Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution

Flashcards about the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution.

Articles of Confederation

Our country’s first constitution; created a confederal system where the states had all the power and the national government had none

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Congress had no power to tax, regulate trade, or pay off government debt; no national executive or judicial branch; required 9/13 states to pass a law and 13/13 to amend the Articles

Why did Daniel Shays lead a rebellion against the government?

Congress had no power to tax, so his land was being taken to pay off his state’s debts from the Revolutionary War

What did Shays’s Rebellion demonstrate about the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

Without the power to tax, regulate trade, or enforce laws, the country would be too weak to keep united under the Articles

What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and what decision was made there?

To figure out how to fix the government under the Articles of Confederation; the Founding Fathers decided to get rid of the Articles and start fresh with a new document and a new government

What were the two plans being considered at the Constitutional Convention, and what/who did each of them favor?

New Jersey Plan (favored small states) and Virginia Plan (favored large states)

What compromises were reached at the Constitutional Convention?

New Jersey and Virginia Plans combined to create a bicameral Congress; each state gets 2 senators in the US Senate and a number of seats based on population in the House of Representatives; President to enforce laws and national court system; Congress gets power to tax, regulate trade, print and coin money

Under the new US Constitution, what type of government system replaced the confederal system the Articles had?

The US Constitution created a federal system where the national government would share power with state and local governments

Who were the Federalists, and what did they want?

Men who supported the US Constitution replacing the Articles of Confederation; John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers to convince everyone to support the US Constitution

Who were the Anti-Federalists, and what did they want?

Men who opposed the US Constitution; eventually were convinced to support the Constitution, but only if a bill of rights was added to the end to protect individual and states’ rights