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The Articles of Confederation Notes

SS.7.C.1.5: Identify how the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to the writing of the
Constitution.

Key Vocabulary
Term
What do you think it
means?
Amendment

Bicameral

Confederation

Constitution

Debt

Enforce

Ordinance

Ratify

Regulate

Revolt

Unanimous

Book Definition

Guided Notes
State Governments
State Constitutions
Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, American colonists thought about
independence. Independence would mean an end to colonial charters. New plans of government
would have to replace them. The Second Continental Congress urged colonists to form
governments, as shall . . . best conduce [contribute] to the happiness and safety of their
constituents [voters].
In January 1776, New Hampshire became the first colony to organize as a state. Leaders wrote a
constitution: a detailed, written plan for government. Within a few years, all the other former
colonies had their own state constitutions.
State Governments
All of the state constitutions set up a similar form of government. Each state had a legislature to
make laws. Most of these legislatures were bicameral. This means they were divided into two
parts, or houses. The members of each house or state legislature were chosen by different
methods.
Each state also had a governor. This official was elected either by the legislature or by the
citizens. The governors job was to carry out the laws. Finally, each state had courts. Judges in
the courts decided what the laws meant and how to apply them to each new situation.
Bills of Rights
The new state governments were based upon ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence.
These included the American ideals of individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. Most state constitutions contained a bill, or list, of rights. This list guaranteed the
basic freedoms and legal protections that the states citizens would enjoy. Among these rights
were trial by jury and protection of personal property. They can be traced all the way back to the
Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights.
Notes
What was the first this the colonies needed to do after they declared independence?

State constitutions set up a legislature, executive, and judicial branch. Explain each:
Legislature: What is the role of the legislature?

What is a bicameral legislature?

Executive: What is the role of the executive?

Who is the head of the executive branch in a state government?

Judicial: What is the role of the courts?

What did the states Bill of Rights do?

Two examples of protected rights:

What documents influenced the ideals included?

The Articles of Confederation

Each state was ready to govern itself when independence was declared. However, some tasks
were too big for individual states to handle on their own. A state could not raise and support a
large army, for example. Americans realized that 13 small, separate forces could not fight the
mighty British army. To win the war, American leaders knew they needed a single, strong army
under central control.

For this and other reasons, the Second Continental Congress planned for a confederation of
states. A confederation is a group of individual state governments that unite for a common
purpose. In 1777 the Congress wrote out these plans in the Articles of Confederation. This
document became the first constitution of the United States of America.
The Articles of Confederation set up a league of friendship among independent states. By 1781
all 13 states had ratified, or approved, the Articles.
The Articles of Confederation created a onehouse legislature in which each state had one vote.
The legislature was known as the Confederation Congress. It controlled the army and had the
power to deal with foreign countries on behalf of the states.
Notes
What is a confederal government?
What is a unitary system?
Why did the colonist not want to create a unitary system of government?

What is the Articles of Confederation?

How did the Articles of Confederation refer to the relationship between the states? What does
this tell you about the strength of the central government?

The Northwest Ordinances

The Confederation Congress passed two laws, or ordinances, that would have a major effect on
the history of the United States. Both of these ordinances were about the Old Northwest. This
area included presentday Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.
The first ordinance, the Ordinance of 1785, set up a plan for surveying western lands. Surveying
means measuring a piece of land. The ordinance also described how western lands were to be
sold. It divided the land into townships six miles square. Each township was further divided into
36 sections, each one mile square. This way of surveying is still used today.
The second ordinance was passed in 1787. It was known as the Northwest Ordinance. This law
set up a government for this area, which was called the Northwest Territory. Officials later used
the ordinance as a model to organize governments for other new territories. The ordinance also
provided a plan for admitting new states to the Union. Because of these plans, the Northwest
Ordinance was perhaps the most important action of Congress under the Articles.
Another clause in the ordinance that would have a significant impact on U.S. history in the 1800s
said:
"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory." the Northwest
Ordinance

The Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance helped people settle the Northwest Territory
in an orderly way. During the American Revolution, only a few thousand settlers lived there. By
the 1790s, their numbers had grown to about 120,000.
Source: McGraw-Hill Textbook; Chapter 5, Lesson 1

Notes
What were two successful ordinances created under the Articles of Confederation? What did they
achieve?

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Weaknesses of the Articles

The Articles of Confederation was written in 1776 and finally ratified by the original thirteen
states in 1781. Maryland was the last state to ratify the document in 1781. The desire for a
confederation came from the colonists experience under King George III from England. They
wanted to create a system that wouldnt allow for unfair taxing or limiting individual rights.
Under the Articles of Confederation, most power was with the states. The articles stated that
each colony was to act as an independent state, and that each state had the right to pass laws
within their borders. The articles also established a weak national legislature to oversee
interactions between the states.
Under the Articles of Confederation, states maintained their freedom and independence. As a
result, states functioned in many ways as independent countries. For example, several states
negotiated their own trade agreements with other countries, while other states established their
own militaries.
With the states having the majority of government power, the central government had no control
over the states actions and people began to fear that this system of government was not
working because the national government was too weak. The Congress did not have the power
to tax, so it could not pay for the army and navy needed to defend the nation. It also couldnt
regulate the trade agreements states were making with other countries. The Congress could also
not enforce any laws they passed because there was no central leadership to make sure that
laws were being enforced in each state or a central judicial system to interpret laws or settle
disputes between states. Finally, if any changes were to be made to the Articles of
Confederation, unanimous approval from all 13 states was required. This made it difficult to
make any changes to the articles. As a result, the lack of powers held by the weak national
Congress combined with each states independent actions, raised concerns that the Articles of
Confederation were not designed in a way to protect the new nation.
Weakness of the
national government

Explanation of weakness under the Articles of

Confederation

Congress had no power

to coin money
Congress had no power
to regulate trade

Congress was unable to

impose taxes. It could
only borrow money on
credit.

No executive branch

No judicial branch

Amendments required
unanimous approval
Approval of 9 of 13
states required to pass
a law in Congress
One vote was allotted
for each state
regardless of the size of
its population.

Shayss Rebellion
By 1786 the economy of the United States was struggling due to debt, or money owed,
from the Revolutionary War and because states were arguing over boundary lines and taxes. This
economic situation impacted individual states and also individual citizens, especially farmers and
merchants. These circumstances led to Shayss Rebellion, a revolt by 2,000 western
Massachusetts farmers who marched on county courthouses to prevent land foreclosures. A

foreclosure is when a bank or other entity takes back property when taxes or debts are not paid.
The farmers land was threatened with foreclosure because they were promised that they did not
have to pay taxes and other debts on their land during the Revolutionary War. These promises
were not kept and this led the farmers to revolt. Congress did not respond because it was too
weak and did not have its own army. The Massachusetts militia finally ended the rebellion, but
the situation made it clear that the national government did not have the ability to maintain
order in this new nation. After Shayss Rebellion, Alexander Hamilton of New York organized a
meeting in Philadelphia in 1787. This meeting, called the Constitutional Convention, would
eventually throw out the Articles of Confederation and draft the Constitution.
The freedom that the American Revolution sought to preserve proved to create a
government under the Articles of Confederation that could not keep law and order. However, the
experience with the Articles of Confederation led to the writing of the Constitution in 1787.
Source: Adapted from: Florida Joint Center for Citizenship

Notes
What happened during Shays
Rebellion?

Causes of the Rebellion:

What was the result of the Constitutional Convention?

Effects of the Rebellion: