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First Documents
Declaration of Independence
and the Articles of
Confederation
Leading to Independence
First Continental Congress –colonies
decided to boycott British goods
British declared colonies to be in a state of
rebellion
Second Continental Congress –elected a
President
and formed a military to fight the British,
acted as government throughout Revolutionary
War
SCC decided that the United Colonies
should be free and independent states, wrote
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence
Agreed to write a document that
would declare independence from
Great Britain
Thomas Jefferson wrote it in 3 parts:
Beginning: Statement of purpose & basic
human rights
Middle: Specific complaints against King
George III
End: Efforts to reach a peaceful solution
didn’t work, needed to leave Great
Britain
Idea of independence made
popular by Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell
you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make
havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain...let
it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word
of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the
world may know, that so far as we approve of
monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
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Thomas Paine
As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this
government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any
thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by
plain method of argument, as we are running the
next generation into debt, we out to do the work of
it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. IN
order to discover the linke of our duty rightly, we
should take our children in our hand and fix our
station a few years farther into life, that eminence
will present a prospect, which a few present fears
and prejudices conceal from our sight.
Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for
separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping
voice of nature cries, ‘tis time to part.
The Sun never shined on a cause of greater
worth.
EXPLAIN:
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New Government – Articles of
Confederation
Continued the structure and operation
of government that the Second
Continental Convention established
States wanted a Confederation rather
than a national government
Why?
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Make Up of the Articles of
Confederation
Unicameral (one house) Congress
from which executive positions were
chosen
Committee of States – one delegate
from each state managed the gov.’t
when Congress wasn’t assembled
Everyone state had 1 vote
No federal courts
Congress under the AoC
Had only the powers appointed, all
others were left to the states
Powers:
War
Foreign policies
Military
Indians
Mail
Handle disputes between states
What’s missing?
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Weaknesses
No power over taxes
Had to borrow and ask for money from states
No power to regulate trade
Problems making business arrangements with
other countries
Disputes between states
Laws needed approval of 9 out of 13 states
laws were rarely passed or amended
No executive branch
No way to coordinate the policies that different
committees were making
No national court system
States enforced and interpreted on their own
Achievements
Peace treaty with Great Britain
Set up Departments of Foreign
Affairs, War, Marine, and Treasury
Each had own secretary
Set Precedent ( Precedent is the first
time something is done; it is setting the
example for the future.)
Shays’s Rebellion
States were fighting over borders and
tariffs
Government was in serious debt as were
individual states
Daniel Shays led farmers to Massachusetts
State supreme court to stop the
government from taking their farms
When no new laws were passed, he led
1200 men to attack a federal arsenal
As a result, state delegates called for a
convention to revise the Articles.
Assignment
Complete the assignment outlined at
the bottom of the notes titled:
“Declaration of Independence
Complete guided notes activity
 Assignment 
What factors would have influenced
citizens of the newly independent
American country to choose a
Confederate system of government??
Use FER!!