Why the Articles of Confederation Failed — Seven Weaknesses, Shays's Rebellion 1786-87, and the Northwest Ordinance 1787

Recite THREE PROMISES + 1-minute quick review: 'When did the Treaty of Paris end the Revolutionary War?' (1783). 'What kind of government did the new country have between 1781 and 1789?' (Articles of Confederation)

• Recite Three Promises
• Quick-review G5-Fall ending point
• Set up today's question: 'If the Articles ran the country, why did we replace them?'

Articles of Confederation (drafted 1777, ratified 1781, replaced 1789) were the new country's first national government. They had SEVEN structural weaknesses — let's name each: (1) NO POWER TO TAX — Congress had to ASK the 13 states for money; states often refused; the national government could not pay back its war debt; (2) NO EXECUTIVE BRANCH — no president, no cabinet; Congress had to enforce its own laws; (3) NO NATIONAL COURT SYSTEM — disputes between states had no clear forum; (4) UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUIRED TO AMEND — meaning the Articles could not be repaired since one state could veto; (5) 9-OF-13 SUPERMAJORITY for major laws; (6) NO POWER TO REGULATE COMMERCE — states could tax each other's goods; (7) EACH STATE PRINTED ITS OWN MONEY — economic chaos. Then SHAYS'S REBELLION (August 1786 - February 1787) — Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran from Western Massachusetts; farmers protested high state taxes and farm foreclosures; armed protest at courthouses; Massachusetts paid Boston merchants to raise a militia to put it down because the national government could not help. Then ONE ACHIEVEMENT: the NORTHWEST ORDINANCE July 13 1787 — the LAST major Articles-era law before the Constitution; set the pattern for new state admission (NW territory: present-day OH/IN/IL/MI/WI/MN); banned slavery in the Northwest Territory; included a treaty provision with Indigenous nations ('their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent' — though this was widely violated in practice). The Articles got us through the Revolutionary War and Northwest Ordinance, but they failed at peacetime governance.

• Notice: the weaknesses combined. ONE weakness alone might not have killed the Articles; their combination did.

  model Weakness #1 (no power to tax — the national government could not pay back war debt, so states raised taxes, so farmers like Shays could not pay) PLUS weakness #2 (no executive — the national government could not help Massachusetts put down the rebellion).

  prompt Which weakness made Shays's Rebellion possible?

• Why couldn't the Articles be amended to fix the problems?
• What was the ONE major Articles-era achievement?
• Why did Shays's Rebellion frighten Founders into calling the Constitutional Convention?

Apply MG-7 in light form to a Boston Gazette 1786 excerpt about Shays + Shays's petition. SOURCING: Who wrote? When? Where? CONTEXTUALIZATION: What was happening in MA in 1786? CLOSE READING: What did Shays demand? NMAI 5th: Whose voices are missing from a Boston Gazette report? (Indigenous nations of NW MA whose own conflicts were happening that decade; Black laborers in Boston)

M-5-S-CIV-02-A Diagram

Wall chart 24 × 36 inches with 7 numbered weakness boxes. Each box has icon + 1-sentence description + 1 historical example. (1) No taxation power [icon: empty coin pouch] 'Couldn't pay war debt' (2) No executive [icon: empty chair] 'No one to enforce laws' (3) No national courts [icon: gavel with X] 'State disputes unresolved' (4) Unanimous amendment [icon: 13 locks] 'Couldn't repair Articles' (5) 9-of-13 supermajority [icon: 9/13 fraction] 'Major laws stalled' (6) No commerce regulation [icon: 13 different currency symbols] 'States taxed each other' (7) State currency chaos [icon: 13 different bills] 'Economic confusion.' Color-coded by weakness type (revenue red / authority blue / structural yellow).

M-5-S-CIV-02-B Illustration

Period-style illustration of Western Massachusetts farmers armed with muskets at the Springfield Armory January 25 1787. Daniel Shays in foreground (Revolutionary War veteran clothing). Background shows the federal armory + General Benjamin Lincoln's militia force approaching. Caption: 'Shays's Rebellion exposed the Articles' weaknesses — the national government could not help Massachusetts respond.' Style: educational historical illustration; informational not violent.

• Sort the 7 Articles weakness cards into 'fatal' vs. 'fixable' columns and defend your sort in pairs.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'I think weakness #__ is fatal because ___'
• In pairs, complete the MG-7 light form for the Shays's Rebellion primary source.

  scaffold Teacher provides MG-7 with first row filled in as model

• Name three weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
• What was the Northwest Ordinance 1787 and why is it the Articles era's major achievement?

• Place Shays's Rebellion on MG-4 Chronology Strip Band 1 (1786-87)
• Preview Lesson 3 — the Constitutional Convention May-September 1787

• Ask one caregiver: 'When have you wished a government could do MORE? When have you wished a government could do LESS?' Bring back caregiver's example.