The Articles of Confederation
AP American History
Introduction:
Once Independence was declared the new nation had a name, a flag and an army. What
they lacked, was a government. What then would be the shape of this new government? What
type of leader would be in charge? How much liberty would the states and citizens have?
These questions faced our Founding/Forming Fathers in 1777 and continue to be debated by
our nation today.
Words to know:
Confederation
"the Critical Period"
“mobocracy”
anarchy
Shays Rebellion
Depression of 1787
Jay-Gardoqui Treaty
radical
conservative
Annapolis Convention, 1786
Land Ordinances
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Newburgh Conspiracy (1783)
Adams-Carmarthen negotiations
Text Resources: American Pageant pp. 164-177 and Zinn pp. 77-95
Study Questions: (Handwritten, minimum 50 words)
1. Consider how America and American government would be different if the Articles of
Confederation had remained the national government.—Due November 17
Friday, October 31: How revolutionary was the Revolution? Reading on the American
Revolution and complete the chart to see if the Revolution was a radical or a conservative
movement. For Monday: Read "The Radical Revolution an Interview with Gordon Wood" and
answer the related questions.
Monday, November 3: We will continue to discuss whether the Revolution was a radical or
conservative movement. This will require us to define who made up each group during this
time in American history. In our groups we will attempt to assess the document to gain
information on how the Confederation was representative of the preservation of individual
liberties as opposed to the politics of national interest.
For Tuesday: Read American Pageant, pages 164-177
For Wednesday: Read Zinn pages 77-95 and answer the related questions
Tuesday, November 4: We will work on the Group project on "The Articles of Confederation:
The Challenge of Sovereignty”. This will help us to analyze the pros and cons of this
document. It will also help us to understand the mindset of those who created the Articles,
Wednesday, Nov 5: We will compare and contrast the views of Wood with Zinn to identify
the portions of the rebellion that were radical or conservative. These should help in our
analysis of the Articles to determine the type of government that was created. We will also
continue to work on the projects from Tuesday.
For Friday: Read “A State of Crisis” and bring to class a list of issues and events that led to a
revision of the Articles of Confederation. (Minimum of 10)
Thursday, Nov 6: Assess the problems and success of the newly formed government by
analyzing events of the time period
Friday, Nov 7: A discussion of American Foreign Policy during the Confederation. We will also
discuss the problems that threatened the young nation.
Monday, Nov 10: We will summarize our discussion of the Articles of Confederation and
discussing how to answer Document Based Questions (DBQ).
Tuesday, Nov 11: Review and go over questions relating to the unit or DBQ’s
Wednesday, Nov 12: DBQ on the Articles of Confederation