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1 Unit 5 Readings: The Constitution Period NOTE: Please write all answers to the questions on a separate piece of paper to be collected. No homework written on these packets will be accepted. Unit Overarching Question: Did the Constitution and Bill of Rights establish the nation where all are equal, as suggested in the Declaration of Independence? THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION Reading 5-1: The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. Created during the War of Independence, the Articles of Confederation was the first constitution (document organizing a government) of the United States. The Continental Congress (the pro-Independence legislature) ratified once Maryland joined in 1781. To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island..., Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I. The [name] of this Confederacy (a loose joining together of states) shall be "The United States of America". 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. III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever. … (Articles 4-12 omitted – we will look at these in class) XIII. Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless

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Page 1: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The Articles of Confederation

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US History I Created by Dr. Martell

Unit 5 Readings: The Constitution Period NOTE: Please write all answers to the questions on a separate piece of paper to be collected. No homework written on these packets will be accepted. Unit Overarching Question: Did the Constitution and Bill of Rights establish the nation where all are equal, as suggested in the Declaration of Independence? THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION Reading 5-1: The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation created a loose union of states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. Created during the War of Independence, the Articles of Confederation was the first constitution (document organizing a government) of the United States. The Continental Congress (the pro-Independence legislature) ratified once Maryland joined in 1781. To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island..., Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I. The [name] of this Confederacy (a loose joining together of states) shall be "The United States of America". 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. III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever. … (Articles 4-12 omitted – we will look at these in class) XIII. Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless

Kimberly Kundinger
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such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State…

Above: A cartoon published in the Massachusetts Centinel celbrating the joining of the last two states to the Articles of Confederation. Notice how the “hand of God” is lifting up N. Carolina’s pillar. The caption reads, “redeunt Saturnia regna (‘Now Justice Returns’ in Latin). On the erection of the Eleventh Pillar of the great National Dome, we beg leave sincerely to felicitate (celebrate) Our Dear Country”

Questions for Reading 5-1: 1. In one sentence and your own words, describe what articles 1-3 and 13 of the Articles of Confederation say. 2. Please locate a dictionary (either in book form or online) and define the word confederacy, as it is used in this document. What were the reasons that this confederacy was formed (see article 3)?

KEY: Understanding Roman Numerals

Kimberly Kundinger
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3. The document says, “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” Thinking about the U.S. government today, is this currently true? Give an example of why or why not. Reading 5-2: Shays Rebellion: The Last Battle of the American Revolution By Richard Colton

General George Washington … wrote: “I am [ashamed] beyond expression when I view the clouds that have spread over the brightest morn[ing] that ever dawned in any country... What a triumph for the [supporters] of [dictatorship], to find that we are [unable] of governing ourselves and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and [untrue].” What scared Washington to this degree? Shays Rebellion, which was an attempted takeover of the Continental Armory (where the United States army stored all of its guns and cannons) in Springfield, Massachusetts in fall of 1786 and winter of 1787.

Daniel Shays was a former Revolutionary War army captain … and was a leader who would help organize a now famous rebellion against the government of Massachusetts. The 1780s were unsettled times of economic hardship and unfair laws. High property taxes, poll taxes that prevented poorer citizens from voting, unjust procedures of the Courts, … costly lawsuits, and an unstable money system made day-to-day life more difficult than it had been before independence…

With the Revolutionary War over, the United States had yet to create a truly working government. The Regulators, as the rebels called themselves, sought to correct government and courts ridden with random and oppressive laws and high salaries for officials. Mob riots at the court buildings in Concord, Worcester, Northampton, Great Barrington, and Springfield, halted most court action.

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