Unit 2 Lesson 5 Articles of condfederation Flashcards
Where did American revolutionaries look for inspiration for goverment format?
Many American revolutionaries looked to the ancient past for inspiration.
What example of government did the Roman Republic provide?
The Roman Republic provided an example of republicanism, the idea that a state does not need a king; instead, citizens appoint or select leaders to represent them.
What people did Republicanism appeal to?
Republicanism as a political philosophy appealed to elite and wealthy merchants and landowners such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington since it relied on a select few, instead of an unruly majority, to govern the new nation.
What is a democracy?
A democracy is a form of government in which the citizens, rather than a ruler, have the power.
What concept did democracy depend on?
majority rule
What is majority rule (refering to democracy)?
Democracies depend on the concept of majority rule, in which the ideas that have the most public support are adopted.
How is the democracy of US differnt from the actually meaning of democracy?
But in the democracy of the United States, citizens do not have direct power except at the local level of government. At the state and national level, citizens elect people to represent them and to make laws.
In 1776, John Adams had urged the 13 colonies to do what?
In 1776, John Adams had urged the 13 colonies to write their own state constitutions.
Under john Adams what would the goverment look like?
It would be up to the states themselves, not the national government, to decide how much democracy was just enough and how much was too much.
What did the state consistutions look like?
The state constitutions proved to be a testing ground of different styles of government. Some embraced democratic practices, while others adopted far more Republican ones.
Give examples of states more on the democratic side?
- In Pennsylvania, a man did not have to own property in order to vote. There was no governor, and there was only one branch of government.
- In New Hampshire, every small town and village—not just the larger cities where more wealthy people lived— could send representatives to make laws for the state.
Give examples of states more on the republican state?
- Maryland restricted office-holding to wealthy planters.
- The governor of Massachusetts had strong veto powers and had to own a large estate.
Was US a unfied country if not explain how its was like once it gained indepdence
Most revolutionaries pledged their greatest loyalty to their individual states. There had not been one unified country before the revolution, so the colonists had considered themselves Virginians or Georgians, rather than Americans. And recalling the experience of British laws imposed in the 1760s and 1770s, they feared a strong national government.
What was the Articles of Confederation?
Instead of creating a new federal government, the Articles of Confederation created a league of friendship between the states. Congress adopted the Articles in 1777, but they were not ratified by all the states until 1781.
What form of government did the Articles of Confederation provide?
The Articles of Confederation created a legislature, but not an executive or judicial branch of government. Among other things, the Articles of Confederation named the new country the United States of America.
Congress claimed the following powers for the federal government:
- declaring war and peace
- conducting foreign affairs
- coining and borrowing money
- regulating Native American affairs
- settling disputes among states
The following powers were reserved for the states:
- enforcing laws
- regulating commerce
- administering justice
- levying taxes
- raising militias
How was the Articles of Condferdation designed?
The representatives chosen by the state legislatures to attend the unicameral (one house) Congress were forbidden to serve for more than three years to avoid forming a political class. The Articles of Confederation were designed to keep power at the local and state level of government.
Which had the stronger powers, the federal government or the states?
States had stronger powers than the federal government. The power to make laws or enact policies is not effective unless there is a means to enforce them.
Why did the authors of the Articles of Confederation choose to keep most of the power in the states?
The authors of the Articles of Confederation were afraid of centralizing power because of their past experience with strong government. They were afraid that a strong central government would lead to tyranny.
Even though it was a weak document, the Articles of Confederation did allow the national government to make laws. Which laws were very benifical for the new nation?
Land ordinances, in particular, proved very beneficial for the new nation.
What marked the start of US westward expansion?
Recall that in the Treaty of Paris, Britain had to surrender its previously owned land. These new land ordinances legalized the settlement of this land now under the control of the United States and established the country’s westward expansion.
These land ordinances had the following important effects on the new nation:
- They established rules of settlement and admission of states.
- They expanded the boundaries of the United States.
- They provided the national government with much-needed money.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was one such land ordinance. This ordinance had the following key points:
- Territory would be divided into 3–5 states.
- Territories would become eligible for statehood with 60,000 settlers.
- Settlers would have religious freedom, the right to trial by jury, and free access to the major rivers in the region.
- Slavery would be banned north of the Ohio River.
- Townships would be six square miles.
- One plot of land would equal 640 acres.
- Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin were created. Part of Minnesota was included in the territory as well.
