Articles of Confederation. Many new state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation, reflecting republican fears of both centralized power and excessive

Articles of Confederation

• Many new state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation, reflecting republican fears of both centralized power and excessive popular influence, placed power in the hands of the legislative branch and maintained property qualifications for voting and citizenship

Chapter 9 Study Guide, Questions I.5 and I.6

5. What was the “noteworthy innovation” that Massachusetts contributed? Why was it important?

6. What features did many of the new state constitutions have in common? In what ways were these new constitutions influenced by the struggle with Great Britain?

NJ Constitution 1776

• Governor, Legislative Council and General Assembly

• Qualifications for office– For Legislative Council- worth one thousand pounds

proclamation money, in real and personal estate– For Assembly- worth five hundred pounds

proclamation money, in real and personal estate• Qualifications for voting– all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth

fifty pounds proclamation money

• No established religion• No religious discrimination for holding office

as long as Protestant

The Articles of Confederation

• Problems?– Ch.9 Study Guide (pp.160-169), questions II.1, II.3

• Positive Aspects?– Ch.9 Study Guide

• Approved by the Continental Congress in 1777• Not formally ratified until 1781• Conflicts over western lands delayed

ratification

• Ch.9 Study Guide, Questions II.2 • What was the disagreement over western

lands? What agreement was reached? What were its long-term benefits to the nation?

• -six states had no holdings beyond the Allegheny Mountains. Seven had large claims. The six states argued that the others should not have exclusive access to these lands since they had all fought for them. The states with the land would be able to sell it and pay off their war debts.

• Congress pledged to dispose of the lands for the “common benefit.” New states would be created and would eventually be admitted to the union as equals.

• This pledge was fulfilled as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Preamble

• “Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.”

Article II

• “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.”

• Significance?

State Power

• coined their own money• raised armies and navies• erected tariff barriers

• How democratic were the Articles of Confederation?– Discuss with partners and look for specific aspects

of Articles

Weaknesses• each state had one vote (making all states

equal despite population)• all bills dealing with subjects of

importance require the support of nine states• amendments required unanimous

ratification• Congress was designed to be weak• no power to collect taxes and no power

to regulate commerce

Shays’ Rebellion

• -state governments face difficult fiscal conditions. Were in debt because of the war.

• -paper money was worth less• -Massachusetts raised taxes to pay off war

debts• -farmers attempted to close the courts to

prevent foreclosures• -Shays and his men saw themselves as

Patriots

Quotes• Read quotes– Place in context– Analyze point of view– To what larger issues/questions/themes do they

relate?

Shays’ Rebellion

A More Nuanced View of the Articles

• The Articles are often viewed as a failure, but is this fair and/or accurate?

• What were they designed to do? Did they succeed in this task and, if so, to what extent?

• What were the issues facing the new nation? How well did the Articles address these issues?

2003 FRQ-Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of

Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation.

DBQ-“From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation

provided the United States with an effective government.”– Using the documents and your knowledge of the period,

evaluate this statement.

THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFDERATION

• “From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation provided the United States with an effective government.”– Using the documents and your knowledge of the

period, evaluate this statement.

– **WHAT IS THE QUESTION ASKING? WHAT IS THE KEY TO WRITING THIS DBQ?


• Essay Prompt: The prompt makes the statement that the Articles provided an effective government from 1781 to 1789. It asks you to evaluate the statement.

• KEY: What constitutes an effective government? What is an ineffective government? How do we define “effective”?


• How do we define effective?– For most people it means strong.– But if the government was having trouble getting

its own way during the 1780s, then it was not effective.

– IS THERE ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT “EFFECTIVE?”


• This poses another question: Was the central government able to provide the US with the kind of government the people wanted?

• If we answer yes, then the government under the Articles was effective.

• Did the Congress intentionally set up a weak government under the Articles?


• Yes, they did! Why?• Having learned hard lessons of a strong govt.,

under the British, the Congress intentionally set up a weak one under the Articles, in hopes that such a government would be less threatening to their rights and liberties.

• So was it an effective government?


• Effective in this sense means “protective of individual rights and liberties,” and we need to see at least the possibility that this definition may be compatible with (or even require) a weak national government.

• If effective means the ability to tax, then no the govt., was ineffective.

• Any other ways it can be seen as effective or ineffective?


• NEXT STEP: WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE 1780s?– War and revolution still going on.– A peace treaty needed to be negotiated.– Hostile foreign powers to be confronted.– Interstate land disputes had to be settled.– Trade and business had to be rejuvenated.– Native Americans had to be dealt with.– The Constitutional Convention


• WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION?


• First written Const.• Ratified in 1777.• 13 states retained sovereignty.• “Firm League of Friendship.”• Poorly written.• Central govt. could not levy taxes.

• Central govt., could negotiate treaties.• Unicameral legislature.• No executive.• 9 of 13 votes needed to pass legislation.• 13 votes needed for any changes.• Land Ordinances.• Shays’s Rebellion


• CAN WE WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT FOR ALL THIS INFORMATION?

– Remember you should write your thesis before reading the documents.

– THE THESIS IS ALL YOURS!– NOW WE CAN READ THE DOCUMENTS.


• DOCUMENT A: • Source: Rhode Island Assembly.• RI refuses to go along with a protective tariff.• Under the Articles the central govt., could not

levy taxes. Changing this required all 13 votes. Because RI refused the tariff did not go through.

• Is this an effective government? Ineffective?


• DOCUMENT B:• Source: Chart• The chart shows exports to GB between 1770

and 1792 (any significance to this timeframe?).

• A strong govt., would promote exports.• Does the chart show this?


• DOCUMENT B:• 1784 exports declined from their pre-war high

and rose slightly between 1784 and 1789.• What the chart does not show is trade with

non-British countries and territories.• WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE?


• DOCUMENT B:• Remember the states no longer were confined

by the rules of mercantilism.• So it is at least possible that foreign trade

improved between 1784 and 1789.• The first years under the new Constitution do

not exactly show a boom in foreign trade (1787-1792).


• DOCUMENT C:• Source: Joseph Jones letter to GW (outside

info?)• Letter warns of the implications of the

national govt’s failure to pay its troops.• Effective government?


• DOCUMENT D:• Source: John Jay letter to US Minister in GB (outside info? Is

the date 1785 important?)• Document should remind you that GB had not vacated its

forts on the frontier as required by the Treaty of Paris of 1783.• There was a real fear that GB was not willing to accept the

verdict of the Treaty as final and were plotting a return, (DID THEY RETURN?)


• DOCUMENT D:• Jay deals with this issue as well as the issue of

GB’s exclusion of American trade from the empire and with British demands that American merchants pay their pre-war debts.

• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?• ANY CONNCECTIONS TO OTHER DOCUMENTS?


• DOCUMENT E:• Source: Map of Northwest Ordinance of 1787• At first glance, the map shows a host of internal disputes.• Outside info: These disputes were solved peacefully, that a

plan for territories to achieve statehood was put into effect, and that slavery was abolished/banned in the territories.

• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?


• DOCUMENT F:• Source: John Jay’s speech to Congress on negotiations with

Spain (Jay’s Treaty)• Shows Jay giving into foreign pressures and proposing that

Congress ratify the treaty and give up navigation rights on the Mississippi for a generation.

• First analysis: Difficult to defend govt., but Congress rejected Jay’s advice and the treaty. GW was also attacked.

• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?


• DOCUMENT G:• Source: John Jay Letter to GW (1786?)• Jay expresses fear that once chaos reigns,

even solid citizens will turn to a tyrant in their search for order (radicalism of the Am. Rev?)

• Were Jay’s fears unfounded? • EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?


• DOCUMENT H:• Source: Rawlin Lowndes speech.• What is significant about the date of the speech?• Not everyone was persuaded that a proposed change was

needed.• Lowndes was only one of many who continued to speak on

behalf of the Articles (the Anti-Federalists).• Only when the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights were

they able to swing even a narrow majority in important states.


• KEY POINT:– The narrowness of the ratification victory,

combined with a thoughtful consideration of the documents, suggests that the questions of the national government’s effectiveness must not be treated as an open and shut case. Many still favored the Articles.

– Historians continue to wrestle with the question of the effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation.


• THESIS:– Despite its inherent weaknesses, the Articles of Confederation

provided the new states with an effective government conducive to the times and relative to the experiences the new nation had under the British.

– WHAT DOCUMENTS TO YOU USE TO SUPPORT THIS THESIS?– WHAT DO I HAVE DO IN THIS ESSAY TO PROOF MY THESIS?


• EFFECTIVE:

– A, B, D, E, F, H

• INEFFECTIVE:

– C, D, G

Documents

Articles of Confederation. Many new state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation, reflecting republican fears of both centralized power and excessive