APUSH Review Articles of Confederation Articles A Brief

APUSH Review: Articles of Confederation

Articles: A Brief Background • What was it? o Government prior to Constitution (1781 – 1789) • Main ideas of the Articles? o Weak central government • Anti-Britain o Confederation of states

Weaknesses of Articles • No Executive Branch • Difficult to pass laws: o 9 of 13 states must vote yes on a law • 1 vote per state regardless of size • Virtually impossible to amend Articles: o All 13 states must agree • Each state could have its own currency • No National Army

Strengths of Articles • Land Ordinance of 1785 o Sold land in West (Modern day Ohio, Michigan, etc. ) o Divided townships into 36 square miles, 16 th square went towards public education • Northwest Ordinance of 1787: o Defined process for admitting new states (60, 000) o Outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territories

Economic Challenges Under Articles • Each state could coin its own money o Discourage trade • Each state could impose tariffs on other states o Discourage trade

Domestic Challenges Under Articles • Newburgh Conspiracy (1783) o Some high ranking military officers posed a challenge to the government, stopped by Washington • Shays’ Rebellion (1786 -87) o MA uprising of farmers and Revolutionary War Veterans that protested: • Foreclosures • Taxes • Imprisonment for debt o Showed that the Articles were weak

Foreign Challenges Under Articles • Spain: o Ended “right of deposit” in NO • Britain: o Encouraged Native Americans to attack US o Impressment o Did not leave posts • Barbary Pirates: o Captured ships and demanded ransom • France: o Closed off trade in the West Indies o Demanded payback of loans

2 Conventions To Know • Annapolis o Purpose to improve the economy o Only 5 states show up o Alexander Hamilton saves the day o Promise for another convention in 1787 • Philadelphia (Constitutional) o Purpose was to revise Articles o Articles were scrapped, new government

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