The American Citizen

Lesson 1.3: The Challenges of the Articles of Confederation 

Enduring Understanding: The Constitution emerged from the debate about the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation as a blueprint for limited government. 

Learning Objectives: Explain the relationship between key provisions of the Articles of Confederation and the debate over granting the federal government greater power formerly reserved to the states. 

Essential Knowledge: Specific incidents and legal challenges that highlighted key weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation are represented by the: 

• Lack of centralized military power to address Shays’ Rebellion 
• Lack of tax-law enforcement power

Debrief 1.2:

Skim the following article about California's attempted secession by reading the title, picture captions, and the first line of each paragraph.  If any paragraph piques your interest, read those paragraphs.  Then answer the following questions in your notebook under the heading "Debrief 1.2:"

1. What is the Social Contract, and what does it have to do with California in this article?
2. How might the history of California and the United States impact how California might set up their new government?
3. In your opinion, how should the United States Federal Government respond to California if this movement progresses?

Activity #1: The Articles of Confederation:

Part One:  In your notebooks, create a 2 column by 3 row square table.  Label the left column, "Grievances against the King."  List three different issues that the colonist had against the English Government.

Part Two: Complete the Articles of Confederation Analytical Reading.  Make sure to complete the tasks on the PDF using Apple Preview.  

Part Three:  In the right column of the chart that you made in the notebooks, list how the new American Government in the Articles of Confederation responded to the grievance listed in the Declaration of Independence.  

Activity #2:  Weakness of the Articles of Confederation:

Travel to this link to learn about why the United States' first government, The Articles of Confederation, failed.  Once there, skim through the article to learn about the major weakness of our first government.  To skim...

1. Read the title, headings, and captions to pictures
2. Then, read the first sentence of each paragraph and only read the paragraphs that stand out to you.

Once you finish, respond to the following prompt in your notebook...

"Develop an argument that explains how Articles of Confederation failed to provide a stable foundation for the American Colonies after independence."

Activity #3:  Notes (If time allows)