The Confederation
Era
The war is over, now what?
•
America was now and independent
nation having won the Revolutionary
War, but now what? What would the
country and the government look like?
The Articles of
Confederation
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The Articles of Confederation was the
name of the first government of the
United States.
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It had been started back in 1776 in the
Continental Congress, and finally
approved by all the states in 1781.
The Articles of Confederation
was weak, on purpose.
•
Americans were afraid of a strong national government.
After all, they had fought a war over it. So, they
government they decided on was week.
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The national government under the Articles did not have
the power to tax or enforce laws. Those powers were left
up to the states.
•
The national government did have the power to wage war,
but since they couldn’t tax, there was no way to pay for it.
•
The government could also issue money, but the states
didn’t have to use it. They had their own.
The Northwest Ordinance
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One of the things the new government was allowed to do
was divide any new lands the United States acquired. (Or
you could say taken. Most of the lands belonged to the
Indians, but that didn’t stop anyone from taking them.
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Under the Northwest Ordinance, when 60,000 people
lived in a territory, they could apply to become a state.
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Slavery was also outlawed, but runaway slaves were to
be returned to their lawful “owners.”
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Freedom of religion and trial by jury were guaranteed.
Weaknesses of the Articles
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Since the national government could not
tax, and the national money was worthless,
debt became a huge problem.
•
Debt = owing money
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The biggest problem was that the soldiers
who had fought the war, had not been paid,
and they were mad.
•
You are going to be looking at a picture
in a few seconds? See if you can figure
out what is going on in the picture. Look
at the picture closely.
•
Describe the people, objects, where the
event is happening, and what is
happening. (Who, what, where, and
objects)
Shays’ Rebellion
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The American Revolution ended in 1783
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The money paid to the soldiers who had fought
in the Revolution was worthless.
•
This was because the government was not
allowed to raise taxes in the Articles of
Confederation.
•
As a result, the farmers were unable to pay their
debts.
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The farmers were taken into court, then into jail,
and their land was taken away from them.
•
Most of the farmers were soldiers who had fought
in the Revolution and they were mad.
•
In 1786, an armed revolt by farmers against the
state government took place.
•
Led by Daniel Shays, the farmers began to
forcibly prevent the courts from meeting so they
couldn’t take anyone else’s land away or put
them in jail.
•
Early in 1787, the Governor sent 4,400 men
against the rebels and the rebels were defeated.
•
Shays and the other rebels were pardoned. (An
official act of forgiveness)
Results of Shays’
Rebellion
•
Shays’ Rebellion showed the leaders of
America that the Articles of
Confederation were too weak, and a
stronger national government was
needed.