Chapter 7: Shaping a Federal Union The Confederation • The Confederation Congresspossessed very little power o Unable to compel payment, enforce stipulations, raise an army, etc. o helpless in dealing with foreign relations and postwar economic depression • Confederation Congress laid important foundations o Created the firstExecutive Departments Mistrusted and limited during the War of Independence 1781- set up Departments ofForeign Affairs,Finance, andWars o Formulated principles of land distribution and territorial government Guided westward expansion Finance • Robert Morrisacted as superintendent of financeduring the final years of the war o Wanted to make himself and the Confederation Gov. more powerful o Envisioned a coherent program of taxation and debt management to stabilize the government financially by gaining support of public creditors Welcomed the chance to enlarge debt by issuing government bondsto pay off wartime debt Failed to gain unanimous state approval due to fear of the Central Gov. o Secured a congressional charter for theBank of North America National bank that was in part privately owned to give profit for Morris and shareholders • Newburgh Conspiracy- a scheme by concerned officers (and Robert Morris) to line up the army and public creditors with nationalists in Congress and confront the states with the threat of a coup unless they yielded more power to Congress o Developed by officers and soldiers worried that payment for their services would never come since Congress couldn’t obtain enough money o Alexander Hamiltonattempted to bringGeorge Washingtoninto the plan o Ultimately stopped by a speech from George Washington He agreed with the cause, but believed that it would only cause chaos • Congress never successfully organized its finances oContinental Currencybecame worthless and debt simply accumulated
Land Policy • TheArticles of Confederationmade any land not included within the boundaries of the 13 original states the property of the national government o Congress utilized the sale of western land to draw income • 1779- Congress declared that the western lands would not become colonies, but would instead become Republican States o Three major ordinances developed and set precedents that the US would follow in all future expansion o Land Ordinance of 1784- declared that when the population of a western territory equaled that of the smallest state, the territory would achieve statehood Written byThomas Jefferson o Land Ordinance of 1785- outlined a plan to divide the land into a rectangular grid and sell individual sections at $1 per acre Raised funds for the empty Treasury Reserved income from each 16thsection for the support of schools The Northwest Ordinance • Northwest Ordinance of 1787- required a period of colonial tutelage before a territory could become a state o Diverged fromJefferson’s Ordinance of 1784 o Similarities to old British Colonies
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