United States History Student Edition

04 Forging a New Constitution

The Need for Change GUIDING QUESTION What problems did the government face under the Articles of Confederation? A growing number of Americans became convinced that the government under the Articles of Confederation was too weak to deal with the country’s problems. Among these problems were serious economic difficulties resulting from the fight for America’s freedom. After the Revolutionary War, the United States went through a depression , a period when economic activity slows and unemployment increases. Wartime damage to Southern plantations led to a sharp drop in rice exports. Trade also fell off when the British closed the West Indies market to American merchants. The little money the government did have went to pay debts to foreign countries. Combined, all of these issues resulted in a serious shortage of money in the United States. Shays’s Rebellion Economic troubles hit American farmers hard. Unable to sell their goods, they could not pay their taxes and debts, which led officials to seize farmers’ lands and put them in jail. This treatment angered many farmers, and some began to view the new nation as just another form of tyranny. They pleaded with the government to issue paper money and make new policies to help those in debt. As their anger grew, farmers in Massachusetts staged a revolt. Led by former Continental Army Captain Daniel Shays, they forced courts in the western part of the state to close in 1786. The goal was to stop judges from legally taking away farmers’ lands.

READING STRATEGY Analyzing Key Ideas and Details As you read, use a diagram like the one shown to identify the roles of the individuals who worked to create a new government for the United States. Leader Role Edmund Randolph

James Madison Roger Sherman Gouverneur Morris

depression a period when economic activity slows and unemployment increases

This illustration from the mid-1800s shows a fight during Shays’s Rebellion. This uprising divided the young country during the difficult 1780s. Analyzing Visuals What does this illustration help to explain about Shays’s Rebellion?

FLORIDA BENCHMARKS

• SS.8.A.1.2 • SS.8.A.3.3 • SS.8.A.3.9 • SS.8.A.3.10 • SS.8.A.3.12 • SS.8.CG.2.4 • SS.8.E.1.1 • SS.8.E.2.2 • SS.8.E.2.3 • ELA.K12.EE.4.1 • ELA.K12.EE.6.1

North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy Stock Photo

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