Why Did We Get Rid of the Articles of Confederation - Why...

Why Did We Get Rid of the Articles of Confederation?
I.
The Articles
1.
When?
•
1776-1788 Was type of Gov. right after war
2.
Structure
•
Essentially nat. Gov. was Continental Congress
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Gov. chosen by state Legislatures
•
In order to get leg. Passed you had to have 2/3 of states vote for it
•
Each state had 1 vote
•
Each state had a proportional amount of representatives to state size
•
In order to change article a unanimous vote was required
3.
Powers
•
Not many
•
But had 5 basic powers
(1) Make treaties and Declare War
(2) Set Standards for Weights and Measures
(3) Created a Postal System
(4) Carried Out Treaties with Indian Tribes
(5) Mediate disputes between states
•
Incredibly weak Government
•
Fits into Rhetoric of the Revolution
•
The People want state legislatures to have the more power than the
national Gov.
4.
Accomplishments
•
Pretty significant accomplishments

•
They won the War with it and defeated the most powerful country in the
world (Diplomatic Relations)
•
In the treaty that ended the war we got pretty much anything we wanted
and more
•
National Gov. Passed the Northwest Ordinance got all states to give up
claims on lands west of their borders
•
There will be no colonies or territories of other states
•
NW Ordinance mandated that slavery would never exist North of the Ohio
River
II. General Problems
1.
Trade
•
Had no ability to regulate trade between states or internationally