Topic 6 - The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation were approved at the Second Continental Congress

They set up a plan to govern the new United States

The colonists were very concerned about giving too much power to a central government, because of the abuses of King George and Parliament

So they designed the Articles to give most of the power to the states

The states had most of the power, but the Articles did set up a central legislature

The central legislature's power was very limited

It could not tax, it relied on states to give it money

It could make treaties but not enforce them

It could create an army, but only with volunteer soldiers, no draft

There was no national court system to settle arguments between states

The one good thing about the articles was the Northwest Ordinance

It laid out the rules for how the unclaimed territory in the Northwest could be settled and turned into states (it was claimed by the Native people who lived there, but the USA did not care about that)

It outlawed slavery in the territories, but if an enslaved person tried to escape there, they would be returned to the South

A region needed a population of 60,000 people to apply to become a state

The Ordinance also guaranteed the protection of certain natural and civil rights to the people who lived there

Many states were in debt after the war and could not pay it back

They tried to tax their citizens, but they were broke too

When Massachusetts farmers could not pay the taxes, their farms would be taken and they would be put in prison

A retired soldier named Daniel Shays put together a militia to shut down courthouses and stop the imprisonment of farmers

Eventually the Continental Army showed up and put a stop to the Rebellion

But this event made everyone realize how weak the Articles of Confederation were