The Founding Period
Revolutionary War
and the
Articles
of Confederation
Overview
• Review Declaration and Revolution
• Forms of Government
– Unitary
– Confederal
• Articles of Confederation
Review
• Early Colonial History
– Different religious, cultural,
ethnic groupings
• Geopolitical balance of
power in New World
– England, France, Spain,
Dutch all have presence
plus native American
populations
Review
• French & Indian War*
(1754-1763)
• Clash based on competing
claims as English and
French seek to expand
colonial claims and native
American populations try
to resist the European
expansion
*referred to as the “7 Years War” in UK and Canada; as the
“Guerre de la conquete” by the French
Review
Principal areas of
engagement in the French
& Indian War
Review
• Parliament levies taxes
to help defray cost of
war
• Colonists reject
taxation without
representation and the
response of the King
Review
• Colonial unrest begins to
get violent
• 13 colonies agree to hold
meeting to discuss the
deteriorating situation
• First Continental Congress
meets in Philadelphia in
1774
• Drafts “Articles of
Association,” the first
document unifying the 13
colonies and outlining a
policy of trade embargoes
Review
• Second Continental
Congress (May 1775)
• Declaration of
Independence (1776)
• Revolution (1775-
1781)
Review
• Treaty of Paris (1783)
• Negotiated by John
Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Jay
• Negotiated and signed
3 September 1783;
approved by the
Continental Congress
on 14 January 1784.
Treaty of Paris
signatory page
Review
• Need to develop plan
for government after
the war is over
• 1777-1781 begin to
draft the Articles of
Confederation and
Perpetual Union
• 1783 Articles are
ratified (approved)
Forms of Government:
Unitary Government
Sovereign
Government
Forms of Government:
Confederations
States
C
B
D
A
Forms of Government:
Confederations
SG SG
SG
SG
SG = Sovereign
Governments
Forms of Government:
Confederations
SG SG
National
Government
SG
SG
National Government is not Sovereign
Articles of Confederation
• First post-revolution
government of the
United States
• Decentralized with
power dispersed
throughout the states
• Weak national
government
Articles of Confederation
• Basic Structure
• Powers of National Government
• Powers of State Government
Articles of Confederation
• Basic Structure of National Government
– Unicameral Legislature
• Each state equal
• Delegations of 2 to 7 members, 1 vote per
delegation
• Delegates may serve no more than 3 of every 6
years
Articles of Confederation
• No independent executive
– i.e., no president, king, prime minister
– Congress elects a “presiding officer”
• No national judiciary
– each state is responsible for its own judicial
system
• Amendment required the approval of all 13
state legislatures
Articles of Confederation
• Powers of National Government
– Foreign Policy/National Defense
– Maintain roads and postal system
– Coin money
– Borrow Money
– Levy taxes
– Standardize weights and measures
Articles of Confederation
• Powers Denied National Government
– Collect Taxes
– Force states to contribute
– Force states to meet military quotas
– Force states to respect treaties signed
– Force states to enforce laws enacted
Articles of Confederation
• Powers of State Governments
– Regulate Intrastate commerce
– Maintain state militia
– Collect Taxes
– Print Money
– Enforce the law
Articles of Confederation
• Real political power devolves to state
governments
• State governments redraw constitutions and
reconfigure their colonial governments
– 10 of the 13 had new constitutions drafted in 1776
• All state governments had bills of rights either as
separate parts of the constitution or integrated
directly into the constitution
– PA, VA, MA all began with the bill of rights
Articles of Confederation
• State Constitutions
– limited executive power
• short terms; chosen by state legislature
• “Collegial” executive in PA
– strengthened legislative power
• Closer to the people
Post Revolutionary U.S.
• Economic Problems
– Depression/Recession
– Inflation
– Increasing Bankruptcy
• Political Problems
– Shays’ Rebellion
(1786)
Post Revolutionary US
"Rebellion against a
king may be pardoned,
or lightly punished,
but the man who dares
to rebel against the
laws of a republic
ought to suffer death.“
-- Samuel Adams
“Fixing” the Articles
• Annapolis Convention (September 11,
1786)
– work on the economic problems of the new
government
– strengthen national government
“Fixing” the Articles
• Philadelphia Convention (May 1787)
– Aim is to “revise” the Articles of Confederation
– Twelve of the 13 states send delegates to the
Convention
– Convention opens officially on 25 May