History Notes

Molding a Nation - 1781 - 1789

The Articles of Confederation, though flawed, served as a bridge to becoming a new nation.

Americans are on their own, and reality has set in

Some believed that we could not handle it

We couldn't afford to go back into war

(Side note: John Hanson was the president by the Articles of Confederation.)

The Articles serve the purpose for the time being, even with their flawed nature; they get us through the post-war period.

The Confederation was the brainchild of Richard Henry Lee, and John Dickinson was the principle draftsman of the Articles of Confederation.

The following Powers were clearly stated in the document to the Congress (these were held by the Congress).

POWERS HELD:

Power over foreign affairs and problems in times of peace and war.

Power to decide state disputes. (Note: Shay's Rebellion)

Powers to make coins, establish a postal service, oversee Indian affairs, and govern the Western territories.

The following crucial Powers were not included in the Articles of Confederation.

POWERS MISSING

Lacked the power to enforce its own resolutions - it was a body with 13 heads moving in different directions.

Lacked the power over interstate commerce.

Lacked the power to control the issuance of paper money by the state.

Also, there was no executive branch, and there were no courts - the appellate system was not in place, and there was no supreme court.

REPRESENTATION in the Congress

No state could have less than two delegates or more than seven (2-7)

Creation of 5 Executive Departments (but still lacking an executive branch), which grew into the modern-day cabinet.

Foreign Affairs

Finance

War

Postal Service

Board of Admiralty

We got new lands during the war - out to Mississippi

Eventually we were going to settle it

It was surveyed

Settling Western Land Disputes

Land Ordinance of 1785 - proposed by Thomas Jefferson in 1784

Called for a rectangular survey of the Western lands

Divide it into 6-square mile townships

Each township would contain 36 sections

Each township would set aside section 16 for public education

Each section would contain 640 acres of land

You could buy a whole section for $640, or $1/acre

This was to promote expansion into the wilderness; there were the problems of the Indians and distance, so this was used as promotion.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

It created the Northwest Territory (at that time, the Old Northwest stretched only as far as the Ohio River).

The Land received from the Treaty of Paris later yielded five states:

Ohio

Michigan

Indiana

Illinois

Wisconsin

Ohio is the first new state

At first, the government of the new territory consisted of only five members:

Governor

Secretary (dated, documented, and filed)

Three Judges

Initially, a population of 60,000 would get you statehood.

Bill of Rights for the land covered:

No slavery in the Northwest Territory

Religious freedom

Trial by jury

Public Education

Everything is going along well until Shays' Rebellion, which started in Western Massachusetts in the fall of 1786.

(It lasted from Fall of '86 to Winter of '87)

Taxes had been brought up

Yet, Rev. War vets, like Daniel Shays, had not been paid backpay for their service

They were poor farmers, and they could not pay the taxes

Shays had some quaint phrases, and he formed a group of 1000 to 1200 men

o That number was nothing to sneer at given the circumstances in America

o Also, the census of that time showed that number to be a relatively sizeable force

o Became known as Shaysites

If taxes could not be paid, then foreclosure on the house and farm

These were war veterans

Some were forced to become homeless

Weapons are needed for the movement

o Arsenal at Springfield, MA

o Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA

Governor at the time was James Bowdoin

He dispatched the Rev. War General Benjamin Lincoln

Sent a sizeable force ("Give [the Shaysites] a little whiff of grapeshot.")

A single artillery volley was all that was needed - Four dead

Shays'