3.7

• The Constitution we know and love today is in fact our second Constitution, the first being the Articles of Confederation
• The Continental Congress declared independence from Britain


  1776
• The Articles of Confederation was ratified in 1781 to become the new governing document of the nation
• Articles of Confederation


  • Influenced by existing state constitutions
  • Placed power in the legislative branch
  • Did not provide for an executive or national supreme court
  • Every state had one vote
  • Required 9 out of 13 states to agree for any changes
• Westward migration regulation


  1. The federal government passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

  2. Abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory

  3. Provided an orderly means for unorganized territories to apply for statehood
• Shays's Rebellion proved the Articles of Confederation was a flawed document in need of replacing
• Farmers were in debt and petitioned for relief after the Revolutionary War

  But had no luck getting a meaningful response from the state and federal government
• Daniel Shays gathered a militia of about a thousand angry farmers and headed to the town arsenal to arm themselves
• The Massachusetts militia stopped and crushed the uprising, but Massachusetts had to call the president for federal troops to help, but there was no president under the Articles
• Shays's Rebellion showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, leading local and federal leaders to consider crafting a new Constitution