Post- Revolutionary America
1781-89
Government under the Articles of Confederation
Lecture 2
Political Instability
‘critical Period’ (1781-89)
The American leaders were divided over the nature of post-
independence policy and conduct of government
The absence of consensus threatened the very existence of the
UNITED STATES
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‘The Continental Congress’
Between 1776_81, it acted as the central government for the newly
independent country
It had only powers that were necessary for the conduct of the war of
independence (such as raising an army, providing money, and making
treaties)
It also had the power to organize a permanent central government for
the 13th states
The state agreed to form such a government; for the purpose, they wrote
a document called the Articles of Confederation 3
The Articles of Confederation
A committee composed of delegates to the continental congress
headed by John Dickinson drafted the document which included 13
articles
The Articles of Confederation established a frame of government for
the newly independent nation that it named ‘THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA’
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The Articles were written in 1776, and adopted by the Continental
Congress in 1777
They were not ratified by different states until 1781 (different states feared
that the states with claims to the western territories might dominate the
confederation)
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The Articles of Confederation became the basic law for the USA until
the Constitution became functional in 1789
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Government under
Confederation
The Articles of Confederation favored the states’ right at the detriment of
a strong central government
The Articles divided the power between the Confederation Congress and
the states’ governments
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The Confederation Government
A- Powers granted to Congress (subject to the approval of 9/13states)
Conduct foreign affairs, negotiate treaties, and declare war and make peace
Raise and maintain an army and a navy
Issue currency, borrow money, and provide postal services
B- Powers denied to Congress
Levying taxes
Regulating trade
Interfering in the colonies local affairs
Preventing colonies from issuing paper money
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Criticism
The Central Government was severely restricted
It lacked a chief executive officer or a president (operates under a plural executive)
9/13 vote needed for voting legislation was a handicap
It lacked taxation powers
It had no control over interstate commerce so it could not do much to prevent the
trade wars between the 13 states or prevent them from making treaties with foreign
countries
States’ rights; state laws were supreme
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The States’ Constitutions
Constitutional convention
-Between 1777-80 different states led down their colonial charters
and enacted new constitutions (fundamental laws)
-In May 1776, the second Continental Congress authorised all
colonies to establish their own provincial or state governments.
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To prevent power abuses by the governments, different states:
• Elected and limited the governor to 1 year term and deprived him of most powers (veto
laws, suspend legislature, appoint local officials,,,)
• Divided government powers among three bodies: legislature, executive, and judiciary
• Included in their new constitutions ‘bills of rights’ that guaranteed the citizens certain
rights that governments coulld not deny them (property, fair trial by jury,,,)
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Criticism
• Property, as well as religious, qualifications were maintained as conditions for
voting and holding office; thus, more than half the adult male population was
denied political rights.
• The agricultural poor backcountry was underrepresented whereas the coastal rich
commercial cities were overrepresented.
• Women , slaves, and native Americans obtained no rights.
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Strengths and weaknesses of the
Union
Strenghts
• Land Ordinance, 1785 divided lands between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes into
townships (today states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin
• Northwest Ordinance, 1787 opened the territory to settlement and established a
procedure for incorporating new states (a 60.000 population number was required for
admission to statehood). The procedure was later used for all new territories applying
for admission to the union,
• It also, guaranteed civil liberties and religious freedom and outlawed slavery in the
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Northwest territories
Weaknesses
Economic Weaknesses
• The Continental Congress was poor: it could not levy taxes and the states refused to pay
the requested money
• The navy was weak and could not protect foreign commerce
• Britain denied the United States, now independent, free access to the markets of the
British Empire
• The European powers, favoring supremacy of the states’ laws, negotiated commercial
treaties directly with the individual states instead of the American central government.
• The states could not issue their own money, so congress could not intervene to prevent
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them from issuing worthless/cheap paper money
Political weaknesses
Congress was not permitted interference in domestic affairs of the states.
Therefore, it could not intervene to prevent or end rebellions when needed,
Best example is Shays’ Rebellion
The Confederation Congress could not intervene to prevent or end such
happenings, the supporters of a strong government asked for more
powers for the central government so that similar problems could be
avoided in the future. 15
Diplomatic Weaknesses
The new nation was seen as semi-civilized, therefore not deserving much respect from the
civilized Europeans nations:
• Britain violated the Treaty of Paris and refused to evacuate the forts of the Old Northwest
• It also encouraged Indians to attack frontier settlements
• The states disdained Confederation diplomacy and violated the Treaty of Paris refusing to
pay pre-war debts
• The confederation was non-localizable by European diplomats
• The USA under the toothless Articles of Confederation went through a difficult period. It
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lacked political stability and an effective economic and foreign policy
The revision of the Articles evolved to an entirely new document
that became the Constitution of the United States
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