but were met with resistance and turned back.
Works Cited
Articles of Confederation: Strengths and Weaknesses, Study.com
The Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance, Study.com
