Articles of Confederation

1. Articles of Confederation A of C: 1. written by 2nd Continental Congress during Am. Revolution 2. loose alliance of 13 independent states 3. introduced – 1777, ratified (officially approved by all 13 states)– 1781 4. Congress could - declare war - print money - appoint military officers

2. Articles of Confederation Strengths: 1. held the country together during the Revolution 2. created land ordinance of 1785 3. created Northwest Ordinance of 1787 4. outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territories.

3. Land Ordinance of 1785: 1. Set up a system for settling/governing the Northwest Territory - land N. of Ohio R. and E. of Mississippi R. that was not yet divided into states.(Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin) 2. Territory would be: - surveyed - divided into townships(6 X 6 miles) - townships subdivided into 36 sections (1 X 1 miles) & sold for $640 each - 1 section for township set aside for public education

4. Northwest Ordinance of 1787: 1. Set up government for Northwest Territory - guaranteed basic rights for settlers - slavery outlawed - allowed territory to be divided further in the future 2. Provisions for admitting new states: - when territory had 60,000 free settlers it could apply for statehood. - once admitted, a state had “equal footing” with all other states.

5. Articles of Confederation Weaknesses: 1. states were afraid to give too much power to a central government because of their experience w/British Parliament & King George 2. no executive/judicial branches 3. no power to: -enforce laws - tax states - regulate trade 4. one vote per state in legislature. - smaller states w/small population had equal power to larger states