America’s First Plan of Government
Prepared by:
Jaime Leverington

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• Discussion Preview
– The Basics
• What are the Articles of
Confederation?
– The Reasons
• What beliefs about government contributed to their form?
– Governing
• How did the government operate under the
Articles of
Confederation?
– The Legacy
• What is the appropriate way to remember the
Articles?
In 1776, Benjamin Franklin designed this coin for the
Continental currency.
What is the message?
The Articles of Confederation

• What are the
Articles of
Confederation?
• What are the major features of the document?
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The Articles of Confederation
Basics

3a
John Dickinson
Primary Author
• The major features of the document
– Each state retains its sovereignty
– In Congress, each state gets one vote
– In Congress, each state sends
2-7 representatives
– No executive power, no judicial power
– 13 states to ratify, took 13 to amend
– 9 states (2/3) to pass a law
The Articles of Confederation
Basics

3b
Samuel Huntington
President of Confederation
Congress, 1781
• The major challenges of governing under the Articles
– Unreliable method of tax collection
– No authority to regulate interstate commerce
– No national currency
– No power over individual citizens
– No way to enforce treaties in states, create uniform foreign policy
The Articles of Confederation
Basics

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• The tax problem
– How were taxes to be collected?
– What happened when a State did not pay its tax bill?
The Articles of Confederation
Basics

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The Articles of Confederation
Reasons

“They believed that a federal government was one created by equal and independent states who delegated to it sharply limited authority and who remained superior to it in every way.”
From “ The Idea of a National Government ” by Merrill
Jensen, 1943 on page 357
• What beliefs about government are reflected by the
Articles of
Confederation?
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The Articles of Confederation
Reasons

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• “The price of union was an exaggerated… ….
solicitude for state’s rights” –
Peter S. Onuf
(page 91)
• According to Onuf,
How did
‘Confederation
Politics’
(pg 88) make the Articles of
Confederation an essential step toward union?
The Articles of Confederation
Reasons

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• Case Study 1: The
Impost Tax
– Congress proposes a
5% tax on import goods
– Repeated efforts to amend Articles to allow impost tax fail
• Rhode Island blocks initial attempt
• Repeated attempts also fail.
– Tax revenue challenge is the greatest challenge, no solution under
Articles
Independence Hall, Philadelphia
The Articles of Confederation
Governing

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• Case Study 2: Shay’s
Rebellion
– A farmer rebellion in
Western
Massachusetts
– Congress is unable to respond to it, private banks in Boston fund private army to put it down
– A failure of government to deal with internal security threats.
The Articles of Confederation
Governing

– 60 Second Civics describes Northwest
Ordinance
– What does the
Northwest Ordinance accomplish?
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– Audio Source
The Articles of Confederation
Governing

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• Did Maryland make the difference?
• If Maryland would have ratified the
Articles earlier, they could have gone into effect in Feb.
1778, rather than
March of 1781.
• Could the Articles have survived if they were given those 2 years of legitimacy?
The Articles of Confederation
Legacy

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“The failures of the Articles, often exaggerated for rhetorical effect, helped shape the new constitutional order that superseded them.”
“Most important, the Articles established a necessary framework for working towards a continental constitutional order.”
From “The First Federal Constitution: The Articles of
Confederation” by Peter S. Onuf on page 97
The Articles of Confederation
Legacy