Formation of American Government
FORMATION OF AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT:
ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Bellwork:
Journal- If you were creating a new government, what are the five most important rules that you would include? List and explain.
Class work
Read pages 222-227 in your text book
Answer the 4 read to discover questions on page
222
Define the 5 key terms on page 227. Also define the term Social Contract
Put in your NOTES section of your binder
Read to Discover
What ideas and documents shaped American beliefs about government?
How did state constitutions contribute to the development of representative government?
What powers did the central government have under the Articles of Confederation?
What did the Northwest Ordinance accomplish?
Read to Discover
What ideas and documents shaped American beliefs about government?
English Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Enlightenment
How did state constitutions contribute to the development of representative government?
They all believed in the idea of representation and limited government power
What powers did the central government have under the Articles of Confederation?
Make coins/borrow money
Negotiate and make treaties
Settle conflicts between states
What did the Northwest Ordinance accomplish?
Helped to form a political system of the region north of the Ohio
River
Created the Northwest Territory
Included present day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
Also created a system for bringing new states to the union
Define
Constitution
A set of basic principles that determines the powers and duties of a government.
Republicanism
Support for a system of representative government known as a republic. limited government
A political principle which holds that government should be bound by laws that limit its power.
Suffrage
Voting Rights
Ratification
Formal approval
Social Contract
Agreement between the government and the people
FORMATION OF
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Early Influences
English Influences
England limited the power of its king and queens in two documents
Magna Carta: “Great Charter”
Required king to follow the rule of law
English Bill of Rights
Kept the king or queen from passing new taxes or laws without
Parliament’ approval
Enlightenment
People used reason to explain things logically
Belief in human goodness
John Locke- belief in social contract: the government had a duty to protect the people’s rights
During the Enlightenment, philosophers often discussed their ideas at elegant social gatherings.
How does the painting suggest the interest that the wealthy had in Enlightenment ideas?
State Constitutions
Constitution- set of basic principles and laws that state the powers and duties of the government
During/After the American Revolution, almost every colony wrote a new state constitution
Constitutions showed belief in republicanism
Republicanism- support for a system of gov’t called a
republic, where citizens elect representatives
Limited Government- kept leaders from gaining too much power, all leaders have to obey the law and no one has total control.
State Constitutions Cont’d
Most state constitutions protected the individual rights of citizens
Some rights included
Trial by jury, freedom of the press, private ownership of property
Separation of church and state
Suffrage – voting rights
Varied from state to state
Articles of Confederation
For some colonial leaders, individual state governments were not enough
Other leaders feared that a central government would gain too much power, like in Britain
The Second Continental Congress appointed a
Committee of Thirteen, one from each colony
This group was to create a national constitution
Met for a month and created the Articles of
Confederation
Ratification – official approval
Under the Articles of Confederation
A new Confederation Congress would become the central national government
Each state would have one vote in the congress
No president or court system
Confederation had limited powers
Make coins/borrow money
Negotiate and make treaties
Settle conflicts between states
Could ASK for money and troops from states
Northwest Territory
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Helped to form a political system of the region north of the
Ohio River
Created the Northwest Territory
Included present day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and
Wisconsin
Also created a system for bringing new states to the union
Also included a bill of rights
Required public education for all citizens of the region
Outlawed slavery in the territory
Bellwork
What makes a government weak? List as many things as possible.
Problems in the New Nation
Congress could do little to protect citizens against foreign threats
Could not force states to provide soldiers for an army
No controlled army = difficulty enforcing treaties
Britain and Spain took advantage of the weakness of the U.S.; didn’t follow all the rules and agreements
Economic Problems
U.S. faced problems with G.B.
Britain closed many of its ports to American ships
U.S. merchants had to pay high duties on U.S. exports
British goods flowed freely into the U.S.
British merchants could sell products cheaper than locally made goods
Loss of trade with the British shook the U.S. economy
Continental Congress could not fix the problem because they did not have the power to pass
tariffs-taxes on imports/exports
If one state passed a tariff, British could sell to another state who didn’t have any
No strong government hurt the U.S. economically
Economic Problems at home
Interstate commerce – trade between states
Congress had no power to regulate this trade
Trade laws differed between states, made trade difficult
Printing Money
States printed their own money
In order to pay off debts after the Revolution, states printed large amounts of money, resulting in inflation
Inflation - increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money
Inflation continues
Debtors- people who owe money
Creditors- people who lend money
Depression- period of low economic activity combined with a rise in unemployment
Each state handled its problems differently
some refused to print paper $
Some taxed land to raise money
When people could not pay the tax, courts began selling their property.
Some had to spend time in debtors’ prison
Some sold themselves as indentured servants
Shays’ Rebellion
September 1786, farmers in 3 Massachusetts counties began a revolt
Angry citizens w/pitchforks and other tools closed down courts in the western part of the state
With the courts shut down, no one’s property could be taken
Known as Shays’ Rebellion
Farmer and war veteran Daniel Shays was the main leader
At a later uprising , the rebels were eventually defeated and arrested
14 leaders were sentenced to death
State freed most of the rebels, including Shays due to popular opinion
Results of the rebellion
The rebellion helped to reveal the weakness of the
Confederation government
Drew attention to the Articles of Confederationthey weren’t working
The national government could offer little help to the states when they asked
Citizens were calling for a stronger central gov’t
Many felt a change was needed
Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
No President or court system
Could not FORCE the states to provide money or troops
Couldn’t create an army
Could not protect citizens from foreign threats
Difficult to enforce terms of international treaties
