Social Studies Study Guide – Ch. 6 Sec 4 and Ch. 8 Sec 1-3
Articles of Confederation:
 A plan for national government passed in 1781
 National government would be run by a Confederation Congress
 Congress had the power to declare war, make peace, sign treaties, and issue
money
 Each state would have one vote in congress
 Before the Articles of Confederation were ratified, the issue of what to do
with the Western lands had to be settled.

Strengths of the Articles
Weaknesses of the Articles
Confederation congress
Federal government did not/could not:
successfully handled land issues
 Have the power to establish an
in the west. It passed the Land
executive branch
Ordinance of 1785 to divide the
 Enforce national laws
western lands. These lands later
 Enact and collect taxes
become known as the Northwest
 Regulate interstate or foreign
Territory.
(other countries) trade
 Establish federal courts
 Amend (to change) the Articles
of Confederation
 Other nations did not respect of
the power of congress and
blocked shopping
 Congress did not have the
power to collect taxes, it could
not pay its war debts
Northwest Ordinance
 Law that described how the Northwest Territory was to be governed
 60,000 people had to live in an area to become a state
Shay’s Rebellion
 Uprising of Massachusetts farmers who wanted debt relief
Ratification
 Approval
Constitutional Convention
 1787 meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at which the U.S. constitution
was created
 The Founding Fathers were the writers of the constitution
Federalists & Antifederalist
Federalists



People who were
for the Constitution
Favored strong
government
Believed “checks
and balances”
provided
protections
Both Federalists &
Antifederalists
 Saw need for
change
Antifederalists



People who
opposed or were
against the
Constitution
Feared strong
government
Wanted Bill of
Rights added
The Federalist Papers
 James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote a series of essays to
persuade citizens to support ratification of the Constitution
Checks & Balances
 The ability of each branch of government to exercise checks, or controls, over
the other branches
Virginia Plan
 James Madison and other Virginia delegates proposed a government with
three branches:
o Executive: enforce the laws
o Judicial: interpret the laws
o Legislative: create the laws
 Proposal for a two-house legislature with representation according to each
state’s population or wealth
 Representation determined by state population or weal
New Jersey Plan
 Called for a single-house congress in which each state had an equal vote.
 One vote for each state, regardless of size
 Small states supported the New Jersey plan
Great Compromise
 Agreement to establish a two-house national legislature, with all states
having equal representation in one house and each state having
representation based on its population in the other house
Challenges over Slavery
 Three-Fifths Compromise:
o Three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for both
purposes: representation in the legislature and taxation
 The Founding Fathers dealt with the issue of slavery by stating that all slave
trade could not be banned until 1808.
The Bill of Rights
 First ten amendments to the U.S. constitution
 Guarantees basic individual freedoms including freedom of religion
Declaration of Independence
 Three rights people are born with that cannot be taken away
o The right to live, the right to be free, and the right to try to find
happiness
 The purpose of the government is to protect peoples’ rights
 If government fails to protect the rights of people those people can change or
abolish the government