Download A More Perfect Union 1777-1790

A More Perfect Union
1777-1790
Chapter 7
The Articles of Confederation
Section 1
Goals of the State Constitutions
• To Stop the Abuse of Power in the
states
• To keep the power in the hands of the
people
• To avoid concentration of power the
states divided government functions
between the governor and the
legislature.
• States wanted to limit the power of the
Governor
• Legislative Branch was the most
powerful
-Two house legislatures called
Bicameral
The Articles of Confederation
• Our first Constitution—or plan of
government
• The First National Government of the
United States
• Adopted in November of 1777
• All 13 states had to approve the
Articles before it became official
• Formally became the government of
the United States on March 1st, 1781
Articles of Confederation
• Had authority to
conduct foreign
affairs
• Maintain armed
forces
• Borrow money
• Issue currency
• Could not
regulate Trade
• Could not Force
citizens to join
the army
• Could not
Impose Taxes
Executive Branch
• Did not provide for a President to run
the country
• Without a president, there was no one
to enforce the laws---No Manager
Judiciary
• No federal court system was
established
• No federal courts to settle disputes
Taxes
• Congress did not have the power to
impose and collect taxes.
• Congress had no money to run the
country; had to beg the states for
money
Trade
• Articles could not regulate trade
among the states.
• States set up their own rules, taxed
each other.
Representation
• Each state, regardless of its
population, had only one vote in
Congress.
• The large states with larger
populations said this was unfair.
Areas
Weakness Articles of
Confederation
Consequence
Executive
Did not provide for a
President to run the
country
Without a president,
there was no one to
enforce the laws
Judiciary
No court system was
established
No courts to settle
disputes
Taxes
Congress did not have
the power to impose
and collect taxes.
Congress had no money
to run the country;
had to beg the states
for money
Trade
Articles could not
regulate trade among
the states.
States set up their own
rules, taxed each
other.
Representation
Each state, regardless of The large states with
larger populations
its population, had
said this was unfair.
only one vote in
Congress.
The Ordinance of 1785
• Proposed in 1784 by Thomas Jefferson
to divide the Western territory into selfgoverning districts
• The Ordinance of 1785 established a
procedure for surveying and selling the
western lands north of the Ohio River
• An ordinance is another name for a law
The Northwest Ordinance
• Passed in 1787
• Created a single Northwest Territory
out of the lands north of the Ohio
River and East of the Mississippi
River.
• When population reached 60,000
they could petition to become a state.
• One accomplishments of the Articles
was the handling of Western Lands
Trouble on Two Fronts
• The value of money printed during the
Revolutionary War plummeted due to
no gold or silver backing up the paper
money.
• Money depreciated—became
worthless---fallen in value
• Continental Congress in Large Debt
• Robert Morris proposed to collect a
5% import tax—didn’t pass
• After the Revolutionary War, Britain
kept Americans out of the West Indies
and other profitable markets that they
controlled
• The Spanish halted American
expansion westward into its territory
by closing the lower Mississippi River
to American shipping in 1784