Articles of Confederation
• Many new state constitutions and the Articles
of Confederation, reflecting republican fears
of both centralized power and excessive
popular influence, placed power in the hands
of the legislative branch and maintained
property qualifications for voting and
citizenship
Chapter 9 Study Guide, Questions I.5 and I.6
5. What was the “noteworthy innovation” that
Massachusetts contributed? Why was it important?
6. What features did many of the new state
constitutions have in common? In what ways were
these new constitutions influenced by the struggle
with Great Britain?
NJ Constitution 1776
• Governor, Legislative Council and General
Assembly
• Qualifications for office
– For Legislative Council- worth one thousand pounds
proclamation money, in real and personal estate
– For Assembly- worth five hundred pounds
proclamation money, in real and personal estate
• Qualifications for voting
– all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are
worth fifty pounds proclamation money
• No established religion
• No religious discrimination for holding office
as long as Protestant
The Articles of Confederation
• Problems?
– Ch.9 Study Guide (pp.160-169), questions II.1, II.3
• Positive Aspects?
– Ch.9 Study Guide
• Approved by the Continental Congress in 1777
• Not formally ratified until 1781
• Conflicts over western lands delayed
ratification
• Ch.9 Study Guide, Questions II.2
• What was the disagreement over western
lands? What agreement was reached? What
were its long-term benefits to the nation?
• -six states had no holdings beyond the
Allegheny Mountains. Seven had large claims.
The six states argued that the others should
not have exclusive access to these lands since
they had all fought for them. The states with
the land would be able to sell it and pay off
their war debts.
• Congress pledged to dispose of the lands for
the “common benefit.” New states would be
created and would eventually be admitted to
the union as equals.
•
This pledge was fulfilled as the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787
Preamble
• “Articles of Confederation and perpetual
Union between the states of New Hampshire,
Massachusetts-bay Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Georgia.”
Article II
• “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom,
and independence, and every power,
jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this
Confederation expressly delegated to the
United States, in Congress assembled.”
• Significance?
State Power
• coined their own money
• raised armies and navies
• erected tariff barriers
• How democratic were the Articles of
Confederation?
– Discuss with partners and look for specific aspects
of Articles
Weaknesses
• each state had one vote (making all states
equal despite population)
• all bills dealing with subjects of importance
require the support of nine states
• amendments required unanimous ratification
• Congress was designed to be weak
• no power to collect taxes and no power to
regulate commerce
Shays’ Rebellion
• -state governments face difficult fiscal
conditions. Were in debt because of the war.
• -paper money was worth less
• -Massachusetts raised taxes to pay off war
debts
• -farmers attempted to close the courts to
prevent foreclosures
• -Shays and his men saw themselves as
Patriots
Quotes
• Read quotes
– Place in context
– Analyze point of view
– To what larger issues/questions/themes do they
relate?
Shays’ Rebellion
A More Nuanced View of the Articles
• The Articles are often viewed as a failure, but
is this fair and/or accurate?
• What were they designed to do? Did they
succeed in this task and, if so, to what extent?
• What were the issues facing the new nation?
How well did the Articles address these
issues?
2003 FRQ
-Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of
Confederation were effective in solving the
problems that confronted the new nation.
DBQ
-“From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of
Confederation provided the United States with an
effective government.”
– Using the documents and your knowledge of the
period, evaluate this statement.
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFDERATION
• “From 1781 to 1789 the Articles of
Confederation provided the United States with
an effective government.”
– Using the documents and your knowledge of the
period, evaluate this statement.
– **WHAT IS THE QUESTION ASKING? WHAT IS THE
KEY TO WRITING THIS DBQ?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• Essay Prompt: The prompt makes the
statement that the Articles provided an
effective government from 1781 to 1789. It
asks you to evaluate the statement.
• KEY: What constitutes an effective
government? What is an ineffective
government? How do we define “effective”?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• How do we define effective?
– For most people it means strong.
– But if the government was having trouble getting
its own way during the 1780s, then it was not
effective.
– IS THERE ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT
“EFFECTIVE?”
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• This poses another question: Was the central
government able to provide the US with the
kind of government the people wanted?
• If we answer yes, then the government under
the Articles was effective.
• Did the Congress intentionally set up a weak
government under the Articles?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• Yes, they did! Why?
• Having learned hard lessons of a strong govt.,
under the British, the Congress intentionally
set up a weak one under the Articles, in hopes
that such a government would be less
threatening to their rights and liberties.
• So was it an effective government?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• Effective in this sense means “protective of
individual rights and liberties,” and we need
to see at least the possibility that this
definition may be compatible with (or even
require) a weak national government.
• If effective means the ability to tax, then no
the govt., was ineffective.
• Any other ways it can be seen as effective or
ineffective?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• NEXT STEP: WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
1780s?
– War and revolution still going on.
– A peace treaty needed to be negotiated.
– Hostile foreign powers to be confronted.
– Interstate land disputes had to be settled.
– Trade and business had to be rejuvenated.
– Native Americans had to be dealt with.
– The Constitutional Convention
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
First written Const.
Ratified in 1777.
13 states retained sovereignty.
“Firm League of Friendship.”
Poorly written.
Central govt. could not levy taxes.
• Central govt., could negotiate
treaties.
• Unicameral legislature.
• No executive.
• 9 of 13 votes needed to pass
legislation.
• 13 votes needed for any changes.
• Land Ordinances.
• Shays’s Rebellion
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• CAN WE WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT FOR ALL
THIS INFORMATION?
– Remember you should write your thesis before
reading the documents.
– THE THESIS IS ALL YOURS!
– NOW WE CAN READ THE DOCUMENTS.
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
•
•
•
•
DOCUMENT A:
Source: Rhode Island Assembly.
RI refuses to go along with a protective tariff.
Under the Articles the central govt., could not
levy taxes. Changing this required all 13 votes.
Because RI refused the tariff did not go
through.
• Is this an effective government? Ineffective?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT B:
• Source: Chart
• The chart shows exports to GB between 1770
and 1792 (any significance to this
timeframe?).
• A strong govt., would promote exports.
• Does the chart show this?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT B:
• 1784 exports declined from their pre-war high
and rose slightly between 1784 and 1789.
• What the chart does not show is trade with
non-British countries and territories.
• WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT B:
• Remember the states no longer were confined
by the rules of mercantilism.
• So it is at least possible that foreign trade
improved between 1784 and 1789.
• The first years under the new Constitution do
not exactly show a boom in foreign trade
(1787-1792).
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT C:
• Source: Joseph Jones letter to GW (outside
info?)
• Letter warns of the implications of the
national govt’s failure to pay its troops.
• Effective government?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT D:
• Source: John Jay letter to US Minister in GB (outside info? Is
the date 1785 important?)
• Document should remind you that GB had not vacated its
forts on the frontier as required by the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
• There was a real fear that GB was not willing to accept the
verdict of the Treaty as final and were plotting a return, (DID
THEY RETURN?)
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT D:
• Jay deals with this issue as well as the issue of
GB’s exclusion of American trade from the
empire and with British demands that
American merchants pay their pre-war debts.
• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?
• ANY CONNCECTIONS TO OTHER DOCUMENTS?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
•
•
•
•
DOCUMENT E:
Source: Map of Northwest Ordinance of 1787
At first glance, the map shows a host of internal disputes.
Outside info: These disputes were solved peacefully, that a
plan for territories to achieve statehood was put into effect,
and that slavery was abolished/banned in the territories.
• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT F:
• Source: John Jay’s speech to Congress on negotiations with
Spain (Jay’s Treaty)
• Shows Jay giving into foreign pressures and proposing that
Congress ratify the treaty and give up navigation rights on the
Mississippi for a generation.
• First analysis: Difficult to defend govt., but Congress rejected
Jay’s advice and the treaty. GW was also attacked.
• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• DOCUMENT G:
• Source: John Jay Letter to GW (1786?)
• Jay expresses fear that once chaos reigns,
even solid citizens will turn to a tyrant in their
search for order (radicalism of the Am. Rev?)
• Were Jay’s fears unfounded?
• EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
•
•
•
•
DOCUMENT H:
Source: Rawlin Lowndes speech.
What is significant about the date of the speech?
Not everyone was persuaded that a proposed change was
needed.
• Lowndes was only one of many who continued to speak on
behalf of the Articles (the Anti-Federalists).
• Only when the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights were
they able to swing even a narrow majority in important states.
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• KEY POINT:
– The narrowness of the ratification victory,
combined with a thoughtful consideration of the
documents, suggests that the questions of the
national government’s effectiveness must not be
treated as an open and shut case. Many still
favored the Articles.
– Historians continue to wrestle with the question
of the effectiveness of the Articles of
Confederation.
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• THESIS:
– Despite its inherent weaknesses, the Articles of Confederation
provided the new states with an effective government conducive to
the times and relative to the experiences the new nation had under
the British.
– WHAT DOCUMENTS TO YOU USE TO SUPPORT THIS THESIS?
– WHAT DO I HAVE DO IN THIS ESSAY TO PROOF MY THESIS?
THE DBQ: THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
• EFFECTIVE:
– A, B, D, E, F, H
• INEFFECTIVE:
– C, D, G