A First Constitution
by Ashlie Christie
The Articles of Confederation was the first American Consitution that was completed in 1777. All of the 13 states agreed to send delegates to congress and each stste had one vote. The congress was able to declare war, appoint military officers, and coin money. Also they were responsible for foreign affairs. This limited the powers of the congress by giving the states final authority. Even though the congress can pass laws at least 9 of the 13 states had to approve it before it went into effect. Congress can regulate trade between states and foreign countries. They counldn't pass laws about taxes. For the congress to get money they had to ask each state for money. The states were not forced to pay the congress.
Weak Government Calls for Change
When the Articles were written, people knew right away what was going to bring down the country; a weak national government. Once countries found out about the struggling government, they took complete advantage of this. Britain would refuse to withdraw their troops fromj the Ohio River Valley, because they knew the government couldn't pull together a powerful enough army to make them leave. Spain gained knowledge of this, and shut off all American access to the port of New Orleans. Not only did countries put America to shame, but its own states were abusing their power towards the government. Since the government wasn't organized enough to have a surpreme court to settle disputes between states, New Hampshire and New York fought for the territory of Vermont.
Farmers Angered: Causing Rebellion
by Ashley Sample
After the economis depression caused the prices of farm goods to drop, the farmers were unable to pay off their loans. This angered the farmers and caused a rebellion to emerge. In 1786, Captain Daniel Shays, and about 1,000 other angry farmers gathered as a force. Shays was a farmer from Massachusettes who fought in the Revolution. |
This rebellion became known as "Shays' Rebellion." The farmers attacked courthouses and tried to take a warehouse full of rifles and gunpowder. The state of Massachusettes then quickly needed to raise an army to try and end the rebellion. They did just that. Shays' Rebellion was over. However, the rebellion worried many Americans because it was a sign that the Articles of Confederation were not working. Because they weren't working, leaders of several states called for a convention. They planned to dicuss ways of reforming the Articles. The leaders met in Philadelphia in May, 1787.
| Article 2 cont. The Congress was so weak that it couldn't pass laws against its own states. The government attempted to produce paper money to raise money. They didn't have enough gold or silver to back the Continental dollars. So states decided to print their own money, each a different value. This caused state trade to become very difficult. This showed that if the government wanted to make a comeback, then someone would have to step in and take charge. |
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