What went Wrong with the Articles?

The Colonists were tired of wars and tired of the king. Nobody wanted a new American king--you all know someone who gets a little bit of power and then becomes terrible. You know the kid who used to work with you at Stop & Shop or Daves, and then gets to be the Head Bagger, only to boss you around, make you get the carts, and make your job miserable...

The colonists were afraid of the same thing. Therefore, the Articles of Confederation, the first main Law of the Land, were loosely structured to give the power to the states and not the federal government. The problem was that the states did not all have the same interests--there were slave states and free states, big states and small states, industrial states and agricultural states, and the list goes on.

Trying to coordinate to pay back the war debt, build a national infrastructure, set up a system of banking and do other things for the welfare of the nation became nearly impossible. Try this at home--invite 13 of your friends to your house where you will meet up at a certain time, decide on a restaurant and decide which movie (you all have to go to the same one) at the Patriot Cinema. Odds are, one person will be 5 hours early, one will be late, someone will hate whatever restaurant you choose, and you will never get to decide on a movie. Now, multiply the effects of this by 13 states controlling the entire population of the nation.

Remember, the British and the French were waiting on the horizon for this new "experiment in democracy" to fall apart. They were certain it would, and they would be available to carve up the resulting colonies--think about the rest of the world. This was the middle of the Age of Colonization, and there was no continent (except Antarctica and maybe the polar icecap) that was untouched by the effects of European colonization.

Your mission in class and for homework today will be to:

--List reasons why the Articles of Confederation did not succeed.
--Explain why Shay's rebellion occurred and what effect this had on the colonists realizing the Articles were ineffective.
--Define "federalist" and "antifederalist" interests.

Put the following answers in your notebook. If you were asleep or absent today, the book contains some information around pages 80-85.