The Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and Shays' Rebellion
The Weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation and
Shays' Rebellion
(and why money isn't worth the paper it's printed on)
It's All About Power!
• Why was the central government so weak?
• Look at the Americans' experience with the powerful central government of Britain
• Do the opposite!
But what if the government doesn't have enough power?
Federal
Rights
States'
Rights
BIG PROBLEMS!
One Major Weakness
Congress did not have the power to collect taxes from the states.
Could I please have $1000?
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
What's a government to do?
Hmmmm....why don't I just print some more money?
PRINTING
MONEY NEVER
SOLVES YOUR
PROBLEMS!
Which would you rather have?
Money isn't worth the paper it's printed on!
Money is only worth what other people will give you for it!
Paper money represents real things
One piece of gold
= One piece of paper ($1)
Paper money represents real things
One can of soda
= One piece of paper ($1)
Therefore...
One can of soda
= One piece of gold
What if you don't have enough?
What if someone won't give you what you want for the piece of paper that you have?
Can you just print more paper?
NO! It doesn't work that way!
Remember...paper money represents real things. You haven't changed the number of real things, just the number of pieces of paper!
= =
ACK! INFLATION!!!
Now your paper money is worth less!
= =
Soda used to cost $1. Now it costs $2!
PRINTING MONEY NEVER
SOLVES A GOVERNMENT'S
PROBLEMS!
Inflation was so out of control in Germany that in 1923, it cost 4 million of their dollars to buy a loaf of bread!
What we've learned so far...
1. Money is only worth what people will give you for it.
2. Printing more money doesn't solve your economic problems.
Weak Government = Problems!
Here's an explanation of how the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation led to Shays' Rebellion, which led to the creation of the
Constitution.
Daniel Shays
• Captain in the
Revolutionary War
• Retired from the army
• Wanted to be a farmer in Massachusetts
Uh oh...no money!
• Remember! The Congress didn't have the power to tax states...they could only ask for money!
• The states said no!
• So Congress couldn't pay its bills!
• So they printed more money!
• So they caused inflation and made money worth less!
How can you be a farmer if you have no money?
Get a loan from the bank!
Plant your seeds!
When your crops are grown, harvest them, sell them, and pay your loan back!
Uh oh...problems!
What if the bank wants its money back NOW?
But your crops haven't grown yet?
THE REPO MAN COMES!
The bank repossesses the farms and kicks the former soldiers out of their homes!
Why didn't they have any money?
• Inflation!
The money they did have was worthless.
• Taxes!
The state of Massachusetts had placed high taxes that hit the farmers very hard.
Who cares about having a farm anyway?
• Without property, you can't feed your family!
• Without property, you can't vote!
• Without property, you can't make money!
• Without making money, you get thrown into debtor's prison!
Give me my house!
• Daniel Shays and the farmers pick up their guns and go to the state courthouse to stop them from foreclosing on their homes.
• AND IT WORKED!!!
So they kept doing it...
And made the people in the government afraid!
The government made new laws that were meant to punish Shays and his followers.
The Congress can't help
Since the Articles of Confederation did not give Congress the power to raise a standing army, the federal government could not help stop the rebellion.
The Climax
The state of Massachusetts sets up an army.
Shays and his followers try to take over a federal arsenal to get more guns so that they could fight the army.
Shays and his men lost the battle.
Some of them got the death penalty for having participated in the rebellion.
To the Constitution...
• The failure of the federal government to solve the problem of Shays' Rebellion made people understand that the Articles of Confederation had made the government too weak.
• A Constitutional Convention was called to solve the problem.
The Constitution Is Born!
• After 16 weeks of arguments, the new
Constitution was created.
• And that's the government that we still have today!
Bibliography for Images
• http://www.swirepacific.com/media/gallery/beverages/download/cokecan.jpg
• http://www.esc13.net/flatonia/images/school_lunch.jpg
• http://dalesdesigns.net/dollar_front.jpg
• http://www.goldcitymall.com/prod_images_small/20gbar.jpg
• http://www.mattives.com/_wsn/page3.html
• http://www.ecashnotes.com/images/moneywheelbarrel.gif
• http://www.octc.kctcs.edu/mmaltby/his108/Articles%20of%20Confederation.jpg
• http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/ben/mass/images/shays_daniel.gif
• http://billhutton.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/constitution.jpeg
• http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/photogallery/cornsorghum+/images/corn%20ears.jpg
• http://knoster.com/financial/images/foreclosure.jpg
• http://www.ysursa.com/history/US%20Hist/shays.jpg
• http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/images/Shays%20Rebellion.jpg
• http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/images/2003/constitution_signing.jpg
