6- Articles of Confederation

The framework of government described in the Constitution of the United States (1787) most clearly shows the dissatisfaction of the founders with the...

• Albany Plan of Union
• Northwest Ordinance
• Articles of Confederation
• Treaty of Paris

Under the Articles of Confederation, the years between 1781 and 1787 are often referred to as the “critical period” because the...

• colonies were forced to pay high reparations to England.
• states were fighting the French and Indian War.
• southern states threatened to secede from the Union over the issue of slavery.
• central government lacked the power to deal with major problems.

What was the main reason the Federalists wanted to replace the Articles of Confederation?

• The president did not have the power to veto legislation.
• The legislative branch enacted an unfair tax program.
• The Supreme Court refused to pay Revolutionary War debts.
• The national government was too weak to solve the nation's problems.

Which principle of government is found in both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States?

• The right to vote must be guaranteed to all Americans.
• Supreme Court justices should be elected by the people.
• Governing power should be divided between different levels of government.
•  States have the right to secede from the Union.

"... Article 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid...."
– Northwest Ordinance, 1787
Based on this excerpt from the Northwest Ordinance, which statement is a valid conclusion?

• The issue of slavery was largely ignored before the Civil War.
• Abolitionists had gained control of the Constitutional Convention.
• Slavery was legally banned in the Northwest Territory.
•  Enslaved persons had constitutionally protected civil rights.

Critics of the Articles of Confederation argued that it...

•  imposed unfair taxes on the states.
• used a draft to raise a national army.
•  provided a strong system of federal courts.
• placed too much power in the hands of the states.

The writers of the Constitution corrected an economic weakness under the Articles of Confederation when they...

• granted Congress the power to levy and collect taxes.
• created an executive branch headed by the president.
• granted the president the authority to negotiate treaties.
• created a two-house legislature.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established a model for later settlement by providing for the..

• legal expansion of slavery.
•  creation of national parks.
• distribution of free land to war veterans.
• process for territories to become states.

The primary purpose of the Articles of Confederation was to...

• provide revenues for the national government.
• establish the basic framework of the national government.
• give the national government the power to regulate interstate commerce.
• guarantee a bill of rights to protect citizens from the national government.

Shays’ Rebellion (1786) became a concern for many national leaders because it..

• indicated there would be future conflicts over the spread of slavery.
• exposed fundamental weaknesses in government under the Articles of Confederation.
• pointed to the need for federal government regulation of interstate commerce.
• showed that frontier settlements were vulnerable to raids by Native American Indians.