THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Creating a New Government
Chapter 5 Section 1
THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC

Most of the 13 states
wrote their own
constitutions during the
Revolution
Many included a
representative
government
 Limits on government
power
 Individual liberties

NEW STATE GOVERNMENTS

Each state government had three branches
Legislative branch – the branch that made the laws
 Judicial branch – the branch that interpreted the
laws
 Executive branch – the governor – carried out the
laws
 The states wanted to limit the governors’ powers

REPUBLICANISM

Americans did not want a king or any other
supreme authority over them
They wanted a republic – rule with the “consent of
the governed”
 Hard working, property owning citizens would be
active in government


Who were the property owning citizens??
REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD
Women had the first
opportunity to educate
children in civic virtues and
responsibilities
 Encouraged mothers to:

Raise sons to become patriotic,
future leaders
 Raise daughters to be
intelligent, patriotic, and
competent so they could run
households and educate their
own children

A NEW NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

A central government was needed for America
Needed to carry on the war
 Needed to make agreements with foreign
governments

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
John Dickinson of
Pennsylvania drafted a
plan for a new American
government
 Congress debated on the
Articles of Confederation
(first national
constitution) for over a
year

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
Document established a Confederation – an
association of independent, sovereign states with
certain common goals
 Congress adopts the Articles in November 1777

POWERS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT
The states kept most of their power under the
Confederation
 The document provided only for a weak national
government
 The national government only had a legislative
branch: the Continental Congress
 Each state only had one vote in Congress
(regardless of population)

POWERS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT

Congress’ Powers:
 Establish national policies
 Conduct foreign relations (including relations
with Native Americans)
 Borrow and coin money
 Set up post offices
 Establish an army and declare war
THE CONFEDERATION FACES PROBLEMS

It was difficult for the Congress to get anything
done
 9 of 13 states had to agree on any major law
 All 13 states had to agree in order to amend
the Confederation
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

There are large war debts to pay
 Congress does not have the authority to collect
taxes
 Congress asked the states for money, but only
got 1/6 of what it asked for
 The government could not pay for an army or a
navy
 The government could not repay money
borrowed from foreign governments
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

1781 – Congress set
up a department of
finance

It was run by
Philadelphia
merchant Robert
Morris
PROBLEMS WITH THE STATES
States could make agreements with foreign
nations and Native Americans
 There was no national court system

Congress could not settle disputes between states
 States sometimes refused to recognize laws in other
states
 Criminals could escape by fleeing state lines

PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS
Without a strong national
government, the US had
trouble taking advantage of
the land they won in the
1783 Treaty of Paris
 British continue to occupy
forts in the Great Lakes
region


Native Americans help the
British and keep American
settlers out of parts of the
Northwest Territory
PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS
Congress had trouble
with Spain about the
right to travel on the
Mississippi River and
use the Port of New
Orleans
 Disagreements
continued with Spanish
about the border of
Florida

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
Traders lost the advantage of being a part of the
British Empire, had to pay high customs duties.
 Inflation – huge rise in prices as value of paper
money falls
 Congress could not collect taxes, but states could

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
Settlers streamed into the lands west of the
Appalachians after the Revolutionary War
 How would these settlements be organized?
 The Articles of Confederation did not address the
question of new states

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
Northwest Ordinance –
meant to encourage orderly
settlement and formation of
new states
 Promised settlers religious
freedom and other civil
rights
 Slavery was not allowed in
the Northwest Territory
 Once it had a population of
60,000 it could apply to
become a state

STORYBOARD