What were the Articles of Confederation?
Created by the Second Continental Congress, they established a ‘firm league of friendship among the states’ where each state kept sovereign power.
What was the government structure under the Articles of Confederation?
Congress was the sole body created (Unicameral), with delegates chosen by the states. Each state had one vote in Congress regardless of population, and there was no executive or judicial branch.
What powers did Congress have under the Articles of Confederation?
Congress could make war and peace, send and receive ambassadors, make treaties, borrow money, set up a money system, establish post offices, raise an army by asking the states for troops, and settle disputes among states.
What obligations did states have under the Articles of Confederation?
States promised to provide funds and troops at Congress’s request, treat citizens of other states fairly, acknowledge the laws of other states, allow open travel and trade among states, and protect the life and property of their own people.
What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
Congress had no power to tax, could not regulate trade between states, had limited power to enforce laws, and any changes to the Articles required the approval of all 13 states.
What characterized the Critical Period in the 1780s?
After the Revolutionary War, states bickered, made agreements with foreign governments without Congress’s approval, organized their own military forces, taxed one another’s goods, printed their own money, and experienced soaring prices and unpaid debts.
What was Shays’ Rebellion?
Farmers, led by Daniel Shays, rebelled due to losing land from tax payments, closing several courts. Shays was unsuccessful at Springfield, Mass. and fled to Vermont. Massachusetts passed laws to ease the burden on debtors.
What was the significance of Mount Vernon?
Maryland and Virginia held a conference at Mount Vernon to discuss navigation on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, agreeing that all states needed a federal plan for regulating trade.
What was the outcome of the call for stronger government?
States were called to send delegates to Philadelphia to revise the Articles, leading to the formation of a new government.
