1783-1787From Confederacy

to Republic

What were the challenges facing the newly independent nation?

ECONOMIC POLITICAL

Articles of Confederation(Adopted in 1777 – Ratified in 1781)

Problems addressed by the A-of-C:Problem: Fear of a strong central government.Solution:

Problem: Representation in Conf. Congress.Solution:

Powers Granted, and Powers Denied to the Confederation Congress

GRANTED Power to wage war Make treaties Send diplomats abroad Borrow money Regulate the currency Establish a postal service Regulate Indian Affairs

DENIED Power to regulate trade Levy & collect taxes Enforce its own laws

What were the accomplishments of the Articles of Confederation?

State Constitutions: Experiments in Government

State constitutions invaluable experienceFive Basic Reoccurring Elements:1. Higher Law & Natural Rights – The purpose of

government is to protect life, liberty, and property.2. Social Contract – people created the government

to protect their natural rights. 3. Popular Sovereignty – Authority to govern was

granted to the government by the people. People > ultimate source of power.

State Constitutions: Experiments in Government

Five Basic Reoccurring Elements:4. Representation & Right to Vote – All state constitutions instilled the importance of

representation of the people in their govt.5. Legislative Supremacy – Most power in the

legislature. States incorporate some manner of separation of powers.

Legislative Executive Judicial

The Model from Massachusetts Made extensive use of

separation of power & checks and balances.

Created a strong Executive Branch: (What was Adams thinking?) Governor to be independent of the

legislature. (fixed salary) Governor to check the power of

the legislature. (veto & appointment powers)

*Massachusetts State Constitution expressed the classical republican ideal of mixed government as a means to prevent the abuse of power.John Adams

Problems in Foreign Affairs

British still maintained forts along the Canadian frontier.The British refused to withdraw until debts to Britain & loyalists were indemnified.

Spain controlled the mouth of the Mississippi River. Spain also maintained forts along its common frontier.

Shays’s Rebellion (1786-87)

Economic Distress in MA: Heavy taxes to pay of war

debt. Post-war depression in

Atlantic trade. Many faced foreclosure &

debtors prison. Western farmers pressed

for relief. Blocked by eastern commercial interests.

Rebellion or Rural Protest?

Shays’s Rebellion (1786-87)

Popular Protest: Farmers use same tactics

they used against Britain. Town meetings expanded

into county conventions, which escalated into crowd actions to prevent courts from meeting.

Gov. Bowdoin sends the state militia, which crushes the rebellion.

Shays’s Rebellion (1786-87)

The Massachusetts uprising dramatized the growing unrest in the new nation, and symbolized to a growing number of conservatives a republic in peril. Nationalists seized upon the specter of Shays’s Rebellion to underscore the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

Annapolis Convention - 1786 Hamilton organizes an

interstate meeting at Washington’s Mt. Vernon to discuss issues.

Five states send delegates to the Annapolis Convention to discuss interstate trade.

Outcome: Called for a larger meeting the following year in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.