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CHAPTER 5 SHAPING A NEW NATION 47
Name ______________________________________________________________ Date ______________________
CHAPTER 5 Section 1 (pages 132137)
BEFORE YOU READ
In the last section, you learned how the American colonists
won their independence from Great Britain.
In this section, you will learn how the colonists tried to cre-
ate a new government.
AS YOU READ
Use this chart to take notes on the problems that the
Continental Congress faced in setting up a new govern-
ment and the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
TERMS AND NAMES
republic A government in which the
people elect representatives to
govern
republicanism The idea that
governments should be based on the
consent of the people
Articles of Confederation The set of
laws that established the rst
government of the United States
confederation A loose alliance of
states
Land Ordinance of 1785 A law that
set up a plan for surveying land west
of the Appalachian Mountains
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Law
that organized the Northwest
Territories
Experimenting with
Confederation
Americans Debate
Republicanism (pages 132134)
What style of government did
Americans favor?
After winning their independence from Great
Britain, the American colonists turned to the ques-
tion of how to govern themselves. Most Americans
believed that a democracy, government directly by
the people, gave too much power to the uneducat-
ed masses. They instead favored a republica
government in which the people elect capable
leaders to govern. The idea behind this style of rule
is republicanism, the notion that government
should be based on the consent of the people.
In the years following the Revolutionary War,
the American states created their own constitu-
tions. A constitution is a written system of laws and
principles that spells out the functions and limits of
a government. The states constitutions were based
largely on the ideals of republicanism. They limit-
ed the power of the government and guaranteed
I SSUES FACI NG WEAKNESSES OF THE
NEW GOVERNMENT ARTI CLES OF CONFEDERATI ON
How states should be represented

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48 CHAPTER 5 SECTION 1
specic rights for its citizens. Some of these rights
included freedom of speech, religion, and the
press.
The states constitutions also differed from one
another. Some states granted voting rights to all adult
males who paid taxes. Others continued to make
property ownership a requirement for voting. Those
who qualied to vote were generally white. With few
exceptions, women were not allowed to vote.
1. What kind of government did the state
constitutions create?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
The Continental Congress
Debates(pages 134135)
What issues did the Continental
Congress face?
While the states developed their own constitutions,
the Continental Congress sought to create a gov-
ernment for the entire nation. In doing so, the
Congress had to address three basic issues. The rst
was how much representation each of the different-
sized states would receive in Congress. The
Congress decided that each state would have one
vote, regardless of the number of people in the
state.
The second issue dealt with how the states and
federal government would share power. In
addressing this issue, the Continental Congress
proposed the Articles of Confederation. This set
of laws established a two-tier government. State
governments were supreme in some matters, while
the national government was supreme in other
matters. The delegates called this new form of gov-
ernment a confederation, or alliance. The
Articles created no separate executive department
to enforce the acts of Congress. In addition, they
established no national court system to decide the
meaning of laws. The Articles of Confederation
went into effect in 1781.
By this time, Congress also had to address a
third issue: how to govern the land west of the
Appalachian Mountains. The Land Ordinance of
1785 established a plan by which the federal gov-
ernment surveyed the land and sold it to settlers at
affordable prices. The Northwest Ordinance of
1787 organized the land into territories. It also
established a procedure for how these territories
eventually could become states.
2. How did Congress address the issue of state repre-
sentation in the federal government?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
The Confederation Encounters
Problems (pages 136137)
What were some of the Articles
weaknesses?
The Articles of Confederation had many weakness-
es. First, the new government did little to unify the
country. The states continued to act in their own
interests, with little regard for other states or the
nation as a whole. In addition, the one-vote per state
policy created an imbalance of political power. With
a population of 23,375, Georgia had the same power
in the national government as Massachusetts with
235,000 people. Furthermore, all states had to agree
to amend the Articles. As a result, changes in gov-
ernment were difficult to achieve. The Continental
Congress also had no power to tax. This meant that
it could not collect money.
The federal governments weakness hindered its
efforts to deal with foreign-relations problems as
well. After the Revolutionary War, Britain refused
to evacuate its military forts on the Great Lakes. In
addition, the Spanish attempted to strengthen their
presence in the West by closing the Mississippi
River to American navigation. Lacking money and
support from the states, the Congress could do lit-
tle to address these issues.
3. How did the one-vote per state policy lead to
unequal political representation?
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______________________________________________