Creating a Nation 1783-1788 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating a Nation1783-1788

© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Written by John Dickson in 1777

• Ratified in 1781

• Governed Americans in 1781-1787

• Paved way for new Constitution

The Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation

Powers of the National Government under the Articles

• Declare War• Make peace• Sign treaties• Borrow money• Set standards for weights

and measures• Establish Post Services• Deal with Native

Americans

**The Articles of Confederation were a CONTROLLED Failure**

Greatest Achievements of Articles

• Land Ordinance of 1785 – established a plan for surveying the land west of the Appalachian Mountains• Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – Congress provided a procedure for

dividing the land into no less than three and more than five territories.• officially titled "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the

United States North West of the River Ohio," was adopted by the Confederation Congress on July 13, 1787.• This was the 1st territorial expansion of the New Nation

The Northwest Territory Grid System


Northwest Ordinance

• The ordinance would establish a clear, orderly process by which new territories in the west could become states.• These laws established a blueprint for the growth of the new nation.• outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union• guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen

states. Congress would appoint a territorial governor.• When a territory reached 5,000 voting residents the settlers could write a

temporary constitution and elect their own government.• Total population of territory – 60,000 – Settlers could apply for statehood.• protected civil liberties and outlawed slavery in the new territories.

Weaknesses• Did not create a separate executive branch to enforce the laws of

Congress.• No national court system.• Courts lacked unity- each state functioned as a separate entity. They

pursued their own interests.• One state – One Vote

Weaknesses• Could not be amended without the consent of all of the states. Change is

difficult.• Congress could not enact TAXES.• Congress could not REGULATE INTERSTATE COMMERCE or FOREIGN TRADE.• 9 out of 13 states needed to agree to pass a law.

Weaknesses

• 13 states lacked unity• Most serious problem – ECONOMY – The war cost the treasury millions of $$$$$

$$$.• The Continental Congress borrowed from foreign countries.• Paper money became worthless.

Foreign Relations Problems• The lack of support by states for national concerns gave Congress foreign relation

problems because the U.S. could not pay back its debt.• As a result Spain shut down the Mississippi River. Hurts merchants

The American-Spanish Border, 1783–1795

Fear of a Strong Government

• Americans fear of giving the national government too much power had resulted in a government that lacked sufficient power to deal with the nation’s PROBLEMS


The State of the Nation at War’s End• For people of all classes, races, and political persuasions in British

North America, the Revolution brought extensive change.• Great inequality remained, but few people were willing to defend it as

they had in the colonial era.


For the Revolutionary Army Officers: The Newburgh Conspiracy

• The army that had won the war came close to a military takeover of the government—a coup d’etat and a military dictatorship.• The so-called Newburgh

Conspiracy was defeated.


For Poor White Farmers: Shays’s Rebellion• 1786 – Farmers in western Massachusetts face economic hardship• Daniel Shays leads rebellion• Rebellion ends• Calls come for a stronger national government

State Claims to Western Lands



For American Indians

• For the federal Congress, the greatest threat to the new United States came from American Indians. • Treaty of Fort Stanwix - A

1784 treaty between one faction of the Iroquois and the U.S. government that sought to end the violent battles over western land.


Tribal Land Claims,1783–1788

Ohio in the 1780s



For Slaves, Former Slaves, and Those Who Claimed Ownership of Them

• By the time George Washington was inaugurated president in 1789, slavery had been abolished in five states and was dying— though slowly—throughout the north.• Pennsylvania (1780), New

Hampshire and Massachusetts (1783), Connecticut and Rhode Island (1784).

• With the coming of peace, the planter elite in the South was determined to reestablish a way of life that depended on slavery.

For Women: The Rise of Republican Motherhood• Women fell into all of the different groups that men did.• Republican Motherhood, came to dominate public discussions of women’s

place in the new United States.• Women would have an important role, but a limited one• As in the case of the abolition of slavery, changes for women would not come

overnight. • Education and respect would lead to the emergence of a powerful, outspoken middle

class of women.


Creating a Government: Writing the U.S. Constitution

• The years immediately after the Revolution were not easy ones in the new United States of America.• Some of the most famous revolutionary

leaders were determined to end the growing chaos and reshape the new nation they had helped to create.


The Crisis of the 1780s: The Failure of the Articles of Confederation• Financial problems• Problems with navigation rights• Diplomatic problems


The Constitutional Convention of 1787• 1787 in Philadelphia –

Constitutional Convention• 55 white men convened• Virginia Plan: LARGE STATES • New Jersey Plan: SMALL STATES• “The Great Compromise”:

What we ended up with

THE GREAT COMPROMISE

• VA Plan: James Madison• NJ Plan: William Patterson


The Effects of Slavery on a Unified Government• Framers were equally careful to protect the institution and appease

slaveholders.• 3/5 Compromise (1787)• The fugitive slave clause gave slaveholders a new and powerful tool.


Debating and Adopting the Constitution (The bundle of compromises)• Federalists: Pro-Constitution• Antifederalists: Anti- Constitution• Delaware first state to ratify• Virginia the largest state to ratify• Rhode Island last to ratify

VIDEOS:• CRASH COURSE • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO7FQsCcbD8

• New Constitution• http://www.history.com/topics/articles-of-confederation/videos/america-gets

-a-constitution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO7FQsCcbD8

http://www.history.com/topics/articles-of-confederation/videos/america-gets-a-constitution

http://www.history.com/topics/articles-of-confederation/videos/america-gets-a-constitution

Creating a Nation 1783-1788 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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