The ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Mr. P’s Class
ANY NOTES IN YELLOW ARE MAIN POINTS AND GO IN
THE LEFT COLUMN OF YOUR NOTES
ANY NOTES IN RED ARE SUPPORTING DETAILS AND GO
IN THE RIGHT COLUMN OF YOUR NOTES
ANY notes in GREEN do not have
to be in your notebook
KEY QUESTION
 Was Shays' Rebellion caused by the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation? Explain.
FEDERAL VS. STATE GOVERNMENT
•Federal Government - (a
(a central
central government
government to
to
Articles of Confederation
control
control all
all of
of the
the states)
states)
• government of the WHOLE country.
Articles of Confederation
•State Government government of just
one state.
Articles of Confederation
1776 – Even though the war with Britain was going
on, The United States of America still needed to form
a government.
The thirteen colonies (now
states) already formed
state governments and
written down the rules of
how they would govern.
“CHARTER” or “CONSTITUTION” - (Written set
of rules and laws that government must follow).
CONFEDERATION - (a
loose association, rather
than a firm union) .
ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION •The first plan for
governing the United
States.
Articles
Confederation
Articles
of of
Confederation
Articles
Confederation
Articles
of of
Confederation
CONFEDERATION
- (a loose
association, rather
than a firm union) .
ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
•The first plan for
governing the United
States.
•Central (Federal)
government - connects
the states together.
This deliberately made
the federal government
weak;
the State governments
had almost all of the
power (see handout).
Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
•REPUBLIC - (voters choose representatives
to
make laws).
•CONGRESS - (Representatives from each state
who make laws for the whole United States).
Articles of Confederation
•Inspired by the “Iroquois Confederacy” and
Magna
Carta.
Iroquois are a Native-American tribe who practiced
DEMOCRACY - (the people choose their leaders).
 Power under the Articles…
 Each state was equal to and
independent from every other
state. Larger states were
permitted more delegates, but
each state had only one vote.
Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
 No President (they did not trust giving
one
person so much power).
 Weak Federal government, with one lawmaking
house (Congress).
1785 - “Northwest
Territory” - (what is
now Michigan,
Wisconsin, Illinois,
Ohio, + Indiana) joined
the U.S. as a
territory (not yet
states).
ORDINANCE - (government
regulations or rules).
1787 - NORTHWEST ORDINANCE explained:
1) How the new territory would be governed.
2) The procedure for eventually becoming states.
Articles of Confederation
The NORTHWEST ORDINANCE also
contained Three important rules:
Articles of Confederation
1. Freedom of religion,
speech, and the right
to a jury trial.
2. Native-Americans
must be treated fairly.
3. Slavery was banned
in the territory.
Why did the Articles
of Confederation fail?
1) A vote of 9/13
was needed to pass
a law.
2) No supervision by
the federal
government to ensure
that laws were
carried out.
Articles of Confederation
Why did the Articles of Confederation
fail?
Articles of Confederation
3) No federal
court system to
judge if a law was
broken.
4) Changing the Articles required an unanimous
vote.
Articles of Confederation
5) Congress could not force states to give
tax
money to the federal government; it was
frequently broke after fighting the Revolution.
6) Each state had its’
own money, not
negotiable in any
other state.
7) Each state had its’ own army.
8) Each state
NEGOTIATED
(made deals) it’s
own trade
treaties with
other countries.
Articles of Confederation
Problems created by the Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
There were debts owed to former soldiers, other
countries (France),U.S. merchants & suppliers;
The Federal Government could not pay DEBTS –
(Money owed to others).
A Union in name only;
states operated like 13
separate countries.
Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
No national identity.
A sense of lawlessness, due to the lack of a
Federal army.
No strong Federal government to oversee
financial policy.
Shays Rebellion
Worthless state
money.
No “check” on
state government
power.
Shays Rebellion
SHAYS’ REBELLION 1786-1787
Shays Rebellion
General Daniel Shays - from Pelham, Mass. was a
Revolutionary War hero.
The state bank
foreclosed on Shays’
farm, and the farms of
thousands of others
because he tried to pay
his bills with
Massachusetts paper
money, much of which
the state bank had
given him.
Shays Rebellion
Other business owners were also in debt, but
farmers were hurt the most.
Shays Rebellion
Remember, each state issued
it’s own money, and paper
money wasn’t always accepted.
Shays Rebellion
People (& banks)
preferred coin money
made of silver.
Thousands of people began to protest, calling
themselves “the Regulators”.
Shays Rebellion
Town meetings were held all over Massachusetts,
Daniel Shays was chosen to be the leader of the
Regulators.
The farmers demanded:
Shays Rebellion
The farmers demanded:
1) State government must
guarantee the paper money.
Shays Rebellion
The farmers demanded:
2) Money owed from the war.
Shays Rebellion
Regulators shut down
courthouses until their
demands were met.
The courts were holding
foreclosure hearings on
farmers and small
businessmen.
Many were being sent to
jail for not paying their
debts.
Shays Rebellion
Governor Bowdoin sent the state Militia –(citizensoldiers who fight during an emergency) to break
up the Regulators.
However the militia sided with the Regulators.
Shays Rebellion
Daniel Shays
Governor Bowdoin
The governor:
Created a professional army.
Signed new laws against the Regulators.
Shays Rebellion
January 25, 1787 Regulators attacked
the Springfield
Armory to get
weapons for a march
on Boston.
Springfield Armory
Shays Rebellion
The state Army
defeated them.
February 1787 - the army defeated the
Regulators again in Sheffield.
Shays Rebellion
Shays Rebellion
Between the two battles, 35 people were killed.
Shays Rebellion
Sheffield, MA
Are the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
responsible for SHAYS’ REBELLION?
Fall 1787 - Congress voted to hold a
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (elected
representatives meet to create a list of rules for
the government).
Shays Rebellion
This was the
only unanimous
vote that the
Congress ever
held.
KEY QUESTION
 Was Shays' Rebellion caused by the weaknesses of
the Articles of Confederation? Explain.
THE END!