Cornell Notes 7.1
Lecture, reading/chapter/novel/article
during class, power point, movies (if
need to collect info.)
Name: ___________________________________
Topic: Chapter 7, Section 1
Pages: 204-211
Date: ____________________________
Class: _________________ Period: ________
Learning Target: Determine the successes and failures of our new government after the American
Revolution ends.
Questions/Main Ideas/Summary:
Governing A New Nation
Government by the States
Notes:
After the American Revolution, many Americans favored a republic where the
states had more power than the central government. They did not want a repeat
of the English King, and Parliament using excessive power.



Writing State Constitutions




Constitution- is a document stating the rules under which a government
will operate.
Leaders in 11 of 13 states began writing state constitutions
Rhode Island and Connecticut kept using their colonial charters
Executive- is the person who runs the government and sees that the laws
are carried out
New constitutions gave most of the power to state legislatures elected by
the people
The governor served as the state’s executive
New constitutions allowed more people to vote than in colonial times
(still only white males, 21 or over)
Protecting Rights
Articles of Confederation



This was the government congress created for the nation
It was called the Articles of Confederation (AOC)
It was adopted in 1777
Form of Government




The government under the AOC had only one branch
This branch was the legislative branch called Congress
All states were equal with each having a single vote
9/13 states had to agree before a law could go into effect
Limited Government

The AOC provided for a limited government because colonists did not
want to give up too much power to a faraway government… (this
reminds them of England!)
The AOC had many strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths of AOC
1.
2.
3.
Negotiated Treaty of Paris
Organized western territories
Created a method for admitting
new states
Weaknesses of AOC
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Settling the Western Lands




Land Ordinance of 1785




Limited government
Congress could not tax
No trade control
Could not enforce states to
comply with new laws
Depended on states
Virtually impossible to
amend 13/13 unanimous
vote
The approval of the AOC was not finalized until all 13 states agreed.
Some states (Maryland) would not sign until others (Virginia) dropped
their claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains
The lands given up were turned over to the government
The government could sell the land to private companies who wanted to
develop settlements in the west
To divide land, congress had to come up with a system
They decided to divide public land into a grid of squares, 6 miles on each
side, this was called a township
Within the township there was another grid, 1 mile on each side which
sold for no less than $1 per acre
One section was set aside to support schools
Northwest Ordinance 1787






Guaranteed basic rights to settlers who wanted to buy land in the
northwest territory
Set up a 3 step process for admitting new states
When a territory was just starting to be settled, congress would appoint
a governor, secretary, and 3 judges.
Once the territory had 5,000 free adult males, it could elect a legislature.
When the free population reached 60,000, the territory could ask to
become a state
5 states (including ours!!) were carved out of the Northwest Territory:
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin
Growing Problems
Economic Problems



Foreign Affairs



Shays’ Rebellion







Each state had its own trade policy where they tried to help their own
farmers and manufactures by setting taxes on goods brought in from
other states (this discouraged trade between states)
Each state printed their own money, making trade even harder
This resulted in little money to run the government
Under the AOC America seemed weak, and other countries viewed it this
way
British troops continued to occupy territory in the Northwest
Spain refused to let Americans ship products down the Mississippi river
Economic Depression- a period when business activity slows, prices and
wages drop, and unemployment rises
Daniel Shays- A former Revolutionary War captain, and farmer
By the mid-1780s a severe economic depression hit the US hitting
farmers especially hard
Farmers were unable to pay their taxes so the government took their
farms, and sold them to people who could
August 1786 Daniel Shays led an uprising of 1,000 farmers in
Massachusetts
Shays and his men tried to seize arms from a state warehouse, the state
called out the militia and Shays and other leaders were arrested
This event helped increase the belief that a strong central government
would protect against popular unrest, leading Congress to send delegates
to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the AOC