Chapter 7, Section 1: Governing A New Nation

Land Ordinance of 1785

A law that established a plan for dividing the federally owned lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. It set up a system for settling the Northwest Territory, by which land was divided into townships. And each township was required to set aside a section for schools.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

Essentially, "The Articles of Confederation" was the first Constitution of the United States (created in 1777 by the Continental Congress). But it was a flawed document and needed to be replaced (by the The Constitution we use today). The Articles of Confederation created only one branch of government (Congress) and gave the states most of the power. There was no executive branch (no President) and no judicial branch (no Supreme Court). And unfortunately, each of the 13 states was creating it's own Constitution at the same time. So, of course, the states honored their own constitution first (because they could). But that would that soon change (with "The U.S. Constitution" we recognize today).

How did foreign nations view America under The Articles of Confederation.

Foreign nations (especially in Europe) viewed the U.S. as weak and powerless. Because the federal government had little money and no real authority and a weak army... the U.S. was bullied by foreign nations.

Northwest Territory

Lands northwest of the Appalachian Mountains, covered by the Land Ordinance of 1785. Today: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Legislation that provided for the orderly transformation of the Northwestern territories into the Union. It guaranteed basic rights for settlers and banned slavery there. It established a 3-step procedure for the admission of new states to the Union. 1) Congress appointed a governor and some judges for the new territory. 2) Once the new territory had 50,000 free adult male settlers it could elect a legislature. 3) When the population reached 60,000 the new territory could apply to become a state. This is how Ohio, Indiana, Illinois , Michigan and Wisconsin became states.

Under The Articles of Confederation what were some of the economic problems?

Mainly this is an issue related to trade and taxes. Each state set its own trade policy. This was a bad idea because each state tried to help its own farmers and manufacturers by placing high taxes on items that were shipped in from neighboring states. This discouraged trade and hurt the overall economy of the country. Also each state also printed its own money making trade complicated (needlessly difficult). The other big issue (huge actually)... the national government did not have the power to tax. So it could not raise money. Which made it ineffective. It didn't have the cash to run itself... guaranteeing that it would be weak and ineffective.

What were the powers of the Federal/National government under The Articles of Confederation?

The Articles provided for a limited (small) central (national/federal) government. They even had to ask the states for money. But it did have some powers: 1) it could deal with foreign governments (but those foreign knew the US leaders had few powers and often bullied them). 2) it could deal with native Americans outside the 13 states 3) It could run the post office 4) it could make laws (but couldn't enforce them). 5) it could print or borrow money The federal government couldn't enforce the laws. The states were in charge of enforcing laws. And often they had a law that was the opposite of the national law. And of course the states chose to enforce their law; not the national law. It was a convoluted (and not very effective) system that allowed the states to do whatever they wanted and stopped the national leaders from acting like a real a country and making laws for everyone equally.

Why did the state constitutions limit the power of governors?

The Colonial governors abused their power and states did not want that to happen again.

Why did Shay's Rebellion occur?

There was an economic depression (bad economy): i.e. businesses activity slowed, wages dropped, jobs were difficult to find. People felt helpless. In Massachusetts (which was hit hard by the depression) many farmers could not pay their taxes and the Massachusettes government seized their farms. In 1786 Daniel Shay (a former Revolutionary War officer) led an uprising of 1000 Massachusetts farmers. They tried to steal guns from a state warehouse. Shay and his leaders were arrested. But his actions frightened many prominent American leaders. They realized the need for a strong federal government to fix the economy and stop popular unrest (like Shay's Rebellion). In response, Congress asked each state to send delegates to Philadelphia to revise The Articles of Confederation. This meeting is known as the Constitutional Convention. The road to a new a Constitution had begun thanks to Shay's Rebellion.

What were some of the problems with "The Articles of Confederation"

Under "The Articles of Confederation" the 13 States were powerful and the federal Government was weak. This was a problem because... The new nation's top leaders lacked power... (meaning they could not create laws that applied to all the states uniformly). 1) they could not regulate trade 2) could not force soldiers to join the army 3) they could not impose taxes (and raise money) 4) they could not control rebellion This led to several problems: for instance... 1) ECONOMIC WEAKNESS: The national government could not collect taxes. It had to ask the states for money. Each state put taxes taxes on goods. They were all different. This discouraged trade between the 13 states. So economic activity and trade activity could not flow freely up and down the new nation. The national leaders felt helpless because they could not create laws that were the same for every state, which would have made the rules the same for everyone. 2) MILITARY WEAKNESS: Without a strong federal government the army was underfunded. 3) POPULAR UNREST (a political situation in which people protest or behave violently) could not be controlled. After an Uprising by David Shay (Shay's Rebellion) many prominent Americans wanted a stronger central (federal) government to protect against civil unrest.