The Articles of Confederation and Post-War Economics

Vocabulary practice flashcards reviewing the legal roots, powers, and ordinances of the Articles of Confederation, alongside post-Revolutionary economic conditions, debt, and inflation.

Common Law

A legal tradition originating around $1215$ characterized by an impartial judge, the right to a trial by jury, and reliance on judicial precedents.

Civil Law

A legal tradition based on a written code in which a judge decides the outcome of cases.

Articles of Confederation

The early United States governing framework, characterized metaphorically as a 'flat board & flat-headed nail,' that established a national government with strictly defined boundaries of power.

Powers Denied to the Articles of Confederation

Key governmental powers forbidden under the Articles, specifically having no army, having no power to impose taxes or tariffs, and lacking regulation over interstate commerce.

Powers Granted to the Articles of Confederation

Explicit powers given to the Confederation Congress, including operating post offices, conducting relations and treaties with Great Britain, declaring war and peace, appointing diplomats, and coining money.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Legislation that organized the Northwest Territory into a grid system of $6 \times 6\text{ miles}$ ($36$ sections, with section $16$ reserved for public schools) and sold the land at public auction for a minimum of $\text{\textdollar}1\text{ per acre}$ with a $640\text{-acre}$ minimum.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A foundational ordinance that completely banned slavery in the Northwest Territory and outlined the steps to statehood: reaching a population of $60{,}000$, drafting a state constitution, and submitting it to the Continental Congress.

War Debts

The financial burdens accumulated during the Revolutionary War owed by the national government to three primary groups: foreign governments, merchants, and soldiers.

Creditor

An individual or institution that is owed money and seeks repayment, such as foreign governments, merchants, and Revolutionary War soldiers.

Debtor

An individual or entity that owes money and cannot pay, represented after the Revolutionary War by the United States.

Inflation

An economic condition where the value of money decreases while prices increase, accelerated in the Confederation period by individual states printing their own distinct currencies.

Money

An economic concept described in the lecture as consisting of two essential components: symbol and value.