United States History Student Edition

Under the Articles of Confederation, government carried on its business, such as selling western lands, through congressional committees. In addition, all the states had to approve the Articles and any amendments, as stated in Article 13 of the document: “ARTICLE XIII Every state shall abide by the determinations of the united states in congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every state, and the union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at anytime hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a congress of the united states, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state.” Yet not every state supported the Articles of Confederation at first. Under the new plan, each state had one vote regardless of population. States with large populations believed they should have more influence in the Congress than states with smaller populations. Disputes over land also threatened to block approval of the Articles. By the 1780s, seven of the original states lay claim to areas in the West. Maryland refused to approve the Articles until New York, Virginia, and other states abandoned their land claims west of the Appalachian Mountains. This done, Maryland joined the other 12 states in approving the Articles. On March 1, 1781, the Confederation formally became the government of the United States of America. The next several years were critical ones for the young republic. It soon became clear that the new national government was too weak to handle the problems facing the United States. The weak Congress could not pass a law unless nine states voted in favor of it. Changing the Articles required the approval of all 13 states. This made it hard for Congress to pass laws when any disagreement arose. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 1. Identifying What did all of the new state constitutions have in common? 2. Explaining How did the Articles of Confederation structure the new national government?

Proposed in 1777, the Articles of Confederation served as the first plan of government for the new United States.

Policies for Western Lands GUIDING QUESTION What process allowed new states to join the union? The Articles of Confederation did not propose a way to add new states to the United States. Yet some settlers were living west of the Appalachian Mountains, outside the existing states. These Western settlers wanted to organize their lands as states and join the union. Under the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British gave up control of the area north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountains.

abandon to give up

PHOTO: Everett Historical/Shutterstock; TEXT: Engrossed and corrected copy of the Articles of Confederation, showing amendments adopted, November 15, 1777, Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789, Record Group 360; National Archives.

First Governments and the Constitution 173