Governing A New Nation

1
Governing A New Nation
2
Government By The States

• As the Continental Congress began moving toward
  independence in 1776, leaders in the individual
  states began creating governments, 11 of the 13
  colonies wrote state level constitutions, the
  other 2 used their old colonial charters
• Colonists had been very unhappy with governors
  being appointed by the King of England thus these
  new constitutions sought to limit the power of
  the governor and gave most of the power to the
  people
• New state level constitutions allowed for more
  people to vote but did not guarantee the right of
  everyone to vote
• Virginia becomes the first new state to include a
  bill of rights in their constitution, NY also
  included provisions for freedom of religion

3
The Articles of Confederation

• While the states were writing their own
  constitutions, the Continental Congress created a
  plan for the nation as a whole, it was called the
  Articles of Confederation
• Instead of having 3 branches of government like
  those of most states, the government under the
  articles would have only 1 a legislative branch
  called Congress, there would also be no national
  court system
• The framers of the AOC kept in mind their
  complaints against Britain and purposely limited
  the power of a federal type government, most of
  the power was to be held by the states
• Congress could not collect taxes or regulate
  trade, the federal government also had no power
  to enforce laws

4
Settling the Western Lands

• Under the AOC any new laws or changes would have
  to be approved by all 13 states, the AOC also
  required all lands west of the Appalachian
  Mountains to be forfeited to the federal
  government this land was very valuable and
  states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia
  were very reluctant to give up control of these
  regions, once they did the federal government
  created 2 ordinances on how to use the land make
  money off their sale at the same time
• The Land Ordinance of 1785 sent surveyors west of
  the Appalachian Mountains to divide up the land
  into townships 6 miles by 6 miles in size, this
  would allow for grids to be used when mapping the
  new lands, all land in the grid would then be
  divided up into 1 acre lots and sold for 1 per
  acre, each township also had to set aside land
  for a school
• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 guaranteed basic
  rights for those who settled lands north of the
  Ohio River, it also banned slavery from these new
  lands, it set up a 3 step process for being an
  official US state

5
Growing Problems

• Under the AOC the US had many successes, it waged
  a successful war for independence, negotiated a
  peace treaty with Britain, set up rules for
  settling new territories, but by the mid 1780s
  many Americans concluded that the AOC did not
  give the government enough power to solve the new
  problems facing our young nation
• Under the AOC, each state set its own rules for
  trade, each state set its own rules for farming
  and manufacturing and set their own taxes, in
  addition each state printed its own money that
  held limited value across state lines
• Because the new nation was so young and still
  figuring itself out, many foreign powers viewed
  America as a weak nation and refused to do
  business with us
• The British refused to leave American soil in the
  mid west, and Spain refused to let American ships
  sail on the Mississippi River
• In the mid to late 1780s, a severe economic
  depression hit the US, as crop prices fell
  Massachusetts farmers were unable to pay their
  bills and the state government began to seize
  their property, Daniel Shay led an armed
  rebellion against the Governor of Massachusetts
  although the rebellion fizzled it did plant fear
  into the hearts and minds of many Americans