During the American Revolutionary War, all 13 colonies had become separate states, and in turn, they...

The Articles of

Confederation

Life After the War

• During the American Revolutionary War, all 13 colonies had become separate states, and in turn, they had each established their own laws and constitution.

• These state constitutions gave the people the rights to make the laws.

• The people did not want to have a central government because they felt it would take away their power.

• The Continental Congress decided to create a plan for a national government. • This plan was known as the Articles of Confederation.

Articles of Confederation

• Although the states didn’t want a central government, they knew they needed to work together as one country.

• The Articles of Confederation left most of the power to the states and created a weak national government.

• The Articles of Confederation were accepted by the states in 1781.

Articles of Confederation

Separation of Power

Federal Powers

State Powers

• had little power

• power to declare war• make peace

treaties• make

treaties with other nations• print and

borrow money

• had their own laws and constitution• set up an

army• control

trade• create taxes• control the right to bear

arms• printed their own

money

• The Articles of Confederation gave congress little power.

• In turn, congress could not solve the problems that the new nation was facing.

• Examples include:– States printed their own

money, so people disagreed about the worth of each state’s money

– Congress could not pay off the debts from the war and couldn’t raise money because they weren’t allowed to tax the people

Problems with Articles of

Confederation

• Remember states were able to tax their citizens

• In western Massachusetts, farmers were having to pay high state taxes. They also owed money to merchants, but they couldn’t pay their debts. This upset them.

• Daniel Shays, a farmer, led a protest with a group of 1,000 farmers against the taxes. They tried to steal weapons from the national government.

• Congress could not help stop these protesters because they were not allowed to form an army.

• The state militia was able to defeat the farmers.

• This protest is known as Shays’s Rebellion.

• It was another event that showed how weak the national government was.

Shays’s Rebellion

• People began thinking they needed a stronger national government in order to solve the problems their nation was facing.

• Congress decided to invite the states to send delegates to a meeting in order to discuss ways they could change the Articles of Confederation.

Outcome…

Terms of Use 

Thank you for downloading my Articles of Confederation PowerPoint. I hope that you enjoy using it as a

valuable resource in your classroom! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. My email is

teachersgonewild2@gmail.com.

©Kara Lee 2014

This resource entitles you to single classroom use only. Please do not share with grade level teams or district wide or

post/resell any part of this resource. If you would like to share this resource with others, please purchase multiple licenses.

 I’d love to hear your feedback!

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teachers-Gone-Wild

Fonts and Clipart Credit

Fonts:

Clipart: http://clipart.mrdonn.org/government.html

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teachers-Gumbo

http://shaysrebellion.stcc.edu/shaysapp/person.do?shortName=daniel_shays

Frames & Backgrounds:http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doodle-Frames-Freebie-CommercialUse-646159

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Fun-For-Learning