The Article of Confederation

Matthew Chen

11/18/2016

Group #15

Chapter 5 review

1. Article of Confederation

The Article of Confederation is a national constitution written by the Second Continental Congress. It wasn't a very good document. This document limited the power of all the leaders so none of them will be overpowered and rule the whole United States. It also took power from the federal government like taxing citizens and gave it to the state governments. The document gave every single state one vote and to approve something, almost every state have to vote yes. The Article of Confederation gave the congress the power to make treaties with other countries and ask the states for soldiers and money, but the state government have the power to refuse their requests. This document was passed by the Second Continental Congress on November 15th 1777. Then it was pasted to each state for ratification which also means official approval. But the approval was slowed because of the over claims of western land. Maryland’s leader refused to agree the document until other states gave up their western land claims. Thomas Jefferson told him that these land will become states later. The leader was satisfied and signed the Article of Confederation.

1. Land Ordinance of 1785

The Land Ordinance of 1785 set up a system for selling and dividing lands in the west. The lands were divided into townships and each township have 36 square miles which were divided into 36 lots of 640 acres of land. One lot was given to the government for a public school. Four lots were for government to build post offices, army bases and other office buildings for the governors. And the others were sold to normal citizens.

1. Northwest Ordinance

The Northwest Ordinance was passed by the congress to establish the Northwest Territory which included states like Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. The Northwest Ordinance also created a system for forming new states in United States. The congress agreed to divide the Northwest Territory into smaller pieces and give each territory a governor appointed by the congress. When the population of that territory reached 60,000, the settles could write their own constitution and ask to join the union. If the congress approved their request, then they will become a state. However, the new states could not have any slavery.

1. James Madison

James Madison was known as the father of the constitution because his idea about how the government should work and brought the congress to an agreement. He also planned the Constitution convention in Philadelphia in May 1787 which improved the Article of Confederation. He wrote the Virginia Plan to help improve the constitution. He was also a federalist which means he supported their new constitution as an awesome plan for the government.

1.  Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison I help improve the constitution. This plan’s purpose is to give more representatives to the states with bigger populations which is not a good idea for the smaller states. And the government would have three branches: legislature, judicial and executives. Also it would split the legislature branch into two parts which is called bicameral. The Virginia Plan gave the federal government the power to tax the citizens.

1.  New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey Plan was written by William Paterson. This plan gave each one of the state government equal amount of votes and representatives. It also formed a three branches government and gave the federal government the power to tax like the Virginia Plan. The other difference between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan is that the legislature branch will be a one house legislature which is also called unicameral.

1. Great compromise

The great compromise was an agreement that combined the Virginia Plan and the the New Jersey Plan. The legislature branch would have two houses. Each state will have two representatives in the senate which is the upper house. And in the House of Representatives, the number of representatives will be determined by the population of that state. This compromise pleased both the bigger states and the smaller states.