well hey there and welcome back to heimler's history in this video we're going to look in depth at one of your foundational documents for ap government namely the articles of confederation so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked let's get to it okay first of all what is the articles of confederation so glad you asked the articles of confederation was the first constitution of the united states and as i said in another video historians argue about whether it should be called a constitution or a treaty but that's neither here nor there for our purposes once the united states had declared independence from britain it was without a government so the articles solved that problem before we get into the main parts of it it'll be important for you to know what the word confederation means basically it's a form of government in which several powers unite to form a central power in the very first days of the united states the 13 different states formed a confederacy now the main thing you need to know about the articles of confederation is that this governing document placed most of the power in the hands of the states at the expense of the federal government you can see that right away right in the opening paragraph what do we see a list of the states articles of confederation and perpetual union between the states of new hampshire massachusetts bay rhode island and providence plantations connecticut etc etc and then just in case you were confused about where the power lay the article opens in article 2 with this little gem and as a side note this is the most important sentence in the whole document each state retains its sovereignty freedom and independence in every power jurisdiction and right which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the united states in congress assembled in other words they're saying don't get confused the states are supreme here and unless we explicitly delegate any power to the federal congress all of that power remains in the states now once we get to article 5 we begin to see the provisions for the federal government first of all the articles established a single branch of the federal government namely a legislative branch no president no federal court and how is that federal congress going to operate well further along in article 5 it says in determining questions in the united states in congress assembled each state shall have one vote in other words representation in congress is equal among the states a small state like new hampshire has exactly the same amount of power as a gigantic state like virginia now if the early americans were so concerned with granting the central government too much power why did they even form one at all well it's because they needed a centralized government in order to do business with other nations and we could see that in article six no state without the consent of the united states in congress assembled shall send any embassy to or receive any embassy from or enter into any conference agreement alliance or treaty with any king or prince or state article 6 then goes on to further restrict the power of the central government by establishing that it cannot raise a national army so where is the army or navy going to come from when it's needed think about it on the nose the states but every state shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia sufficiently armed and accounted and shall provide and constantly have ready for use in public stores a due number of field pieces intents and a proper quantity of arms ammunition and camp equippage then in article 9 it goes on to explain the powers that congress actually does have which really isn't that much the congress will be the final arbiter in disputes between states and fixing standard weights and measures and appointing committees to do its work etc etc then at the end of article 9 it basically says that congress can't do the major things it needs to do like declare war unless nine states ascent to the same now 9 out of 13 would be considered a super majority and that is as hard to muster as it sounds so basically from this you just need to understand that the power of congress was severely limited by this provision but the articles of confederation was even further limited by the impossibility of changing it or amending it in article 13 it says nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them unless such alteration be agreed to in the congress of the united states and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state okay wait it actually says that if the articles are to be amended it requires the agreement of every state 13 out of 13 the whole shebang all of them and if a super majority is hard to achieve how easy do you think unanimity would be anyway the point is there are a few things that the articles achieved first it established a central government where there was none before secondly it did successfully avoid a tyrannical central government by giving it no power but the flaws in this system were legion and that's why in 1787 delegates met at the constitutional convention and ultimately drafted a new constitution okay that's what you need to know about the articles of confederation click right over here for a playlist explaining all the foundational documents for this course and if you want to help getting an a in your class and a five on your exam and may then click right over here and grab my review packet until next time heimler out