The Articles of Confederation

Identify the new government formed by the Second Continental Congress after the Revolutionary War and

the problems that emerge from it

State ConstitutionsDuring the Revolutionary War, the Second

Continental Congress called upon the colonies to draft new constitutions

These constitutions were used to represent fundamental law, or organic law, superior to the colonial legislatures that had been established

Creating a ConstitutionBefore the colonies declared independence in 1776,

the Second Continental Congress established a committee to create a constitution for the new nation

Articles of Confederation-adopted in 1777Another factor that convinced France to support

colonies since we had a gov’t in progressFully ratified by 13 colonies in 1781What is a CONFEDERATION?

A group of people or nations form an alliance allowing each member to govern itself, but agreeing to work together for a common cause

America’s First Constitution

Allowed 13 colonies to take joint action with foreign affairs

Flaws: Unicameral legislature, Congress had no power to regulate commerce, collect taxes, and states were allowed to establish conflicting laws and their own currency

Articles of Confederation would prove too weak to govern America

Land LawsLand Ordinance of 1785: acreage in

Northwest territories should be sold to help pay off national debt

Northwest Ordinance of 1787: uniform national land policy; create Northwest Territories controlled by gov’t; land could be sold to individuals; when a territory had 60,000 people it could be admitted by Congress as a state

Britain Maintains PresenceBritain still hoped to maintain mercantile policies

in the Americas

Lord Sheffield claimed Britain could win back America

“It will be a long time before the American states can be brought to act as such a nation, neither are they to be feared as such by us (England)”

British maintained their presence in the west and fur trade with Indians to maintain alliances and prevent American attacks on Canada

Economic ProblemsAs a result of independence, American had to

make everything on their own

They no longer imported from Britain or traded with British West Indies

This thrust many Americans into poverty due to the bad economy after the Revolution

Result: Inflation; many state governments printed more money to try to solve this issue

Shay’s RebellionWestern Mass., 1786

Impoverished back-country farmers led by Daniel Shay rebelled against the Mass. Gov’t for taking their farms due to mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies

Similar rebellions started to spread throughout the states

Congress had no power to rectify the situation

Proved weakness of Articles of Confederation and new American government

European powers watched hoping that the new America would collapse!