8-26-09 U.s. Government Under The Articles Of Confederation Our Nation’s

8-26-09 U.S. Government under the articles of Confederation Our nation’s first government included a single chamber of congress with little power. (What does congress look like today? Why was it changed? Who changed it?) Congress is a bicameral legislature of government. 1993? It was changed to prevent one chamber from getting too much power and insanity. If one chamber had too much power then there would be chaos. Each state had one vote in congress but the government had no executive branch or court system. (When did this aspect of our government change? How did it change?) It changed because one branch having too much power could overthrow everything else and bring chaos. Splitting the power also splits the insanity of it all. If each state had one vote only then it would be unfair to large states. Critical Thinking Why did the delegates who planned the confederation give nearly all powers of the central government to congress instead of a strong executive? As I mentioned before “It changed because one branch having too much power could overthrow everything else and bring chaos. Splitting the power also splits the insanity of it all.” Why do we need a strong government? So the government can provide security and the people have order. We have laws and rules that we have to follow. It keeps us citizens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Weaknesses of the articles The congress had to depend on states for money. The government had no power to collect taxes, regulate trade, or enforce the laws. Amending the articles required the approval of all states. The central government had no president of executive branch. (If there were no national courts then how were the laws interpreted?) The colonies interpreted them. Critical Thinking How did the confederation provide the future growth of the nation? The lack of growth didn’t provide for the future growth of the nation. The Northwest Ordinance's Article 5 became the principal that enabled the United States rapid westward expansion, which ended with the inclusion of Alaska and Hawaii as our 49th and 50th states. The ordinance started off with people settling on both sides of the Ohio River. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Need for Stronger Government Soon after the war the disputes broke out among the states. The government’s debt left soldiers unpaid. The economic depression of the 1786 led to Shay’s rebellion. The Virginia Plan

The Virginia plan proposed a strong executive, a national judiciary and a strong twohouse legislature in which the lower house would have chosen by the people and the upper house be chosen by the lower house The creation of the two–house government structure is similar to what government structure that exists in the world today? Give an example of who uses that particular government structure? What states favored this option? The unitary structure. Political Italy uses this structure. The New Jersey Plan Proposed a weak executive of more than one person elected by congress, a national judiciary with limited powers, and a one house legislature, with one vote for each state. Which state favored this plan? Compare the Two How are the two plans similar? How are they different?