The Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and Shays' Rebellion

1
The Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
and Shays' Rebellion

• (and why money isn't worth the paper it's printed
  on)

2
The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
The first system of government designed by the
Founding Fathers was a Confederation. Under a
Confederate system, the National or Central
Government is given only a few powers, while most
of the power is reserved for the States.
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1. Why did the Founding Fathers Choose a
Confederation plan of government?

• They were afraid of giving the central government
  too much power
• They wanted to keep the states separate from each
  other
• They did not trust George Washington

4
The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789

• The Articles had 2 major achievements
• Bringing the Revolutionary War to a successful
  conclusion
• North West Ordinance (plan for governing the
  western lands)

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The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
Declare War Establish an Army/Navy
No Power to Draft Soldiers
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Do you think that it is okay to draft soldiers to
a war they dont believe in?A. YesB. No
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The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
Make Peace Sign Treaties
No Power to Enforce Treaties
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The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
No Power to Collect Taxes from the States
Borrow Money
9
The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
Organize a Post Office
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The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
No Chief Executive
No national court system
No Power to Regulate Interstate Commerce
No National Currency
Difficult to Pass laws (2/3 vote)
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The Articles of Confederation
Americas 1st Constitution 1781-1789
Strengths
Weaknesses
Congress was given the power to
Difficult to Amend (unanimous vote needed to
change the articles)
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Sum it Up The Articles of Confederation

• No Chief Executive
• No National Court System
• No Power to Draft Soldiers
• No Power to Control Interstate Commerce
• No Power to Enforce Treaties
• No Power to Collect Taxes from the States
• Difficult to Pass Laws (2/3 vote)
• No National Currency
• Difficult to Amend
• (Unanimous Vote Needed to Change Articles)

• Congress was given the power to
• Declare War
• Make Peace
• Sign Treaties
• Borrow Money
• Establish an Army Navy
• Organize a Post Office

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Why did the Founding Fathers Choose a
Confederation plan of government?

1. They feared that a strong central government
   would create tyranny, and stamp out the peoples
   natural God given rights.
2. They wanted to eventually become different
   countries
3. They wanted to make amends with England and
   rebuild their Colonial systems.

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It's All About Power!

• Why was the central government so weak?
• Look at the Americans' experience with the
  powerful central government of Britain
• Do the opposite!

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But what if the government doesn't have enough
power?
Federal Rights
States' Rights

• BIG PROBLEMS!

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One Major Weakness

• Congress did not have the power to collect taxes
  from the states.

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Could I please have 1000?
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
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What's a government to do?

• Hmmmm....why don't I just print some more money?

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PRINTING MONEY NEVER SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS!
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Which would you rather have?
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Money isn't worth the paper it's printed on!

• Money is only worth what other people will give
  you for it!

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Paper money represents real things

One piece of gold
One piece of paper (1)
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Paper money represents real things

One can of soda
One piece of paper (1)
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Therefore...

One can of soda
One piece of gold
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What if you don't have enough?What if someone
won't give you what you want for the piece of
paper that you have?Can you just print more
paper?
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NO! It doesn't work that way!

• Remember...paper money represents real things.
  You haven't changed the number of real things,
  just the number of pieces of paper!

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ACK! INFLATION!!!

• Now your paper money is worth less!

Soda used to cost 1. Now it costs 2!
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PRINTING MONEY NEVER SOLVES A GOVERNMENT'S
PROBLEMS!

• Inflation was so out of control in Germany that
  in 1923, it cost 4 million of their dollars to
  buy a loaf of bread!

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What we've learned so far...

1. Money is only worth what people will give you for
   it.
2. Printing more money doesn't solve your economic
   problems.

30
Weak Government Problems!

• Here's an explanation of how the weaknesses of
  the Articles of Confederation led to Shays'
  Rebellion, which led to the creation of the
  Constitution.

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Daniel Shays

• Captain in the Revolutionary War
• Retired from the army
• Wanted to be a farmer in Massachusetts

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Uh oh...no money!

• Remember! The Congress didn't have the power to
  tax states...they could only ask for money!
• The states said no!
• So Congress couldn't pay its bills!
• So they printed more money!
• So they caused inflation and made money worth
  less!

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How can you be a farmer if you have no money?

• Get a loan from the bank!

Plant your seeds!
When your crops are grown, harvest them, sell
them, and pay your loan back!
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Uh oh...problems!
But your crops haven't grown yet?
What if the bank wants its money back NOW?
35
THE REPO MAN COMES!

• The bank repossesses the farms and kicks the
  former soldiers out of their homes!

36
Why didn't they have any money?

• Inflation! The money they did have was
  worthless.
• Taxes! The state of Massachusetts had placed
  high taxes that hit the farmers very hard.

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Who cares about having a farm anyway?

• Without property, you can't feed your family!
• Without property, you can't vote!
• Without property, you can't make money!
• Without making money, you get thrown into
• debtor's prison!

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Give me my house!

• Daniel Shays and the farmers pick up their guns
  and go to the state courthouse to stop them from
  foreclosing on their homes.
• AND IT WORKED!!!

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So they kept doing it...

• And made the people in the government afraid!

The government made new laws that were meant to
punish Shays and his followers.
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The Congress can't help

• Since the Articles of Confederation did not give
  Congress the power to raise a standing army, the
  federal government could not help stop the
  rebellion.

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The Climax

• The state of Massachusetts sets up an army.
• Shays and his followers try to take over a
  federal arsenal to get more guns so that they
  could fight the army.

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Shays and his men lost the battle.Some of them
got the death penalty for having participated in
the rebellion.
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To the Constitution...

• The failure of the federal government to solve
  the problem of Shays' Rebellion made people
  understand that the Articles of Confederation had
  made the government too weak.
• A Constitutional Convention was called to solve
  the problem.

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The Constitution Is Born!

• After 16 weeks of arguments, the new Constitution
  was created.
• And that's the government that we still have
  today!

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Why Did the Founding Fathers believe the Articles
needed to be replaced by the US Constitution?

1. They wanted to have a new King
2. We only needed a stronger army
3. We were too divided and had no common systems
4. The Federal Government could not enforce its
   rules
5. C and D

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