Understanding the Articles of Confederation

Hey everybody, it's History with Mrs. Lee time again, and today we're going to look at America's first constitution. I'm not talking about the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, that's the first written constitution in the New World. I'm looking at America's first constitution, which creates the first federal government of the United States post-Revolutionary War. And that is what I call the AOC, or Articles of Confederation. Now, after the American Revolution... The congressmen of the United States decided we have to have some sort of government in charge because we don't have the king in charge of us anymore. But we want to ensure that we don't have a king and we don't have someone or a group of people who would abuse their powers like a tyrant. So they drafted the Articles of Confederation. The AOC at first seems really great because it gives a lot of power to the states, which is something... that most people didn't want to lose. They were very worried about losing their individual freedoms. So, Articles of Confederation creates really strong state governments. Unfortunately, it comes up with many, many weaknesses, and it will eventually be replaced by the United States Constitution. The way that we remember the major weaknesses of the AOC is by looking at our hand. We look at the pinky finger to represent a weak central government. Remember I said that another word that could be used for central is national, and another word that could be used is federal. So basically the federal government that is now run in Washington, D.C. today would have been very weak during the Articles of Confederation time period. And we're looking at 1781 is when it's created before the American Revolution, and then it's going to carry us on through until the Constitution is written later on in 1787. The pinky finger also represents that there is no president in charge. We just have a Congress. Okay, so weak central government. States have too much power. The next weakness of the AOC is represented by the ring finger. Okay, if I have a ring on my finger, it's probably because I have some money in the bank to purchase it. Well, that's a big problem for the United States government. They have no money after the American Revolution. They are severely in debt. There is also no national currency. Each state is just taking care of creating its own money, so it makes it really difficult to travel and trade in other states. And, this is a big one, we know that Americans hated to pay taxes after the American Revolution. So, the AOC was set up so that the federal government was not allowed to collect taxes. The best that they could do was ask for donations, and we talked about this. If I ask you to donate money to pay off the national debt, you're just going to shut the door in my face, or you're going to hang up the phone on me. Nobody wants to donate that money. Alright, now this middle finger comes into play, especially with the Northwest Ordinance in the Northwest Territory. And that is the middle finger representing boundary and border disputes between new states. All of this land, sorry guys, let me change my paper. All of this land opens up west to the Mississippi River. So this land that today... We would consider Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, this land that touches the Great Lakes. All this land has opened up, and all of these states are starting to get really greedy, and they want to snatch up this land and make their states even bigger. So we say that the middle finger is a weakness of the AOC. It's going to show that all the states are very angry with each other, and they want to take over land. Now the pointer finger represents another weakness, and that is states blaming each other. Basically, no one is looking out for the good of America, and they're just blaming each other for all of the problems in the nation. Finally, the last weakness of the Articles of Confederation is the thumb, and that is going to be a definite thumbs down. We are getting no respect from other countries, and think about France and Spain. They lent us all this money, and we're not paying them back, so they definitely don't want to be friends with us right now. We also talked about one additional thing that could possibly show up on tests, and that is Congress needed nine states to pass a law, which isn't always super easy, but it's not always super hard either. But the bigger concern is that in order to change a law, Congress needed all 13 states to agree. And we know that it's very difficult to get 100% of the people or a unanimous decision in something. Now... Even though we spent all this time talking about the five weaknesses, sometimes Star Test likes to focus on the one. One strength. So, the one strength is best represented by your wrist. It's like the brace. It holds up your hand. It holds up your fingers. Okay? And we said that is going to be representative of the Northwest Ordinance written in 1787. The vocabulary word that we put on our timeline was orderly. And we said that orderly is like organized. There's a step-by-step process, etc. So, Northwest Ordinance, I call it the NWO. is an orderly process for territories to become states. So the federal government says, hey, 13 states, back off. You cannot have any of this land in the Northwest Territory. All of this land is going to be organized, and it is going to have to follow a process so that this land can become future states. So one of the big numbers that you have to know is that once we get 60,000 people living in a territory, then that territory can apply. apply to become a state. So whenever there was 60,000 people living in this Ohio territory right here, they could apply to America. They could say, hey America, can we become a state now? And so they have their 60,000, sure, join America. The other big thing you have to know with the Northwest Ordinance is that it does not allow slavery in the Northwest Territory. This is going to come into play when we study the Constitutional Convention next week. And we see that delegates are either pro-slavery or opposed to slavery, and they're going to have to come up with a compromise in how they deal with slavery. So, again, you've got your five fingers to represent your weaknesses, and you have your wrist to show the strength of the Articles of Confederation.

And that is what I call the AOC, or Articles of Confederation. Now, after the American Revolution... The congressmen of the United States decided we have to have some sort of government in charge because we don't have the king in charge of us anymore. But we want to ensure that we don't have a king and we don't have someone or a group of people who would abuse their powers like a tyrant.

So they drafted the Articles of Confederation. The AOC at first seems really great because it gives a lot of power to the states, which is something... that most people didn't want to lose. They were very worried about losing their individual freedoms. So, Articles of Confederation creates really strong state governments.

Unfortunately, it comes up with many, many weaknesses, and it will eventually be replaced by the United States Constitution. The way that we remember the major weaknesses of the AOC is by looking at our hand. We look at the pinky finger to represent a weak central government. Remember I said that another word that could be used for central is national, and another word that could be used is federal. So basically the federal government that is now run in Washington, D.C.

today would have been very weak during the Articles of Confederation time period. And we're looking at 1781 is when it's created before the American Revolution, and then it's going to carry us on through until the Constitution is written later on in 1787. The pinky finger also represents that there is no president in charge. We just have a Congress.

Okay, so weak central government. States have too much power. The next weakness of the AOC is represented by the ring finger.

Okay, if I have a ring on my finger, it's probably because I have some money in the bank to purchase it. Well, that's a big problem for the United States government. They have no money after the American Revolution.

They are severely in debt. There is also no national currency. Each state is just taking care of creating its own money, so it makes it really difficult to travel and trade in other states.

And, this is a big one, we know that Americans hated to pay taxes after the American Revolution. So, the AOC was set up so that the federal government was not allowed to collect taxes. The best that they could do was ask for donations, and we talked about this. If I ask you to donate money to pay off the national debt, you're just going to shut the door in my face, or you're going to hang up the phone on me.

Nobody wants to donate that money. Alright, now this middle finger comes into play, especially with the Northwest Ordinance in the Northwest Territory. And that is the middle finger representing boundary and border disputes between new states. All of this land, sorry guys, let me change my paper.

All of this land opens up west to the Mississippi River. So this land that today... We would consider Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, this land that touches the Great Lakes.

All this land has opened up, and all of these states are starting to get really greedy, and they want to snatch up this land and make their states even bigger. So we say that the middle finger is a weakness of the AOC. It's going to show that all the states are very angry with each other, and they want to take over land. Now the pointer finger represents another weakness, and that is states blaming each other. Basically, no one is looking out for the good of America, and they're just blaming each other for all of the problems in the nation.

Finally, the last weakness of the Articles of Confederation is the thumb, and that is going to be a definite thumbs down. We are getting no respect from other countries, and think about France and Spain. They lent us all this money, and we're not paying them back, so they definitely don't want to be friends with us right now.

We also talked about one additional thing that could possibly show up on tests, and that is Congress needed nine states to pass a law, which isn't always super easy, but it's not always super hard either. But the bigger concern is that in order to change a law, Congress needed all 13 states to agree. And we know that it's very difficult to get 100% of the people or a unanimous decision in something. Now... Even though we spent all this time talking about the five weaknesses, sometimes Star Test likes to focus on the one.

One strength. So, the one strength is best represented by your wrist. It's like the brace.

It holds up your hand. It holds up your fingers. Okay?

And we said that is going to be representative of the Northwest Ordinance written in 1787. The vocabulary word that we put on our timeline was orderly. And we said that orderly is like organized. There's a step-by-step process, etc.

So, Northwest Ordinance, I call it the NWO. is an orderly process for territories to become states. So the federal government says, hey, 13 states, back off. You cannot have any of this land in the Northwest Territory.

All of this land is going to be organized, and it is going to have to follow a process so that this land can become future states. So one of the big numbers that you have to know is that once we get 60,000 people living in a territory, then that territory can apply. apply to become a state.

So whenever there was 60,000 people living in this Ohio territory right here, they could apply to America. They could say, hey America, can we become a state now? And so they have their 60,000, sure, join America.

The other big thing you have to know with the Northwest Ordinance is that it does not allow slavery in the Northwest Territory. This is going to come into play when we study the Constitutional Convention next week. And we see that delegates are either pro-slavery or opposed to slavery, and they're going to have to come up with a compromise in how they deal with slavery.

So, again, you've got your five fingers to represent your weaknesses, and you have your wrist to show the strength of the Articles of Confederation.

Transcript for:Understanding the Articles of Confederation

Transcript for:
Understanding the Articles of Confederation