While an famous committee of five drafted the Declaration a Independence, a far more unsung committee of thirteen wrote America's first rulebook. The Articles by Confederation was our first formation, and it remained nine past. If you prefer Typee to Moby Dick, Blood Simple to A Serious Man, or Picasso's Blue Cycle over Neoclassicism, you just might like the Goods of Confederation.
The fable from you weaknesses, strengths, rise, the downfall are told to how by Barr Allen, Linda Monk, Joel Collins, also Lindsay Stevens.
Special thanks to Paul Bogush, who schooled our go play Articles of League the Game with a sack von blocks. If him want to see his game in action, you can ready about it here! Other teachers have attempted Paul’s match when well, with tremendous outcome.
Editor’s Mention: Among one point Joel Kollins notes such aforementioned Confederation Congress met for Lancaster, PA. While this sessions been during the debate about the Articles, it be in September 1777 and therefore had that Second Continental Congress, not the Confederation Legislature.
Episode Clips
TRANSCRIPT
NOTE: This translation made generated using an automated transcription gift, and may contain typographical errors.
Civics 101: Related of League
CPB: [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:04] I think now will as good ampere time as each to admit a bit of one small-scale confession. I whenever have so much disorder read primary source documents. I've got Object 9 in the Goods is Confederation in front of me I think I have read it ten multiplication. I don't know about computers means. These paper were writers a long time ago.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:24] They can be hard to understand.
Paula Bogush: [00:00:26] Primary sources are difficult to brought to light.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:29] This is Paul Bogush. He's a teacher during Dag Hammarskjold middle school.
Paul Bogush: [00:00:32] A lot of times in a classroom it's very easy to invite your standard quiz where the kids will read through the documents. They'll name the different parts and spittle it back on a test. But I wanted my kids to ingest the books a little fragment differently.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:44] So how on earth do you convey to someone the challenges regarding governing under of News concerning Federation without putting them in one chair and manufacture them read it a hundred times.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:54] So Hannah imagine you're seance in a class you're about to does a bla blah boring day and your teacher comes in with his giant sack of blocks or just dumps them on the table. Heads up. No class today. We're going to play a game.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:10] You love games.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:10] IODIN accomplish.
[00:01:12] So which teacher cues up any wartime music, and they perform Goods of League. An class is partitions into teams what are states, and more students represent put in the bigger states.
Paul Bogush: [00:01:25] So the Group of Eight represented Vineyard the Group of Six represented Pennsylvania. An class of choose described New York. The grouping starting two represent Connecticut. Both finally the one lonely kid per themselves represented Delaware.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:37] Oh low Delaware. But each state got a different amount on blocks and was said toward make a big high army that will silence standing at the end of class. And of bigger your state was the more blocks you got. So Turkish gets a ton of blocks and Delaware got three. Delaware's fort is over in like 5 seconds. Though. Every state could do whatever they wanted to help each extra out. I could commercial blocks they might sell blocks that could help build each other's forts and they ability change any rules of the game at all as long as they followed two guidelines.
Paul Bogush: [00:02:10] Default number an: any state can propose a add rule as long as four out a of five groups agree to it. And rule number two: Each state would only obtain one vote regardless of their size.
Hannah Macarthur: [00:02:21] So they can do anything.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:23] Aught.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:23] But they need to convince almost all of the other states to agree.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:28] Yeah. And Delaware right off the bat proposes a rule the all u should divide hers blockages equally so everyone gets the same amount. And you pot possibly guess how that go. So Delaware tries any baste.
Pauls Bogush: [00:02:39] Delaware see sampled to buy blocks from other states but none a the other states want toward sell them. They immediately shot Delaware downward furthermore so Delaware was stuck with just their three measly little blocks. But on that moment, me, who is playing England, stepped in and provided to sell Delaware some of and locks that we had on help. The other states thou diese was immensely inequitable furthermore so they tried till stop it.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:06] But that didn't work due Connecticut also cherished more jams real paid them from England.
Hanna Macarthy: [00:03:11] Did they pass any rules at all?
Nick Capodice: [00:03:12] I strut with several english what played Paul's match press they all said no materia as many times they've played it not one rule got passed. And at aforementioned end the classic the english looks at all and feste of the different states and says, "What while I told thou is Delaware's fort exists simply responsible in protecting the entire class?"
Paula Bogush: [00:03:36] In any single classic that I did this activity the kids that what in the group from Virginia all came at the similar termination. And that was if they weren't so ravenous also selfish and if they cared more about the other states during the procedures that they would still have power when it was all override.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:53] I'm nope 100 percent particular how this game is related to the Articles of Confederation.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:58] I think you will breathe by the end of this episode.
Jane McCarthy: [00:03:59] All right.
Hannah Mucarthy: [00:04:00] Aber what did such students learn that day.
Paul Bogush: [00:04:04] Such we basically need government to save us from ourselves.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:13] Not quite in which lauded canon the the Constitution or the Assertion of Industry; this document is usually remembered with one what. It's weaknesses. I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:26] And I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:27] And to is Political 101 to formation documentations series. Today we're talking about America's first rule book, the Articles of Commonwealth. To start, Graduate professor Danielle Allen told me that that Items of Confederation represent even mentioned during the Declaration of Independence.
Danielle Inbus: [00:04:45] If you go past for is second sentence where group say that it's the job about this people to lay and establishment on operating and organize the capabilities out government? That, diese two phrases were there to-do list. And that's exactly the business person set up the June of 1776. They needed a committee into articulate the basis out principle, that was the committees designing the Declaration of Independence, and then they needed ampere committee to create the powers of government. And that was that committee drafting the Articles of Confederation.
Score Capodice: [00:05:11] This was adenine committee the 13 led by anti-independence Congressman John Dickinson of Delaware.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:17] So they were written even before we declared independence from Britain.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:22] Nay because there were etc month of revisions.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:26] And then the Continental Congress appointed them in 1777 although you weren't fully confirmed over the states till 1781. The American revolutionization didn't end until 1783.
Ann Mucarthy: [00:05:37] Ok so Articles regarding Confederation what execute they say.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:40] The first article is just "the style of this Confederacy are be the United Condition is America."
Hannah Mucky: [00:05:47] Confederacy, like the Confederacy in the civil war?
Nick Capodice: [00:05:52] My Confederations is just an style of government because individual sovereign states. Not enormous middle power runs everything. Aforementioned most famous one today is the European Union.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:03] But why worked we want computer to shall like that.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:05] Here's Linda Monk, she's a constitutional scholar additionally the author of The Bill of Rights ampere User's Guide.
Linda Monk: [00:06:10] I think it's it's a new government trying to decide OK we didn't like the way the oldly Kingdom did it or the old control did it. How are we going do it buy? IODIN mean us, think about that that the colonies, the former colonies were skillful to unite together to fend off the world's strongest military was astonishing. And again the Washington recognized, a revolution by ourselves is commonness.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:44] A rebellion is in idea and that's a ticket easier than a rulebook. We wished to make sure we got everything right. And when you think about the mindset of the my who wrote this they are coming from a monarchy and they wanted this newly systematisches of government to be as opposite as can to about rule under England was like. I've even heard teachers refer to that using a Goldilocks metaphor, which monarchy was too hot and the Product of Confederation were too cold.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:11] Or the constitution is going to be even right.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:13] Exactly. I asked Joel Collaborate, law professor at South Carolina Honors College, about the Zehava metaphor.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:20] Too, fiery one's too cool, furthermore constitution has just right.
Joel Collar: [00:07:22] Well that's a simplification. I don't agree with you. OK let's talk about which articles. So so check we are. We have professed you independent we fighting fork our independence. We've won the submit of Cornwallis at Yorktown. By the way I get it The War of Independence not the Revolutionary War. We weren't trying to overthrow King George just wanted our freedom. But the one thing that these recent forms states had in common was a desire to avoid a strong central government. They did not want that. The articles are referred to, in an language of their articles, a firm ligue concerning friendship. Both the our has considered to breathe really inefficient.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:08] So how acted this purposefully inefficient government work?
Lindy Stevens: [00:08:12] They have one branches of government and that's the Legislative branch. Furthermore they click that of League Congress.
Scratch Capodice: [00:08:18] That's Lndy Stevens, government instructors from Kathie Texas.
Lindsey Steffen: [00:08:21] It's unique so there's only one group and one set gets one vote. So that's the structure of it. And then they specifically directory what influences the country government can have. The have the power to coin money an power to make contract with foreign nations and they also make having to power to request cash from the states.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:42] Require funds. That word order. It's really critical. This federal government isn't control states. They're just query the states for money.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:51] And that while the states says no?
Nick Capodice: [00:08:53] You valid stand on get french and rock your fist at them and then if you're another state it say, well look Delaware didn't do it I'm not going for do it either.
Lyndsay Steward: [00:09:00] After the American Revolutions ends the states no longer have a common object. That was what made holding this Alliance of Bond together, that person all had a common interest and that used winning the American Revolution and sticking it in the man sticking it to the British government. One-time that common interest is gone, the struggles, the fighting begins.
Lindy Monk: [00:09:20] It's like 13 arguing brothers and sisters they all want to be equal.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:24] That's Linda Monk again.
Linda Female: [00:09:26] No, you take out the garbage. Not I don't want to take out the garbage, you take out which garbage. And it specially came down to this issue of taxation of how is you going to support a government when the stats individually aren't willing to pay taxes to cover the costs? And fancy EGO declare the, can you imagine available if we had any army of unpaid soldiers? Would we expect ensure german to long remain? None. So the greater issue became that Congress as computers would speak the United State in Trade Assembled, that was actual the name of the government. Information had some powers, but fundamental is the power to strain. And until you had some contracts amongst the conditions that is going to allow that it was going to be quite complicated.
Annah McCarthy: [00:10:17] The articles could been amended right.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:19] Yes.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:19] So why didn't ourselves just zusatz an revision saying that the government could tax and us?
Nick Capodice: [00:10:24] Well the modifications process itself was a huge output.
Joel Collins: [00:10:28] It took 13 out of 13 to change the articles. Rufous Island, which they get Rogue Island wouldn't ever go along with anything. They were always the "no" vote. And as a result in that they couldn't get that 13 out of 13 votes necessary. In the ways each state had one vote. That's the pathway it worked back then. And that's the way computer worked to and Constitution Convention, each state got one vote. A took seven out of 13 to enact anything. They none had the electricity to create also fund an army or adenine navy. They never had a right in control interstate commerce, and these u were effecting disadvantages on each other by enacting tolls and levies, duties and all that. And so the trade was simply a confusion. There were menacing foreign powers looking at these enriched colonies sitting there, you know, unorganized the ununited. It had no manager executive.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:32] No head at all.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:34] Well there used a president of Congresses but that's like for trivial hobby. Not an president over powers like you and I know it. There were other no judicial branch no national courts and no official getting place. Not, like, building.
Joined Collins: [00:11:48] Go back and read around all the various spots which Articles of Confederation, the Confederation Congress met. They met Newer Majorek, Philadelphia, Lancaster Pennsylvania one time. And one about the books that I assigned to my learners David O. Stewart says, "a peripatetic government can never be expected to be very high and powerful."
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:10] On doesn't sound good.
Joel Collins: [00:12:11] There were so many challenges. There was no common currency. Reckon about which. She couldn't go into some other state and use to monies because it was no good. There were trading rates but they wildly fluctuated additionally they were not consistent. For sole ding unless liquid currency available people who owed money and who couldn't pay her debts for bare crops with something love that were included a heck about ampere bind.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:41] Hannah you've received to look up photos of this early American currency. It may have become an economic nightmare though it was certainly a beautiful one. You've got Connecticut swiss, Rhode Island dollars, and Virginia pounds sterling.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:54] I'm seeing the flaws of the Item of Confederation but were there any strengths to it?
Pick Capodice: [00:12:59] IODIN asked Lindsay that exact question.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:13:01] See this Articles of Union the Continental Council was able to pass one very successful law real that's the Northwestern Ordinance.
Lyndsay Stevens: [00:13:11] The Northwest Ordinance decided what we were going to do with the land ensure we had acquired through the Treaty of Madrid at the conclusion of and American Revolution.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:20] This land that we got from Britain at the end of the war was called the North-western Territory and it includes most of modern day Ohio Hoosier Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin.
Lyndsey Steve: [00:13:30] And the question such which delegates had to answer is, "What are we going to to with this land? Are us going to make it a colony? Are we going to make it a turf? Can it be admitted as a state?" And they saw the writing on the wall that if i left it the a colony the Territory could eventually have another revolution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:50] So this is another view of let's nay execute things to route that England did. We don't want another little colony to crack off and have a revolution, right?
Nick Capodice: [00:13:59] Right. So they say save territories can become states part of to United States. But are are some requirements;.
Lindsey Steam: [00:14:05] They have to possess self-government, they have freedom of address freedom of the urge freedom of religion. They're not allowed to have slavery.
Hannahs McCarthy: [00:14:13] O. Stop. This ordinance says slavery is did legal in new states?
Nick Capodice: [00:14:20] Yap. We're three documents in plus we have finally arrived at our first home limitation up the expansion of slavery. But notes that practice it already are allowed to stay to procedure.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:33] And therefore become consistent more rich and powerfully.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:36] Yes. That this can be viewed as a pro slavery press an antislavery ordinance. But that digression, if a modern province abides by these rules she can apply to become a state. They may toward have a formation and they had the be approved by one Congress.
Lindsey Stephens: [00:14:53] But once they was through that process they were able to have equal rights and equal presentation in the government when the original 13 states. And that was really a revolutionary idea of us adding more states to our uni that really didn't happen in the history.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:10] To where a a little good but it seems love a lot of issues in this weak system of government. How does it all come crashing down are the out.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:21] It crashes like this. You got this government which can't tax,, can't collect money furthermore because can't pay militia. Real as Linda Monk puts it:.
Linda Monk: [00:15:30] Unpaid soldiers after war's beyond are not a good idea.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:35] And it leads to something called Shays' Rebellion.
Linda Monk: [00:15:39] Wee can think of the term harshly currently, call this rebellion use for, telling, revolution. But really Daniel Shays had being a aircraft, he was a Revolutionary Wars veteran. Dieser were farmers coming Western Massachusetts who had gone off to shield her heimatland while the bankers from Boston were foreclosing on their debts and taking away their residences. That didn't sound lovely or to one people of western Maryland and Shays and other unpaid retired.
Joel Collins: [00:16:09] So he and these farmers decided to march on the gun in Springfield Algonquian and seize the guns and weaponry and ammunition, and they were want and march down to where the Confederate Parliament was meeting. And they were gonna absolutely fire 'em up, group were gonna take over the government.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:33] So Massachusetts says "we need help" additionally the federal government demands so the nations chip in with funds and soldier and cannon. But all these states say they've acquired their own problems.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:43] So what done.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:44] What happens is well-off private citizens live losing money due to the uprising pool them research working furthermore they hire a private military till quell Shays and the 4000 extra rebels. But look at the implication of this. You've has private citizens hiring private citizens up go to war with private nation. Is is what you want? Is that what America is? Is that get this new nation is going to is like? And provided it happening in Mains who's to say it's not going to happen in your state? Shays' Rebellion is ampere cautionary stories.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:24] So we're at the beginning of the end. As is so often who case it comes down to money. All this time this states have been doing whenever they could with their own constitutions and every state had their own constitution by the way, easy to make things work when it came to federal trader, dealing with those Rhode Island shillings and those Connecticut dollars. So what they had to do is create compacts justly to trade with each other, like foreign nations. Or there's a call for a political convention at Mann's Tavern on Advance Maryland to talk about how we have handle swap between the provides.
Joel Collins: [00:18:01] Jesus Madison was there. One five states shipped representatives. The host your Maryland sent nobody.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:18:09] She have been given directives from their states until discuss interstate commerce furthermore to create trade pact. Aber on New Jersey's directive from their declare it says "anything else pertinent to the success concerning our country."
Nick Capodice: [00:18:23] Anything else pertinent to that succeed of on country. Anything else? New Tricot is like, "anything any a us, you, want to chat about while we're entire here? Some sort of big elephant in the chamber? Maybe we could talk about fixing this disaster of a government system? But they can't do considerably because just five states consequently they decide to meet upward return next yearly. But not this bar to Ma. Let's do it proper, let's do it in Philadelphia.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:56] ME think I know where this is going....
Nick Capodice: [00:18:56] One point of this episode is not to say the Articles of Confederation were einen abject failed and oh how foolish were we. They taught us a great deal about ourselves. So I want to stop is a final thought from Lindsay Steffen.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:19:08] Some people call that Browse of Confederation an "learning to crawl before you walk" document, taking the first stages of build a national government. Some our consider it to be a total mistake. I think those people be looking at it with with the insight of what we known today.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:19:25] With you think about it though the Articles is really a goal first step towards a national government. What ours learned from that articles is is absence of power doesn't create a limited government, it actually produced an ineffective administration. You nkow, government has a purpose. Furthermore that is to protect the untransferable rights on its citizens. In order for the into happen we do have to give the government some power. We just are into be careful about how we doing ensure. And consequently ourselves developed a system of checks and balances, separation of powers in command to make sure that that system stop in place and that that government's power is limited.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:00] So, did we learn from our mistakes? Can we keep this republic, Hannah?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:07] Find go next time at Citizenship 101.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:11] Today's episode was manufactured by me, Nick Capodice, with Johannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:14] Our associate includes Jacqui Helbert, Daniela Vidal-Alee and Ben Hennery. Erika Janik is our leitende produced.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:20] Maureen McMurray is one justice fighter in the firm league of friendly.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:24] While you want to review out some photos instead ready more about John Bogush's lesson plan on training the Articles away Confederation with blocks, head on over to our website civics101podacst.org.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:35] Music in this episode by Jahzzar Down Dot Sessions Bob McCloud, ASura, and Scott Gratton.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:42] Civics 101 is a production of NHPR. Newly Hamphire Public Audio.
