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Articles of Confederation. A of C: 1. written by 2 nd Continental Congress during Am. Revolution 2. loose alliance of 13 independent states 3. introduced – 1777, ratified (officially approved by all 13 states)– 1781 4. Congress could - declare war
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Articles of Confederation A of C: 1. written by 2nd Continental Congress during Am. Revolution 2. loose alliance of 13 independent states 3. introduced – 1777, ratified (officially approved by all 13 states)– 1781 4. Congress could - declare war - print money - appoint military officers
Articles of Confederation Strengths: 1. held the country together during the Revolution 2. created land ordinance of 1785 3. created Northwest Ordinance of 1787 4. outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territories.
Land Ordinance of 1785: 1. Set up a system for settling/governing the Northwest Territory - land N. of Ohio R. and E. of Mississippi R. that was not yet divided into states.(Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin) 2. Territory would be: - surveyed - divided into townships(6 X 6 miles) - townships subdivided into 36 sections (1 X 1 miles) & sold for $640 each - 1 section for township set aside for public education
Northwest Ordinance of 1787: 1. Set up government for Northwest Territory - guaranteed basic rights for settlers - slavery outlawed - allowed territory to be divided further in the future 2. Provisions for admitting new states: - when territory had 60,000 free settlers it could apply for statehood. - once admitted, a state had “equal footing” with all other states.
Articles of Confederation Weaknesses: 1. states were afraid to give too much power to a central government because of their experience w/British Parliament & King George 2. no executive/judicial branches 3. no power to: -enforce laws - tax states - regulate trade 4. one vote per state in legislature. - smaller states w/small population had equal power to larger states