The Articles of Confederation

							The Articles of Confederation


Mr. Sandford
AP American History
The Articles

   On June 7, 1776, as the Congress
    moved to draft the Dec. of Ind., Richard
    Henry Lee moved that “a plan of
    confederation be prepared and submitted
    to the colonies for their consideration.”
   On June 12, a delegate from each colony
    as chosen to sit on the Committee.
    The Articles

   John Dickinson was chosen to
    draft the plan.
   He did not yet support a
    confederation but his
    governmental knowledge made
    him a good candidate.          www.constitution.org/img/
                                   John_Dickinson.jpg

   On July 12, a draft of the
    “Articles” was presented to
    Congress.
The Articles
           Benjamin Franklin also also
            presented a plan to the
            Congress.
           Dickinson used Franklin’s plan
            as his starting point.
           After the Articles were read, 8
            copies were made and
            distributed to the members, they
            were not allowed to be shared
            with anyone.
The Debate
   The debate started on July 22, and
    continued for many weeks.
   The Congress decided to discuss the
    Articles two days a week until a decision
    was made.
   The issues were:
    – Representation
    – Western Land Boundaries
    – Apportionment of Taxation
The Debate
   Throughout the Revolution, as
    Congress retreated from place to place,
    the debate would end for weeks at a
    time.
   On Nov. 15, 1777, after months of
    discussion and changes, 300 copies
    were printed and brought to the
    president of the Congress on Nov. 28.
The Ratification
   President Henry Laurens, allocated 18
    copies to the delegates and the rest he
    kept.
   In the fall of 1777, copies where printed
    in each state and given to the powers
    within each state.
   States were asked to take action on
    them by March 10, 1778.
   Maryland waited one year to sign on.
The Ratification

   On July 9, 1778, the official copy was
    presented before congress and signed
    by all who were present.
   The first copy was found to be
    incarcerate and had to be “engrossed”
    before the representatives could sign it.
   But, there were many weaknesses that
    would be found in the coming years.