CH 8 NOTES Confederation to Constitution, 1776–1791 Section 1: The Confederation Era.
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CH 8 NOTES Confederation to Constitution, 1776–1791 Section 1: The Confederation Era
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Transcript of CH 8 NOTES Confederation to Constitution, 1776–1791 Section 1: The Confederation Era.
CH 8 NOTES
Confederation to Constitution, 1776–1791
Section 1: The Confederation Era
Main Idea:
*The Articles of Confederation were too weak to govern the nation after the war ended.
Why It Matters Now
*The weakness of the Articles of Confederation led to the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
Moving West*Some Americans thought of Kentucky as the wild frontier.
*Others, were attracted to the rich river valleys – saw opportunity
* Daniel Boone and 30 woodsmen cut Wilderness Road over the Appalachian Mountains stretching 250 miles!
Moving West
*Conflict w/Natives – settlers continued to move West.
*By 1790s, about 100,000 Americans lived in the Kentucky region.
*While settlers headed into the Western territories, the people in the East began to create new state governments.
New State Governments
*After declaring independence, each state created its own government.
*Some states created separate branches of government, giving different powers to different branches.
*They did this hoping to prevent the government from becoming too powerful.
New State Governments
*Some states included a bill of rights to help control government.
*All state governments were republics—people chose representatives to govern them.
The Articles of Confederation
*What was this? Plan for national gov’t.
*Gave national gov’t. few powers to avoid tyranny, or oppressive rule.
*Had the power to: wage war, make peace, sign treaties, and issue money.
*Each state had 1 vote in Congress.
The Articles of Confederation
*States had the most important powers - setting taxes and enforcing national laws.
*Leave states in control of lands west of App. Mts.
*Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation in November 1777.
*In 1778, 8 states ratified (approved), small states refuse to sign.
The Articles of Confederation
*Large states with western lands had an advantage in paying debts by selling the land to the west (map pg. 207).
*All states gave up their claims to Western lands over the next three years and the articles were ratified in 1781.
*Result? The U.S. finally had an official government! Wow!
The Northwest Ordinance
*What was Congress supposed to do with the Western lands that it now controlled?
*Congress passed important laws on how to divide and govern these lands.
*The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided Western lands into townships.
*These lands were known as the Northwest Territory.
The Northwest Ordinance
*Northwest Ordinance (1787) described how territory was governed: 1. As the territory grew in
population, it would gain rights to self-government.
2. Slavery was outlawed.3. Rivers were open to be navigated
by all.4. Freedom of religion.5. Trial by jury.
Why is the Northwest Ordinance important?
*When pop. reached 60,000, territory could apply to be a state.
*The Northwest Ordinance was important because it set a pattern for the orderly growth of the United States.
Weaknesses of the Articles
*The U.S. government (1776-1787) under the Articles were weak in the following areas:
1.Lacked power to enforce laws.2.Lacked power to levy taxes.3.Lacked power to regulate trade among
the states.4.Required all 13 states to approve
changes in the Articles.Yikes!
Weaknesses of the Articles
*The Rev. War left the U.S. government with huge debts.
*The Articles of Confederation do not give Congress the power to charge taxes (no money coming in).
*Congress was unable to pay soldiers and the soldiers rioted.
Shays’s Rebellion
*In the mid-1780s, Massachusetts (Mass.) faced economic problems.
*People had little money, but had to pay high taxes.
*Many farmers could not repay their debts.
*Their property was auctioned off. *If the auctioned property did not pay
debts off, the farmer was put in prison.
Shays’s Rebellion
*Farmers requested debt relief from the state.
*The legislature refused…the farmers rebelled!
*Led by Daniel Shays, 1,500 men marched on a federal arsenal
(place to store weapons).
Outcome of Shays’s Rebellion
*The rebellion was defeated quickly.*Farmers won the sympathy of many
people.*Why Shays’s Rebellion was important:*American leaders realized that
changes within the gov’t needed to occur!
*Convention held to change the Articles of Confederation!
