2.7.M - Lesson: America's First Government

Why did some states cede their western lands to the central government after the revolution?

The central government assumed their war debt.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1785

provided a system for governing western territories and for admission of new states to the union

In effect, the Articles of Confederation made the United States a loose board of directors for thirteen separate small _______________.

republics

What were the problems with the Articles of Confederation?

-No power to keep the domestic peace Incorrectly selected -No central authority to deal with international affairs -No power to collect taxes

In one or two sentences, explain at least two different components of the Articles of Confederation.

-Under the Articles of Confederation, state representative bodies elected officials to serve in the national Congress, which was a unicameral (one house) legislature with only one vote per state regardless of the number of representatives sent from that state. -There was no independent executive or national judicial branch. Any dispute between the new states could be decided in either party's independent court system or both, creating a formula for confusion and chaos. -Major legislation required a supermajority of nine out of thirteen votes to pass through Congress, and should the government find it necessary to amend the Articles, all thirteen states needed to agree before it could be ratified. -Congress had no authority to ratify treaties negotiated with foreign governments, meaning that the Treaty of Paris (1783) went to the individual states for ratification - any one of which could have refused to do so.

Under the Articles of Confederation, each state received how many votes?

1 vote per state

At the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, who did the delegates pick as the presiding officer?

George Washington

What state did not send delegates to the Constitutional Convention?

Rhode Island

What was the first governing document of the new United States of America?

The Articles of Confederation

What 1786 meeting failed in its attempts to bring national leaders together to talk, but motivated them to meet to discuss the issues with the Articles of Confederation?

the Annapolis Convention

In one sentence, explain what it means by, "The Articles of Confederation did not create a national government as we understand it."

the Articles created a partnership in which the states participated only so far as the confines of their own self-interest.

British and Spanish occupation of United States territory was clear evidence of what flaw in the Articles of Confederation?

the national government lacked the power to enforce treaties

What was the primary way the Articles of Confederation government raised funds?

the sale of western lands

After the American War for Independence, what created a potential for trouble between the states?

western lands