Lesson 2 4 Analyzing the Features of the

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation ESSENTIAL QUESTION What did the first government of the United States look like? LEARNING TARGETS Ø I can identify 6 of 8 features of the Articles of Confederation. Ø I can describe 3 strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Governing the. N United CLASS OTESStates Briefplan Overview the first. A written of government for the United States; 1. The new STATE Governments A RTICLES OF firm “leaguewould of friendship” a. The state. Agovernments control (have sovereignty CONFEDERATION between the original thirteen states over) their own states. b. The states would have a lot of power to make laws. 2. The new NATIONAL Government a. The Continental Congress agreed in 1776 that the government of the United States should be a republic. b. The Confederation Congress (new national legislature) the national or central government FEDERAL GOVERNMENT would make laws for the entire country. c. Each state had only one vote inpeople the Congress. a government in which elect d. The national government would for have limited powers. REPUBLIC representatives to govern them e. The new government of the United States was called the Articles of Confederation.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Governing the United States Discovery Activity We will now discover several of the key features of the Articles of Confederation. You will be analyzing 8 features of our first government, the Articles of Confederation. To do that, you will view various placards around the room with written information and images. You will: identify the feature and infer the reason why OR the possible problem created by that feature.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Governing the United States Discovery Activity Feature your Why This Was on Included Infollowing Possible Problems with You will record analyses the chart. the Articles of Confederation This Feature Placar d Lack of leadership from the central (federal) government. No single leader for the government. A B Wanted to protect individual states’ power. Fear of a strong central (federal) government. States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal (central) government didn’t have the funds to operate effectively. C D Fear of a central (federal) government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. Let’s complete Placard A together.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placard A One feature of the Articles of Confederation was that the government had no chief executive, such as a president or king. As a result, the government under the Articles suffered from a lack of leadership since there was no single leader.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation What experiences from 1763 to 1776 would have made Americans fearful of a king or president? Placard A Why, then, do you think this feature was included in the Articles of Confederation? One feature of the Articles of Confederation was that the government had no chief executive or ruler, such as a president or king. As a result, the government under the Articles suffered from a lack of leadership since there was no single leader.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation No Chief Executive or Did not want to have Lack of leadership Ruler another powerful executive from the central A (no leader of the or ruler like King George (federal) government like a king III who could rule No single leader for or president). abusively. the government. B Wanted to protect individual states’ power. Fear of a strong central (federal) government. C D Fear of a central (federal) government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal (central) government didn’t have the funds to operate effectively.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation No Chief Executive or Did not want to have Lack of leadership Ruler another powerful executive from the central A (no leader of the like King George III. (federal) government like a king No single leader for or president). the government. B Laws needed approval by nine of the thirteen states instead of a simple majority of 7. Wanted to protect individual states’ power. Fear of a strong central (federal) government. C D Fear of a central (federal) government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. Difficult to get nine states to agree on a new law. Central government unable to do very much. States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal (central) government didn’t have the funds to operate effectively.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation No Chief Executive or Did not want to have Lack of leadership Ruler another powerful executive from the central A (no leader of the like King George III. (federal) government like a king No single leader for or president). the government. B Laws needed approval by nine of the thirteen states instead of a simple majority of 7. Wanted to protect individual states’ power. Fear of a strong central (federal) government. C Congress did not have the power to tax citizens. It could only request tax money from states. Fear of being unfairly taxed by the central government, as they had been under British rule. D Fear of a central (federal) government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. Difficult to get nine states to agree on a new law. Central government unable to do very much. States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal (central) government didn’t have the funds to operate effectively.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation No Chief Executive or Did not want to have Lack of leadership Ruler another powerful executive from the central A (no leader of the like King George III. (federal) government like a king No single leader for or president). the government. B Laws needed approval by nine of the thirteen states instead of a simple majority of 7. Wanted to protect individual states’ power. Fear of a strong central (federal) government. C Congress did not have the power to tax citizens. It could only request tax money from states. Fear of being unfairly taxed by the central government, as they had been under British rule. D Congress did not have the power to draft an army. It could only request states to send men for military Fear of a central (federal) government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. Difficult to get nine states to agree on a new law. Central government unable to do very much. States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal (central) government didn’t have the funds to operate effectively. Left country vulnerable without a dependable military force.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation Fear of a central (federal) Disputes between No national court government with a court states often could not system. E system that might be unfair be settled fairly. to the rights of states. F G H Fear of a strong central (federal) government that could force states to pay for things they didn’t want. Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted. Disputes among states often could not be resolved. Created disunity among states.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation Fear of a central (federal) Disputes between No national court government with a court states often could not system. E system that might be unfair be settled fairly. to the rights of states. F G H Any amendments (changes) to the Articles must be approved by all 13 states. Wanted to make sure the states had a strong say in the shaping of the government. Fear of a strong central (federal) government that could force states to pay for things they didn’t want. Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted. Disputes among states often could not be resolved. Created disunity among states.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation Fear of a central (federal) Disputes between No national court government with a court states often could not system. E system that might be unfair be settled fairly. to the rights of states. F G H Any amendments (changes) to the Articles must be approved by all 13 states. Wanted to make sure the states had a strong say in the shaping of the government. Congress did not have Fear of a strong central the power to collect (federal) government that state debts owed to the could force states to pay for federal (central) things they didn’t want. government. Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted. Federal government often didn’t have the funds necessary to operate effectively. Disputes among states often could not be resolved. Created disunity among states.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Placar Why This Was Included In Possible Problems with Feature d the Articles of This Feature Confederation Fear of a central (federal) Disputes between No national court government with a court states often could not system. E system that might be unfair be settled fairly. to the rights of states. F G H Any amendments (changes) to the Articles must be approved by all 13 states. Wanted to make sure the states had a strong say in the shaping of the government. Congress did not have Fear of a strong central the power to collect (federal) government that state debts owed to the could force states to pay for federal (central) things they didn’t want. government. Congress did not have the power to settle disputes among states. Wanted states to have the ultimate authority in resolving disputes. Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted. Federal government often didn’t have the funds necessary to operate effectively. Disputes among states often could not be resolved. Created disunity among states.

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation R Strengths and Weaknesses of the C LASS N OTES 9 Articles of Confederation Complete a T-Chart on the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Strengths Weaknesses

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation Strengths and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation Strengths Ø make war and peace Ø could raise an army and a navy Ø print money Ø set up a postal system Ø could ask for money from the states to carry out its decisions Ø passed the Northwest Ordinance (land law) that established an orderly way to distribute new land Weaknesses Ø lacked power to enforce the laws Ø could not regulate trade or settle fights over trade between the states Ø could not settle fights over the state’s boundaries Ø could not tax the states Ø BOTTOM LINE v NO POWER to carry out or pay for their decisions

Lesson 2 -4: Analyzing the Features of the Articles of Confederation PROCESSING the Lesson Creating an Acrostic Use this lesson to create a sentence that identifies each feature AND explains the problem it created for our early leaders. Each sentence MUST begin with one of the letters from the word ARTICLES. Acrostic for the Articles of Confederation Directions: Use Lesson 2 -4 to create a sentence that explains WHY that feature created Problems for our early leaders. Each sentence MUST begin with one of the letters from the word Articles. For the feature “No chief executive”, for example, you might write: “ Strong leadership was not provided because there was no president. ” A ________________________________________ R ________________________________________ T ________________________________________ I ________________________________________ C ________________________________________ Let’s complete one feature together as an example. L ________________________________________ Do NOT use “A, ” “The, ” or “It” as your first word. S ________________________________________ E ________________________________________

• Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? What should be done to repair it?