Presentation on theme: "The New Nation Faces Challenges"— Presentation transcript:
1 The New Nation Faces Challenges Chapter 5 Section 2The New Nation Faces Challenges
2 The New Nation Faces Challenges Since the Articles was weak, the government couldn’t keep a standing army and theThe U.S. couldn’t enforce the terms of the Treaty of ParisTrade was a huge issue also, Britain closed many of it ports to AmericansBritish also forced Americans to high tariffs on their imports or exports
3 The New Nation Faces Challenges Trade With Spain1784- Spain closed the lower Mississippi River to Trade with AmericaCongress tried to work things out but due to the weakness of the Articles, it didn’t get enough votes and the negotiations ended.People started seeing the need for a strong central governmentImpact of a closed marketWithout the West Indies, and Mississippi there was a major disparity in imports vs. exportsHurt American business and Congress couldn’t fix anythingStates worked separately instead of together
4 The New Nation Faces Challenges Economic ProblemsTrade laws differed state to stateIt was difficult for a business to go across state linesWar debt had mounted and no one was collecting taxes, so individual states printed their own moneyThe Inflow of money caused inflationIncrease in prices of goods and lowering the value of moneyWeak EconomyPaper money became worth almost nothing, and people who had lent money were losing outThe loss of trade, with inflation caused a depression to hit. Period of low economic activity combined with rise in unemployment.
5 The New Nation Faces Challenges Shay’s RebellionMassachusetts refused to print money and tried to pay off debt with new taxes.Farmers hit very hardFarmers rebelAug rebel and close the courtsIf courts were closed no on could lose their landDaniel Shays led one of these revolts in Sept. against a court in Springfield, he was threatened with death, but that only made him fight moreThe uprisings became known as Shays’s RebellionHe was defeated and 14 leaders were sentenced to Death
6 The New Nation Faces Challenges Calls for ChangeThe Rebellions and lack of trade showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation1786- Virginia called for a meeting with the other states9 sent delegates to Annapolis, MD.Due to the turn out another meeting was called for in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to revise the Articles of ConfederationBecame known as the Constitutional Convention.