Warm Up:
Last class we heard from 5 historical figures with different
perspectives on the type of government that would be best for the
new nation. Now, take on the perspective of a founding father.
Write 5+ sentences describing the type of government he might
want. What types of rules would he think are important to the
United States? What experiences might shape his view on what is
best for the U.S. (King George, Revolutionary War, etc.)?
Today’s Question:
What did the first government of
the United States look like?
How did founding fathers work to
fix these problems?
Agenda:
1. Articles of Confederation: what worked, what didn’t work?
2. Create diagram: What would you change?
3. Look at pictures/discuss Constitutional Convention
Articles of Confederation:
First set of laws governing the United
States of America
Under the Articles of Confederation, the state governments were
stronger that the national government.
This made the county a loose confederation of states.
What were the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation?
With your group:
1. Read/look at the picture on your placecard
2. Find the weakness on your chart
3. Fill in “where did this idea come from” and “problems that
occurred.”
Weakness
1. No chief executive
(No king or President
leading the new nation)
2. no power to raise
money or tax citizens;
national government could
only request money from
the states
Where did this Idea come
from?
Problems that occurred…
There was a lack of
leadership for the new
nation. No one to make
tough decisions or
represent USA to other
nations.
3. no power to draft an
army; the national
government could only
request that states send
soldiers for defense
4. new laws for nation
need approval of 9 of the
13 states
5. No common currency;
states printed their own
money.
Continental army
dissolved after the war.
Memory of a large army of
british soldiers in the
colonies was too painful!
Before the Revolutionary
war, the 13 colonies used
british pounds, shillings,
and pence in silver. The
new nation did not have
silver.
What should be changed?
Old Rules
New Rules
You’re invited!
Design an invitation that might be sent to people who might attend the
Constitutional Convention. Your invitation should include information about
when the convention will begin and end, where it will take place, who has been
invited, and what will be accomplished at the meeting. Invitations must also
include a bold title, a catchy statement to entice people to attend, and other
creative touches common in formal invitations.