The Articles of Confederation
Signed in 1781
Out with the Old, In with the New
New Structures:
- 1 House Legislator
- 1 vote per State
- 9 of the 13 required to pass laws
- Controls the military
- Power to make treaties
State Government
- Every State wrote it's own Constitution
- All had 3 Branches - Legislative, Executive, Judicial
- Guaranteed certain rights
National Government
- Limited control given to the government
- Would not be able to control the 13 states
Uh-Oh
Problems Created:
- Could not enforce laws
- Could not tax
- No executive branch
- No court system
- Could not regulate trade
What happened?
- Taxation problems
- Trade barriers
- Inability to pass laws
- Lack of strong executive
- Shay's Rebellion - event that occurred when Massachusetts farmers revolted over high state taxes and caused people to realize the weaknesses of the government.
Overall...
This convinced us that we needed a strong central government and made our Founding Fathers consider rethinking/rewriting the structure of the U.S. government