Cornell Notes 7.1
Lecture, reading/chapter/novel/article during class, power point, movies (if need to collect info.)
Topic:Chapter 7, Section 1
Pages: 204-211

Questions/Main Ideas/Summary: / Name: ______
Class: ______Period: ______
Date: ______
Notes:
Governing A New Nation / After the American Revolution, many Americans favored a republic where the states had more power than the central government. They did not want a repeat of the English King, and Parliament using excessive power.
Government by the States /
  • Constitution- is a document stating the rules under which a government will operate.
  • Leaders in 11 of 13 states began writing state constitutions
  • Rhode Island and Connecticut kept using their colonial charters

Writing State Constitutions /
  • Executive- is the person who runs the government and sees that the laws are carried out
  • New constitutions gave most of the power to state legislatures elected by the people
  • The governor served as the state’s executive
  • New constitutions allowed more people to vote than in colonial times (still only white males, 21 or over)

Protecting Rights
Articles of Confederation /
  • This was the government congress created for the nation
  • It was called the Articles of Confederation (AOC)
  • It was adopted in 1777

Form of Government /
  • The government under the AOC had only one branch
  • This branch was the legislative branch called Congress
  • All states were equal with each having a single vote
  • 9/13 states had to agree before a law could go into effect

Limited Government /
  • The AOC provided for a limited government because colonists did not want to give up too much power to a faraway government… (this reminds them of England!)
  • The AOC had many strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths of AOC
  1. Negotiated Treaty of Paris
  2. Organized western territories
  3. Created a method for admitting new states
/ Weaknesses of AOC
  1. Limited government
  2. Congress could not tax
  3. No trade control
  4. Could not enforce states to comply with new laws
  5. Depended on states
  6. Virtually impossible to amend 13/13 unanimous vote

Settling the Western Lands /
  • The approval of the AOC was not finalized until all 13 states agreed.
  • Some states (Maryland) would not sign until others (Virginia) dropped their claims to lands west of the Appalachian Mountains
  • The lands given up were turned over to the government
  • The government could sell the land to private companies who wanted to develop settlements in the west

Land Ordinance of 1785 /
  • To divide land, congress had to come up with a system
  • They decided to divide public land into a grid of squares, 6 miles on each side, this was called a township
  • Within the township there was another grid, 1 mile on each side which sold for no less than $1 per acre
  • One section was set aside to support schools

Northwest Ordinance 1787 /
  • Guaranteed basic rights to settlers who wanted to buy land in the northwest territory
  • Set up a 3 step process for admitting new states
  • When a territory was just starting to be settled, congress would appoint a governor, secretary, and 3 judges.
  • Once the territory had 5,000 free adult males, it could elect a legislature.
  • When the free population reached 60,000, the territory could ask to become a state
  • 5 states (including ours!!) were carved out of the Northwest Territory: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin

Growing Problems
Economic Problems /
  • Each state had its own trade policy where they tried to help their own farmers and manufactures by setting taxes on goods brought in from other states (this discouraged trade between states)
  • Each state printed their own money, making trade even harder
  • This resulted in little money to run the government

Foreign Affairs /
  • Under the AOC America seemed weak, and other countries viewed it this way
  • British troops continued to occupy territory in the Northwest
  • Spain refused to let Americans ship products down the Mississippi river

Shays’ Rebellion /
  • Economic Depression- a period when business activity slows, prices and wages drop, and unemployment rises
  • Daniel Shays- A former Revolutionary War captain, and farmer
  • By the mid-1780s a severe economic depression hit the US hitting farmers especially hard
  • Farmers were unable to pay their taxes so the government took their farms, and sold them to people who could
  • August 1786 Daniel Shays led an uprising of 1,000 farmers in Massachusetts
  • Shays and his men tried to seize arms from a state warehouse, the state called out the militia and Shays and other leaders were arrested
  • This event helped increase the belief that a strong central government would protect against popular unrest, leading Congress to send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the AOC