Chapter 3 Lesson 1- The Country’s First Government
State Constitution
delaware was the first colony to organize as a state. Leaders wrote their own constitution. This
was a way for a state to signal that it was no longer ruled by england. All of the state
constitutions set up a similar form of government. Each state had a legislature to make laws.
Most of these were bicameral- had 2 houses. Each state had a governor that was elected by
the legislature or by its citizens. The governor’s job was to carry out the laws. Most state
constitutions contained a bill of rights- list of guaranteed freedoms and legal protections.
Articles of Confederation
Americans realized that _____ small separate forces could not defeat the British army. To win
the war they knew they needed a single army under central control. The 2 nd Continental
Congress planned for a ____________________ of states. A confederation is a group of
individual ___________ governments that united for a common purpose.
The ____________________________________ became the first constitution of the United
States. By 1781 all 13 had _______________ the Articles.
The Articles created a _______ house legislature. The legislature was called the Confederation
________________. It controlled the _________ and had power to deal with _____________
countries.
Northwest Ordinance
The Confederation Congress passed 2 laws or ______________. Both of these ordinances were
about the old ___________________. This area included the present day ________, Indiana,
Illinois, _________________, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.
The Ordinance of _________ set up a plan for surveying western lands. It divided lands into
_______________ 6 miles square. Each township was divided into ____ sections 1 mile square.
The _________________ Ordinance was passed in 1787, it set up a ________________ for the
Northwest Territory. The ordinance provided a plan for admitting new ______________ to the
Union. The Northwest Ordinance was perhaps the most important action of Congress under
the _________________.
Weaknesses of the Articles
Congress had no power to collect _____________.
Congress had no power to regulate ________________.
Congress had no power to _____________ its laws.
No single _____________ or president.
No national _______________ system.
Congress could not pass laws without approval of _____ states.
Articles could not be changed without the agreement of all _____ states.
Shay’s Rebellion
The state governments had fallen into heavy ________, so they __________ their citizens
heavily. Farmers could not sell their _________ and some lost their ___________. States also
taxed goods _____________ from other states and countries. The
____________________________ had no power to fix these problems. Americans feared that
the government could not protect them.
Daniel Shay was a ______________ who owed money because of heavy state taxes.
___________________ court threatened to take his farm to pay for his debts. He felt the state
had no right to punish him for a problem it created. Shay led _______ protestors in an attack
on a federal ________________. Shay’s ______________ made it clear that the country would
not survive without a stronger central government.
Answer this questions
How did the Confederation Congress run up a large debt in the early 1780’s? Why could it not
pay off its debt?