The Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and Shays' Rebellion

THE WEAKNESSES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND SHAYS' REBELLION

(AND W

HY MONEY

ISN'T

WORTH

THE

PAPER

IT'S

PRIN

TED O

N)

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

The first system of government designed by the Founding Fathers was a Confederation. Under a Confederate

system, the National or Central Government is given only a few powers, while most of the power is reserved for

the States.

1. WHY DID THE FOUNDING FATHERS CHOOSE A CONFEDERATION PLAN OF GOVERNMENT?A. They were afraid of giving the central

government too much power

B. They wanted to keep the states separate from each other

C. They did not trust George Washington

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

The Articles had 2 major achievements:

1)Bringing the Revolutionary War to a successful conclusion

2) North West Ordinance (plan for governing the western lands)

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

Declare War &

Establish an Army/Navy

No Power to Draft Soldiers

DO YOU THINK THAT IT IS OKAY TO DRAFT SOLDIERS TO A WAR THEY DON’T BELIEVE IN?

A. YESB. NO

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

Make Peace & Sign Treaties

No Power to Enforce Treaties

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

Borrow Money No Power to Collect Taxes

from the States

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

Organize a

Post Office

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

No Chief Executive

No national court system

No Power to Regulate Interstate Commerce

No National Currency

Difficult to Pass laws (2/3 vote)

THE ARTICLES OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONFEDERATION

Congress was given Congress was given the power to:the power to:

America’s 1st Constitution 1781-1789

Difficult to Amend

(unanimous vote needed to change the

articles)

SUM IT UP: THE ARTICLES OF SUM IT UP: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONCONFEDERATIONCongress was given

the power to:Declare WarMake PeaceSign TreatiesBorrow Money Establish an Army

& NavyOrganize a Post

Office

• No Chief Executive• No National Court System• No Power to Draft Soldiers• No Power to Control Interstate

Commerce• No Power to Enforce Treaties• No Power to Collect Taxes from

the States• Difficult to Pass Laws (2/3 vote)• No National Currency• Difficult to Amend • (Unanimous Vote Needed to

Change Articles)

A. They feared that a strong central government would create tyranny, and stamp out the peoples natural God

given rights.

B. They wanted to eventually become different countries

C. They wanted to make amends with England and rebuild their Colonial systems.

Why did the Founding Fathers Choose a Confederation plan

of government?

IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER!

Why was the central government so weak?

Look at the Americans' experience with the powerful central government of Britain

Do the opposite!

BUT WHAT IF THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH POWER?

BIG PROBLEMS!

Federal Rights

States' Rights

ONE MAJOR WEAKNESS:

Congress did not have the power to collect taxes from the states.

COULD I PLEASE HAVE $1000?

NO!

NO!

NO!

NO!

WHAT'S A GOVERNMENT TO DO?

Hmmmm....why don't I just print some more money?

PRINTING MONEY NEVER SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS!

WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE?

MONEY ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER IT'S PRINTED ON!

Money is only worth what other people will give you for it!

PAPER MONEY REPRESENTS REAL THINGS

= One piece of paper ($1)

One piece of gold

PAPER MONEY REPRESENTS REAL THINGS

= One piece of paper ($1)

One can of soda

THEREFORE...

= One piece of gold

One can of soda

WHAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH?WHAT IF SOMEONE WON'T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT FOR THE PIECE OF PAPER THAT YOU HAVE?CAN YOU JUST PRINT MORE PAPER?

NO! IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY!

Remember...paper money represents real things. You haven't changed the number of real

things, just the number of pieces of paper!

= =

ACK! INFLATION!!!

Now your paper money is worth less!

= =

Soda used to cost $1. Now it costs $2!

PRINTING MONEY NEVER SOLVES A GOVERNMENT'S PROBLEMS!

Inflation was so out of control in Germany that in 1923, it cost 4 million of their dollars to buy a loaf of bread!

WHAT WE'VE LEARNED SO FAR...

1. Money is only worth what people will give you for it.

2. Printing more money doesn't solve your economic problems.

WEAK GOVERNMENT = PROBLEMS!

Here's an explanation of how the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to Shays' Rebellion, which led to the creation of the Constitution.

DANIEL SHAYS

Captain in the Revolutionary War

Retired from the army

Wanted to be a farmer in Massachusetts

UH OH...NO MONEY!

Remember! The Congress didn't have the power to tax states...they could only ask for money!

The states said no!

So Congress couldn't pay its bills!

So they printed more money!

So they caused inflation and made money worth less!

HOW CAN YOU BE A FARMER IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY?

Get a loan from the bank!

Plant your seeds!

When your crops are grown, harvest them, sell them, and pay your loan back!

UH OH...PROBLEMS!

What if the bank wants its money back NOW?

But your crops haven't grown yet?

THE REPO MAN COMES!

The bank repossesses the farms and kicks the former soldiers out of their homes!

WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE ANY MONEY?

Inflation! The money they did have

was worthless.

Taxes! The state of Massachusetts had

placed high taxes that hit the farmers very hard.

WHO CARES ABOUT HAVING A FARM ANYWAY?

Without property, you can't feed your family!

Without property, you can't vote!

Without property, you can't make money!

Without making money, you get thrown into

debtor's prison!

GIVE ME MY HOUSE!

Daniel Shays and the farmers pick up their guns and go to the state courthouse to stop them from foreclosing on their homes.

AND IT WORKED!!!

SO THEY KEPT DOING IT...

And made the people in the government afraid!

The government made new laws that were meant to punish Shays and his followers.

THE CONGRESS CAN'T HELP

Since the Articles of Confederation did not give Congress the power to raise a standing army, the federal government could not help stop the rebellion.

THE CLIMAX

The state of Massachusetts sets up an army.

Shays and his followers try to take over a federal arsenal to get more guns so that they could fight the army.

SHAYS AND HIS MEN LOST THE BATTLE.SOME OF THEM GOT THE DEATH PENALTY FOR HAVING PARTICIPATED IN THE REBELLION.

TO THE CONSTITUTION...

The failure of the federal government to solve the problem of Shays' Rebellion made people understand that the Articles of Confederation had made the government too weak.

A Constitutional Convention was called to solve the problem.

THE CONSTITUTION IS BORN!

After 16 weeks of arguments, the new Constitution was created.

And that's the government that we still have today!

WHY DID THE FOUNDING FATHERS BELIEVE THE ARTICLES NEEDED TO BE REPLACED BY THE US CONSTITUTION?

A. They wanted to have a new King

B. We only needed a stronger army

C. We were too divided and had no common systems

D. The Federal Government could not enforce its rules

E. C and D

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