Download VUS.5a The Articles of Confederation

Big Idea
• What problems contributed to the forming
of our government?
Vocabulary Terms
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tariffs
interstate commerce
inflation
debtors
creditors
depression
Shays’ Rebellion
Daniel Shays
8.3
Shays’s Rebellion and the
Need for Change
Objectives
-Describe how other nations treated the new U.S.
government.
-Examine the economic problems that arose under the
Articles of Confederation.
- Analyze the causes and consequences of Shays’
Rebellion
I. A Lack of Respect
A. Under Articles of Confederation, Congress could not force
states to provide an army, which made it difficult to
protect citizens or enforce international treaties.
B. Britain had not yet abandon forts on the U.S. side of the
Great Lakes, as required by the Treaty of Paris 1783.
C. Spain closed lower Mississippi River to U.S. shipping, which
hurt western farmers.
Important Questions
How did the lack of an army affect relations with
foreign countries?
 United States had no military to motivate or force
other nations to respect its rights.
Questions
1. What does international problems mean?
2. List the countries that the new National
government had problems with?
3. Explain each problem we had with each
country.
4. What did these events lead people to think
about our government.
II. Trouble with Trade
A. British Economic Policy
A.
B.
Closed many ports in the British West Indies to American Ships
Placed high duties on U.S. exports, such as rice, tar, and tobacco.
B. Effects on the economy
A.
B.
American exports dropped, while British imports rose
British merchants could sell British-manufactured goods in the
United States at much lower prices than manufactured goods made
locally.
C. Responses
1. Confederation Congress could not set tariffs-taxes on
imports and exports.
2. American merchants sought new foreign markets, such
as in China and France.
III. Economic Problems at Home
A. National Government.
1.
Confederate Congress could not regulate interstate commerce – trade
between two or more states – so trade laws differed from state to state.
B. Inflation
1.
C.
Some States printed large amounts of paper money, creating inflationincreased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value
of money.
2. Inflation helps debtors- people who owe money – because they can pay
back their debts with money that is worth less than what they borrowed.
3. Creditors- people who lend money- were upset at receiving worthless
money.
A.
.
Rising inflation and lost trade led to a depression- a period of low economic
activity combined with a rise in unemployment.
Important Questions
How did British trade policies hurt the U.S. economy?
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It hurt sale of American goods in Britain.
Lowered American exports.
Created trade imbalance with Britain.
Made it hard for American manufacturers to
compete.
Economy
• What is an economy?
• What is unequal trade?
• What is a tariff?
• How did Britain hurt the United states in
trade?
• Did anything good come out of our
troubles with trade?
IV. Debt in Massachusetts
A. Instead of printing paper money, Massachusetts collected taxes on land.
B. Farmers who could not pay debts lost their land and sometimes went to
prison.
Shays’s Rebellion
V. Massachusetts Farmers Rebel
A. Revolt
1.
2.
Some Massachusetts farmers angry over land taxes carried out a
revolt that became known as Shays’s Rebellion.
Led by Daniel Shays, a poor farmer and Revolutionary War
veteran.
B. Outcome
1.
2.
3.
Rebels were defeated in January 1787; many soon surrendered or
were arrested.
National government did not have the power to offer much help
during the revolt.
Revealed weakness of the U.S. central government and the Articles
of Confederation.
Important Questions
What conclusion did Americans reach after Shays’s
Rebellion?
 U.S. government under the Articles of
Confederation was to weak to respond to crises.
VI. A Call for a Convention
A. Five states sent delegates to the Annapolis
Convention in 1786 to discuss changing the
Articles of Confederation.
B. Delegates planned a Constitutional Convention at
Philadelphia in May 1787.
Important Questions
What did some state leaders think was needed to
solve the new nation’s problems?
 Revision of the Articles of Confederation to
strengthen the central government.