A Blueprint for Expansion

What important laws were made under the Articles of Confederation?

While the Founders deliberately limited the powers of the U.S. government, under the 
Articles the new government achieved some important accomplishments. One great 
success was the government's plan for the future of the ​Northwest Territory​, the 
western lands north of the Ohio River. Congress’s actions created a simple process by 
which the nation would expand into western lands. 

In 1785, Congress passed the Land Ordinance. The word ​ordinance​ means "a law or legal 
decree." The Land Ordinance provided for a complete survey of the entire Northwest 
Territory​—more than 265,000 square miles. The survey divided the land into 
36-square-mile townships and divided each township into rectangular plots that people 
could buy. This plan allowed the country to collect revenue, or income, and individuals 
and families to own and operate their own farms. The Land Ordinance also set aside one 
plot of land in each township to be used for a school. 

The ​Northwest Ordinance of 1787​ outlined a process for creating new states. This 
process for a territory to become a state was based on democratic principles, including 
outlawing slavery, establishing public education, respecting Native Americans, and 
implementing a ​bill of rights​. To accomplish this, the Northwest Territory was divided 
into districts. Each district was governed by officers appointed by Congress. When the 
population in a district reached 5,000 adult males, the people were to draft a state 
constitution​. A district whose population grew to include 60,000 free males could 
request statehood if it also had a bill of rights, or list of guaranteed individual rights and 
liberties. In addition, slavery was prohibited throughout the Northwest Territory. The 
Northwest Ordinance guaranteed citizens of new states the same civil rights as people in 
other states, while also stating that Native American “lands and property shall never be 
taken from them without their consent.” 

Problems with the Articles of Confederation at Home 

What were the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation in resolving problems among 
the states? 

In spite of its successes, the government under the ​Articles of Confederation​ had many 
problems. The Articles gave Congress the power to coin money and borrow from other 
nations. However, each state also could issue its own ​currency​, or paper money. What 
would you think if you needed different currency to buy things in New York, Virginia, 
and Massachusetts? States often disagreed with other states about the value of their 
currency. 
Congress also did not have the power to regulate trade, or ​commerce​, between the 
states. Without a central authority, each state had to rely on its own trade laws. States 
imposed their own import tariffs, or taxes on goods brought in for sale. Some states also 
had rules that restricted imported goods so they could be unloaded only in certain ports. 
Plus, the states were in competition not only with foreign countries but also with each 
other. A merchant who wanted to travel along the coast buying and selling in a chain of 
several ports would face a complex tangle of rules and taxes. 

Additionally, there were more basic problems with the ​confederation​. 

● The government did not have the power to impose or collect taxes. The 
nation owed money to France and Holland and could not pay. Congress 
sent bills to the states, but the states ignored them and Congress could do 
nothing about it. 
● A vote of a two-thirds majority, or nine states, was required to pass laws. 
Unless nine states agreed on a solution, Congress could not solve any 
problems. 
● A unanimous vote of 13 states was required to change the Articles of 
Confederation. Congress could not fix itself. 

These basic problems reinforced each other. The United States faced crises in its dealings 
with Britain and Spain as well as internal conflicts that threatened to lead to disaster. 

Problems Competing with British Commerce 

How did the nation’s dealings with Great Britain reveal weaknesses in the Articles of 
Confederation? 

With the states focused on their own concerns, several foreign relations problems 
developed. In the Treaty of Paris, Britain had agreed to vacate its military outposts in the 
Northwest Territory​, but now it refused to do so. The United States was powerless to 
force them out, so the British continued to occupy its western forts. 

As colonists, Americans had been forced to pay taxes to support the British Empire. In 
partial exchange, they enjoyed the empire’s protection of U.S. business interests around 
the world. For instance, U.S. merchants were confident that their ships traveling to 
Europe would be protected by the British navy. After the Revolutionary War, Britain no 
longer protected U.S. businesses and consumers. It now saw the young nation as a 
competitor rather than a colony. 

After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. economy was wrecked. U.S. exports, or sales of 
goods to other countries, declined. Britain restricted imports, or goods brought in to the 
country, from the United States and forbade its Caribbean sugar colonies from trading 
with the United States. Also, the British flooded the market with manufactured goods that 
were cheaper and better than U.S. products. These factors combined to create an 
economic ​depression​, a period of widespread business difficulty, lower sales, and higher 
unemployment. The depression of the 1780s threatened the future of the United States. 

John Adams​ was appointed to represent the United States in negotiating a trade treaty 
with Britain. No treaty came about because Adams had nothing to offer. His government 
had no actual power, and he could not promise that the states would accept any 
agreement he made. 

Problems with Spanish Land Claims 

How did the nation’s dealings with Spain reveal weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation? 
In the Treaty of Paris, Britain acknowledged U.S. claims to the lands between the Ohio 
River and Florida. However, Spain was not involved in the Treaty of Paris. The Spanish 
still held Florida and New Spain, which included all the lands west of the Mississippi 
River. Spain would not recognize U.S. claims. Spain also cut off U.S. merchants and 
farmers from using the Mississippi River for ​commerce​. That meant farmers west of the 
Appalachian Mountains would have to send their crops across the mountains to get them 
to eastern markets. 

Congress did not have the power to address these issues. Northerners were willing to 
make a deal with Spain; they would give up access to the Mississippi River if the United 
States could get something in return. But westerners and Southerners insisted they 
needed the Mississippi River. The ​Confederation​ Congress could hardly begin to 
negotiate. It could not call on military force either. The Congress could create and 
maintain an army, but doing so required 9 of the 13 states to agree, and they could not 
agree. Each individual state retained control of its own militia, which it used to protect 
itself. 

In the 1780s, the young United States faced challenges to its sovereignty from other 
countries and squabbles among its own member states. Those who had wanted a weak 
national government had succeeded. 

Rebellion in a New Nation 

What did Shays’s Rebellion indicate about the United States in the 1780s? 

Massachusetts had large debts from the Revolutionary War and wanted to pay them off 
quickly. To do this, the state increased land taxes by 60 percent. This tax hike led many 
farmers in the western part of the state to go deeply into debt. Banks began to foreclose 
on farmers who could not pay their loans. The word ​foreclosure​ means "taking 
possession of a borrower’s property when the borrower is unable to make debt 
payments." Soon, demonstrations and riots against the foreclosures broke out. 

Daniel Shays​, a Revolutionary War veteran, raised a militia to fight the foreclosure 
courts. Historians cannot agree on the size of Shays’s militia. Some put it at 700 men; 
other historians put it at 1,200 men; and still others put it at 2,000 men. One thing was 
certain; Shays’s "rebel" militia overwhelmed Massachusetts’s courts and shut them 
down. Then Shays's militia marched toward Springfield, Massachusetts, the largest city 
in the area. The rebel militia intended to capture the federal ​arsenal​, or storage facility 
for weapons. The Massachusetts state militia was called to stop the rebels. The state 
militia killed 4 rebels during the battle and captured 150. Shays escaped to Vermont. 

Shays’s Rebellion brought to light a common problem. Shays’s followers were not the 
only ones who were desperate. Many people were suffering from high debt after the 
war. There was a ​currency​ shortage that made the value of money high. People were 
going bankrupt, losing their farms, their homes, and their livelihoods. The government 
could not pay its own debts. The people needed effective solutions to the economic issues 
and political conflicts they faced. 

The ​Articles of Confederation​ had been made weak to prevent the abuse of central 
power. The rebellion drew attention to what many people already knew: The U.S. 
government was failing its people. The country had no money and no power. The weak 
government that the Articles created now seemed too weak to survive. 

Shortly after the unrest in Massachusetts began, representatives from five states met in 
Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss common concerns related to trade and ​commerce​. The 
Annapolis delegates agreed that their problems could not be addressed without revising 
the Articles of ​Confederation​. They decided to call for a larger convention that would 
feature representatives from each of the United States. 

This meeting, later known as the ​Constitutional Convention​, took place in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, in 1787. The decisions made in Philadelphia would change the course of 
U.S. history. They also created a new system of government that would later be emulated 
by countries around the world.