The Nation’s First Government

1. The Nation’s First Government Goal 1.05: Identify the major domestic problems of the nation under the Articles of Confederation and assess the extent to which they were resolved by the new Constitution

2. The Structure of STATE CONSTITUTIONS The States decided to create three branches of governments, each having a specific job but done being more powerful than the others. Governor Enforce the laws Legislature Creates laws Judges and Courts Interprets Laws Remember: At this point we no longer call them colonies because they are independent from Great Britain and now have their own form of government

3. Preserving individual rights ( The Bill of Rights) -Trial by jury and protection of personal property Preventing another powerful government (Great Britain) The PEOPLE would have more power than the government Each state made sure they focused on two things…..

4. Uniting the States • BACKGROUND FACTS • The 13 states knew that individually they could not raise and maintain a large army to fight off the British. • They began to realize that they are stronger in numbers so joining all the states together became the goal • They did not want this united government to be stronger than the individual states because each state wanted its own freedoms • After much debate the 13 states ratified (passed) the Articles of Confederation • THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION • *Confederation= A group of individual state governments that band together for a common purpose

5. What the Articles of Confederation said…. • There will be a one house (unicameral) legislature • Each state had 1 vote regardless of the size • There would be a “Confederation Congress” • *Has control over the army • *Has the power to deal with foreign countries

6. The accomplishments of the Articles of Confederation * Ordinance of 1785 * • Divided the acquired territory into section to sell *Northwest Ordinance * • Laid the foundation for organizing new territory and set a policy for admitting new states

7. Weakness of the Articles Lack of Power and Money Congress had no power to collect taxes, regulate trade, or enforce its laws Rules too Rigid It took a unanimous vote of all 13 states to amend (change) new laws Congress could not pass laws w/o the approval of 9 states Lack of Central Power No single leader or group directed government policy No national court system existed These powers were added because the states felt that these were the powers that the king abused when they were colonies. That situation left them very bitter.

8. END OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR • With the signing of the Treaty of Paris to end the revolutionary war the states were officially independent! • However, the fight for independence left the states in HUGE debt (owing a lot of money) • The individual states turned to their citizens as a source to collect this money by placing taxes on them, taxes they could not afford or had any say-so about (sound familiar?) Helpful Reminder: The Declaration of independence did not make the colonist independent, it only Declared their intentions to be free…they still had to fight for it.

9. -Americans began feeling as though their government could not protect them and were becoming just what the King was… • Riots began starting all over the U.S. One major riot was the Daniel Shays rebellion. SHAYS REBELLION • Daniel Shays was a farmer who had fallen into debt because of heavy state taxes • The Courts threatened to take his farm for payment • He said the state had “NO RIGHT” because the taxes were outrageous • Led an army of 1,200 farmers towards an attack on the federal arsenal • Ended quickly • Sent a wake-up call that the articles need to be revised!!

10. The birth of the constitution The delegates met again in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, but what they quickly realized was that the Articles had too many flaws and it was easier to start over than to correct them.