Chapter 5—Creating a new government

1. Chapter 5—Creating a new government Chapter 5-1 The Articles of Confederation

2. The american republic • While the revolution was going on, states were setting up new governments • Most wrote new state constitutions • NEW STATE GOVERNMENTS • Each state government had 3 branches—legislative, executive, judicial • REPUBLICANISM • Most Americans wanted a REPUBLIC (a political system without a monarch) • The government would rule with the consent of the governed • No government in the world at this time was similar

3. A NEW NATIONAL GOVERNMENT • THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION • Debate lasted more than a year • Established a confederation—an association of independent, sovereign states with certain common goals. • Formally adopted by Congress in November 1777 • Ratification took longer because of disputes about western lands.

4. POWERS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT • States retain most of their power • Central Government only had one branch—the Continental Congress • No Executive or Judicial Branch • Each state had 1 vote in Congress • Congress had some powers • Conduct foreign relations, borrow and coin money, set up post offices, establish an army, declare war

5. THE CONFEDERATION FACES PROBLEMS • 9/13 of states had to agree on a major law • All 13 states had to agree to amend the Articles • FINANCIAL PROBLEMS • Large war debts • Congress could not impose or collect taxes • Congress asks states for money but received only 1/6 of what it asked for

6. PROBLEMS WITH THE STATES • Congress had little power over the states • States made agreements with foreign nations or Native Americans • PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS • British continued to occupy forts in the Great Lakes region • Disagreements with Spain about the Mississippi River, New Orleans, and Florida

7. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS • Paper money issued during the war was not backed by gold or silver • Inflation resulted—worthless money and high prices • Congress could not collect taxes • People who could not pay their debts were jailed

8. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY • WESTERN LAND CLAIMS • Settlers streamed into lands west of the Appalachian Mountains • The Articles did not address the question of new states • DIVIDING WESTERN LANDS • Jefferson has plan to divide NW Territory into 10 districts • When a district’s population reached 20,000 it could send a representative to Congress, and possibly become a state. • Never went into full effect

9. Land Ordinance of 1785 • Land would be surveyed and divided into a neat grid of townships, each 6 miles square • Within each township, there were 36 sections, each 1 mile square. • The government would own four of the sections while a fifth would be sold to support public schools. • This process was used for many areas of new land

10. Northwest Ordinance of 1787 • Encourage orderly settlement and formation of new states • Promised settlers religious freedom and other civil rights • Slavery was not allowed in the NW Territories • A single governor was put in charge • A district could become a territory if there 5,000 adult males and could send a non-voting member to Congress • When the population reached 60,000 the territory could write a constitution and apply to be a state. • THE END