THE CONFEDERATION
GOVERNMENT OF
AMERICA
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
What were the achievements and
problems with the Confederation
government after the American
Revolution?
CONFEDERATION:
Definition:
A group of states, more or
less permanently united for common
purposes.
NEW BORDERS:
Beyond the frontier, The Confederation government
still had to deal with foreign powers.
Great Britain:
-Had 7 military strongholds in and around
present day Western New York and Michigan.
-Big fur traders, extremely nationalistic.
Spain:
-reclaimed Florida and the Gulf Coast around
New Orleans.
-Cut off American trade in the lower
Mississippi River. (1784)
FOREIGN TRADE:
How could a
government deal with
these issues?
-Britain still exported cheap goods to the U.S.A.
-The new Congress was unable to pay off debts incurred
from the war.
-this led to Americans buying the British goods
because they were cheaper,
-Veterans were not paid the money they were owed.
-economic depression resulted from these actions.
**THESE ACTIVITIES UNDERMINE THE NEW
GOVERNMENT’S POWER AND CONTROL.**
IMPOSE TARIFFS
Taxes placed on imported goods became the attempted
solution.
-However, each state decided to tax or not tax
imports, NOT The Confederation.
How do you think
Britain reacted?
-Britain circumvented tariffs by only exporting to
states without tariffs.
ADAM SMITH, ENLIGHTENMENT,
AND LAISSEZ FAIRE
ECONOMICS…
FOREIGN TRADE
CONTINUED…
The Confederation decided to try and impose a 5% tax on all
imports…
-12 states agreed…
-Rhode Island did not…
-therefore the measure failed.
*The Confederation required unanimous consent for
approval, so the tariff was defeated.
So what could be done to
fix this problem?
FOREIGN TRADE
CONTINUED…
Realization by many that a stronger central government may
be needed to be truly “free.”
Seriously?! But what about
states rights? What about
NOT being under the control
of centralized
government?!!!!!!
STATES RIGHTS VS. FEDERAL
GOV: WHATS THE BEST WAY?
List as many pros for both states rights and federal rights:
STATES RIGHTS:
FEDERAL GOV:
THE ISSUE OF
INFLATION:
Inflation is the economic term characterized by high prices
due to excess currency in use.
the end result is less valuable money.
Prior to the war, there was a shortage of money which led to
fur, tobacco, and even Indian wampum being used as
currency.
this happened because paper money became
useless.
Guess which state had
severe inflation problems?
RHODE ISLAND
PAGE 144…
SHAYS REBELLION:
-Massachusetts was trying to pay of their state debt.
-high taxes ended up putting many middle income farmers
and workers in jail between 1780-1786
-average farmer in Mass. Was paying 1/3 their income
in taxes.
-many farmers had to foreclose on their property…
until the summer of 1786…
SHAYS REBELLION
CONTINUED…
-Daniel Shays, veteran of the Revolution led a mob of farmers upon
the courts in Massachusetts.
-The state sent in troops, put down the “little rebellion” and Shays
fled to
Vermont.
-The Mass. Legislature did make
some concessions to the mob’s
demands.
IMPACT OF SHAYS
REBELLION:
-Sympathizers with Shay were disgruntled due to an
unresponsive government to their problems.
-Wealthy Americans viewed the rebellion as an example of
what too much freedom can lead to, and acknowledged that
more power in centralized government may be necessary.
-farmers across the states worried that similar problems
would develop in their land as well.
NEXT STEPS…