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Chapter 5-Creating a Constitution

Section 1The Confederation-a national government for the new nation.

Objectives today: List the achievements of the newly formed Confederation Congress

Summarize the weaknesses of the Confederation Congress

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Articles of Confederation

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Powers of the Confederation Congress

CANDeclare War; Make PeaceCoin Money; Establish a Postal SystemRaise ArmiesSign Treaties; Manage Foreign AffairsCANNOTImpose taxes; Organize a Court System; Call State Militia;

Protect CopyrightsRegulate Trade; Take necessary actions to run the federal

government

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Articles of Confederation

Government• Weak Central Government• Congress has no power to

tax• No power to enforce

treaties• One vote per state• No power to regulate

commerce• Amendment requires

unanimous vote of states

Problems created• Weak currency and growing

debt• Can’t pay the army• Treaties are not honored,

angers foreign countries• Larger, populous states not

equally represented• Trade hindered by high

tariffs on trade by states• Difficult to adapt articles

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Newburgh Conspiracy

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March 15, 1783 Washington saves the day!

• Officers had not been paid, they wanted their pay and their pensions

• Washington calls for a meeting in Newburgh, NY

• “Insidious Purposes”• Washington goes “dramatic” and pulls a letter

and a pair of reading glasses from his pocket. No one had ever seen him wear glasses before:

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The men soften, many cry, when General Washington states:

“Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in the service of my country and now feel myself growing

blind.”

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Land Ordinance of 1785• Congress needed a way to raise money and

pay debt. To do that, Congress needed to sell land west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• Orderly system of dividing, selling, and governing the land resulted.

• The Ordinance established a way to survey the land: townships, six miles square, each townships has 36 sections, one mile square (640 acres). Section 16 in each township was reserved for education/schools!

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Northwest Ordinance• officially titled "An Ordinance for the

Government of the Territory of the United States North West of the River Ohio," was adopted by the Confederation Congress on July 13, 1787. Also known as the Ordinance of 1787, the Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory, outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union, and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states. Considered one of the most important legislative acts of the Confederation Congress, the Northwest Ordinance also protected civil liberties and outlawed slavery in the new territories.

Basis for Governing Western Territory

1787 Northwest Ordinance

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Northwest Ordinance

• 1. 3-5 States could be created• 2. Governor, secretary, 3 judges appointed by

Congress• 3. WHEN there were 5000, adult males they

could elect a territorial legislature• 4. WHEN there were 60,000 citizens could

apply for statehood and BE ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH ALL OTHER EXISTING STATES.

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GUARANTEES-Under the Ordinance

• Freedom of religion, • Property rights, • Trial by jury• No slavery or involuntary servitude

• Five New States• Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and

Indiana

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Trade Success

• After the American Revolutionary War (as you might guess) Britain imposed sharp restrictions on American access to British markets.– American goods sold to British colonies in the Caribbean

had to be carried in British ships– Goods carried to Britain from a state had to be in a ship

from that state.Therefore…..The Congress began to set up trade agreements with other

countries such as: Holland, Prussia, and Sweden. Also renewed trade with French colonies in the Caribbean.

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The Congress Falters-TOO LITTLE POWER

• Americans want to make what they formerly bought from Britain.

• Britain flooded the United States with “cheap” goods.• They put their imported goods in states that did not

impose duties or taxes and then tried to move them into the other states.

• States even began to levy taxes on each other’s goods to raise revenue for their individual state.

• EACH STATE WAS BEGINNING TO ACT AS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY.

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Diplomacy(Remember Congress can’t impose taxes, raise money, or regulate trade)

• Congress can’t make the Americans pay their debt owed to the British.

• Congress can’t make Americans return property to the Loyalists that was seized during the American Revolutionary War.

• In retaliation—Britain refused to evacuate troops from American soil.

• SPANISH—problematic too—Spain closes the Mississippi River to the Americans-cripples trade

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No Money=Recession

• Farmers hurt the most• Borrowing, mortgaging• People holding bonds want to cash them in

but states can’t afford to redeem them for gold or silver.

• Arguing over paper money began.

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Shays’s Rebellion

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Massachusetts

• Starts 1786 government of Massachusetts raises taxes

• Farmers couldn’t pay their taxes, many lost their farms

• Farmers in Western Massachusetts rebelled, shutting down courthouses to prevent farm foreclosures

• Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army was one of the leaders

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January 1787

• Shays led about 1200 farmers to seize weapons at an arsenal

• The governor of Massachusetts sent General Benjamin Lincoln and 4,000 troops to defend the arsenal

• The militia at the arsenal killed 4 farmers and the rest scattered

• Effect: led many people to realize that a stronger central government was needed in order to protect the rights and property of the people (especially the wealthy)…