Lesson 8: What Were the Articles of Confederation, and Why Did Some Founders Want to Change Them?
What were the Articles of Confederation and why did some Founders want to change them? (Video)
"Confederation" defined; state sovereignty; Articles of Confederation; First Continental Congress; Second Continental Congress; advantages and disadvantages of confederations.
Student Questions: Unit 2, Lesson 8, Sections 1-4
Why did the Founders fear a strong central government? (Video)
Negative experience with British government; characteristics of Articles of Confederation - no direct power over people; a compact among states; little power over states; power to create treaties, manage the war, request funding from states; no means of enforcing powers.
Did the Founders fear a strong central government might allow some states to dominate others? (Video)
Articles of Confederation solutions to major issues related to fear of strong central government dividing states - representation in Congress, allocation of war debts, western boundaries of states; Madison's response to large vs. small state issue; relevance of issue today.
What were the major achievements of the United States under the Articles of Confederation? (Video)
Winning the war - creating and supporting and army and making treaties to gain aide from other nations; passing the Northwest Ordinance; differing perceptions of strengths and weaknesses of national government under the Articles - localists vs. those involved in interstate and international commerce; Annapolis Convention; Philadelphia Convention; Shays' Rebellion.
Boston Massacre: The American Revolution (Video)
A video about Boston Massacre, which took place on March 5, 1770.
The Articles of Confederation (Video)
A video about the the Articles of Confederation. From StudiesWeekly.
Articles of Confederation (Audio)
A reading of the Articles of Confederation. From the Founding Documents Podcast by Learn Out Loud. Size: 4.6 mb.
Unit 2 Overview: We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution Level 3 Text (Audio)
Scholars Margaret Branson, Sue Leeson, and Scott Casper present Unit 2 of the new We the People student text. Size: 5.1 mb. Length: 5 min, 34 sec.
60-Second Civics, Episode 214: Articles of Confederation, Part 1 (Audio)
The beginning of a discussion of the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 215: Articles of Confederation, Part 2 (Audio)
The roles of Benjamin Franklin and Richard Henry Lee in bringing about the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 216: Articles of Confederation, Part 3 (Audio)
The colonists' fear of a strong government and how it affected the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 217: Articles of Confederation, Part 4 (Audio)
How the Continental Congress avoided a strong central government when they adopted the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 218: Articles of Confederation, Part 5 (Audio)
How the Articles of Confederation created a ???firm league of friendship??? among the states instead of a strong central government.
60-Second Civics, Episode 219: Articles of Confederation, Part 6 (Audio)
The powers kept by the states under the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 220: Articles of Confederation, Part 7 (Audio)
Three issues that aligned groups of states against one another.
60-Second Civics, Episode 221: Articles of Confederation, Part 8 (Audio)
The solutions to states' concerns about the national government's power that paved the way for adopting the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 259: Achievements of the Articles of Confederation, Pa (Audio)
An examination of the achievements of the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 260: Achievements of the Articles of Confederation, Pa (Audio)
A discussion of the Northwest Ordinance.
60-Second Civics, Episode 261: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, Part (Audio)
A discussion about the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 262: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, Part (Audio)
How the national government was unable to protect loyalists from the states.
60-Second Civics, Episode 263: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, Part (Audio)
Localists versus cosmopolitans in post-Revolutionary America.
60-Second Civics, Episode 264: Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, Part (Audio)
Majority tyranny in post-Revolutionary America.
60-Second Civics, Episode 265: Attempts to Reform the Articles of Confederation, (Audio)
A discussion about attempts to solve the problems of the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 266: Attempts to Reform the Articles of Confederation, (Audio)
A discussion about demands for a constitutional convention caused by the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 267: Attempts to Reform the Articles of Confederation, (Audio)
The failure of the Annapolis convention and calls for a new convention to amend the Articles of Confederation.
60-Second Civics, Episode 268: Shays (Audio)
A discussion about Shays' Rebellion.
60-Second Civics, Episode 269: Shays (Audio)
Continued discussion of Shays' Rebellion.
60-Second Civics, Episode 270: Shays (Audio)
The conclusion to a discussion of Shays' Rebellion.
