THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION…..

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONThe Articles of Confederation was our first Constitution.

The Articles gave the new 13 states a set of rules and a way to govern themselves

The Articles were used as a form of government in the US from 1781-1789

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONThe Articles were created during the beginning of the Revolutionary War

The Articles reflect the founding fathers desire to avoid an over-bearing central authority figure (like a greedy king!) Therefore there was no single person in charge

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONUnder the Articles of Confederation, the Congress could:

Declare war and peaceManage foreign affairsCreate and manage a postal serviceEstablish an Army & NavyBorrow moneyDetermine the value of money

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONThis all sounds fine and dandy……

HOWEVER……

THE ARTICLES DID NOT WORK!!!!!

(this is a nice way of saying they were total crap…….)

Here’s why……..

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The states had all of the “important” power The Congress had little power There was no chief executive (a president or something similar) There was no judicial system (who would mediate arguments between

states?)

And the BIGGEST problem???

Congress could not regulate (or require) taxes to be paid by the states to the federal government!

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONFACT: George Washington had to BEG Congress for money to buy bullets, food and clothing for his soldiers

This was simply because NONE of the states wanted to pay taxes to the BIGGER government….. They wanted any taxes to go directly to their own, individual state

And under the Articles of Confederation, they didn’t HAVE to pay taxes…..unless ALL 13 states AGREED to do so!!!

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

Men such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton were not happy with the Articles of Confederation

However, ANY changes required the approval of ALL 13 states!

This was BEYOND impossible…….

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION In 1876 at Annapolis, Maryland, a convention for all the colonies was held to discuss problems in the colonies regarding the Articles of Confederation

Only 5 of the colonies sent representatives….. (so there were 8 loser colonies!)

This was EXTREMELY disappointing!!!Everyone who DID attend agreed that SOMETHING needed to be done!

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION Daniel Shays was a farmer from Massachusetts

He, along with many other farmers, were in great amounts of debt

Why were they in debt? They grew food to feed the troops during the war, but the government never paid them the money promised

Although Shays’ tried to approach the government for payment or help; they refused to listen (they didn’t have the money to pay him because people weren’t paying their taxes!!)

Shays and several other farmers started a rebellion in order to get attention and be heard!

4 people died during this rebellion…. Which DID get people’s attention…..

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATIONThere was ONE good thing that came from The Articles of Confederation: As a young nation it provided us with an experience of self-government

under a written document

It’s weaknesses served to make our nation stronger

But in all reality, we realized that basically the Articles of Confederation were total crap and we were lazy and unfocused when they were written and that we need a NEW set a laws……

QUICK….but not too quick, because that’s what made them crappy in the first place…. We needed to put in the time it takes to create something AMAZING!!!

THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION In Philadelphia in 1787, the NEW STATES came together (except for Rhode Island….they were lame)

They were originally going to IMPROVE the Articles of Confederation…..

But instead….. They tossed them out because they were SO. DANG. HORRIBLE. It was at this place and time, the Constitution of the United States was written and adopted as our NEW and IMPROVED form of government

And it’s the form of government we’ve had since…… THE END!!!!