Articles+of+Confederation

Articles of Confederation media type="youtube" key="fbP0JWQeXag" height="385" width="480" theninstructorchris S Oct. 6, 2009 Youtube.com [social studies textbook copyright by Harcourt,Inc.2007] The Articles of Confederation was created in 1775 by Ben Franklin after the colonies won their independence from Great Britain. But,it was not approved by congress until 1781.The Articles of Confederation are laws/rights of the United States. The articles had rights that people like and laws that people disagreed upon and argued about. The rules that people like was it made the states have their own government. But however, they all have to help on national issues. The laws that people didn't agree upon were many things. The articles affected commerce because of having all the states have their own government, they could price their goods higher than the other states. Since the Central Government had no power over the commerce, they could not do anything about it. So, more and more disagreements grew about commerce until 1786 called the Annapolis Convention which was held in Annapolis,Maryland. The leaders wanted to discuss about commerce. But, only 5 states sent representatives to this convention- Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. There was a long debate about commerce. Finally, they decided they have to make a stronger national government. But, in order to do this they have to change the Articles of Confederation. The convention didn't do anything about commerce which made people more angry. So, a year later they held a convention 1787 in Philadelphia. Again they discussed about commerce but discussed about changing the Articles of Confederation and making a stronger national government. For some reason, they didn't want to change the articles.

In the morning the summer of Jan.1787, there were violent events about commerce in Massachusetts. Some citizens of Massachusetts were on the streets protesting violently at the streets. In the United States, there were economic problems in the. Some Revolutionary War soldiers were still not paid. Poor farmers had to pay high estate prices and they were soon in debt. In some states, the court could take their land away and they could make them go to jail if they couldn't pay.

These harsh rules made poor farmers angry and the Revolutionary War soldiers who didn't get paid. In the late summer of 1786 in Massachusetts, poor farmers armed with pitch forks,guns, and other farming tools marched to town courts and protested about the harsh rules and refused to let the courts meet. But these were the first violent acts they did to show how the their government how little power they have. The second violent acts they did were breaking debt records and closing down courthouses. They also broke some property but they were minor. The last violent were the Americans threatening to take the Boston arsenal led by Daniel Shays. The United States didn't have an army so they sent a militia to stop this. All these violent acts/protests was called Shays' Rebellion. But that was only 1 of many rebellions about the soldiers not being paid and the harsh rules.

After Shays' Rebellion, the delegates finally realized that they needed to change the Articles of Confederation and to have a stronger national government. James Madison wanted to hold another convention about changing the articles and for a stronger national government. George Washington and John Adams also agreed to his thinking and both of them supported making the convention and they were also in it. Many people and leaders,such as Patrick Henry, wanted not having a stronger national government and changing the Article of Confederation. The reason why they did not want this to happen is that they fought Britain because they did not want to have a very strong government ruling them. But it was subsided in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.

timeline: 1777: The Articles of Confederation was published by Benjamin Franklin and sent to the First Continental Congress and then sent to the colonies for them to change or make the rules better. 1781: Approved by all the states and the congress. 1789: It was subsided by the U.S. Constitution.

bibliography

Reflections Harcourt School Publishers 2007

U.S. Constitution online Steve Mount 1995-2010

N.A. Ben's Guide.gov. Feb.26, 2003

Youtube video: theninstructorchris S Oct.6,2009

People involved in the document:

Benjamin Franklin John Dickinson Richard Henry Lee