Articles of Confederation Study Cards

The test is wednesday, march 5th

What were the Articles of Confederation?

America’s  1^st constitution that created a weak national government

What was the Constitution?

a written plan for how a government works. 

What is Confederation?

A loose union of independent states

What is Federalism?

Dividing power between federal govt. & state govt.

What is a Sovereign?

having supreme power or authority.  No power above you.

While the Articles of Confederation were created in 1777, they weren’t ratified until when?

1781

What took so long to approve the Articles of Confederation?

• all states had to ratify ( approve it)

• States argued over who owned Ohio Country

• People were afraid of a strong central government

• We were at war

What was the Magna Carta

English document passed in 1215 that limited King’s powers & gave people certain rights/freedoms

English Bill of Rights

gave people more of a voice in government through representatives

What was the Mayflower Compact?

self government

Who was John Locke?

believed people & the govt. share a social contract.

Social Contract

Government makes fair laws & in exchange people follow the rules

How many branches of government did A of C have?

1

What branch did our govt. have at the time?

Unicameral Legislative Branch

How many representitives did each state have?

2-7

how many votes do each state have?

1

how many out of 13 states needed to approve the law?

9

What did the govt. have power to do?

Make friends ( alliances)

Make war

Make peace ( treaties)

Admit new states to our country

What were the weaknesses of the A of C?

• 1.  No executive or judicial branches

• 2.  No Power to collect taxes

• 3.  No power to enforce Laws.

• 4.  No power to regulate trade.

• 5.  Could not force states to provide $ &

Soldiers.

6. Each state could print its own $

7. Created a WEAK national govt.

8. States were like their own countries

9. No army to protect settlers from Native Attacks

10. Could not force the British out of the OH Country

What was the land ordinance of 1785?

• Created a way to divide & sell western lands in the OH Country

• Helped raise$$$ for our govt.& provide land for war veterans.

What was the Northwest ordinance of 1787?

created an orderly process for settling the Northwest Territory

What were the key parts of the Northwest Ordinance?

• created a govt. for the NW Territory

• created way to admit new states- only good thing from the A of C.

• (Protected personal freedoms.

• No slavery in NW Terr.

• Promoted Public education 

• Religious freedom

• Trial by jury

what were the requirements to becoming a state?

60,00 people

consitiution

borders

What were the states first added from the NW territory?

Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Who led Shay’s rebellion?

Daniel Shays

What did they do at Shay’s rebellion?

uprising to shut down courts & change laws to prevent foreclosures.

When was Shay’s rebellion?

1786-1787

Where was Shay’s Rebellion?

Massachusetts

Why was there Shay’s rebellion?

veterans & farmers could not pay debts & land & farms were taken from them 

How did Shay’s rebellion end?

Militia brought in to end rebellion

What was learned from Shay’s rebellion? ( why was it so important?)

It proves a stronger central government was necessary

What was the Mount Vernon Conference of 1785?

representitives from MD and VA came to discuss trade problems and realized other states might be having the same issues too. It looked more closely at the idea of working together.

1st step towards improving the A of C

What was the Annapolis Convention 1786?

• States sent delegates ( representitives) to discuss trade problems

• Alexander Hamilton said more states should meet in Philly to review and improve Articles of Confederation

• It led to meeting again at the Constitutional Convention, where states met to improve the government.