Objective: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the challenges faced by the new nation by identifying the weaknesses of the government established by the Articles of Confederation.

Essential Understandings:

Essential Questions:

Essential Knowledge

Essential Skills

The Articles of Confederation was a constitution written during the American Revolution to establish the powers of the new national government.

  • What were the basic weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Articles of Confederation

  • Provided for a weak national government
  • Gave Congress no power to tax
  • Gave Congress no power to regulate commerce among states
  • Provided for no COMMON currency
  • Gave each state one vote regardless of size of population
  • Provided for no executive or judicial branches in the government
  • Identify and interpret primary and secondary documents to increase understanding of events and life U.S. history (USI 1a)
  • Interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives (USI 1d)
  • Analyze and interpret maps to explain historical events (USI 1f)

Resources and Activities

  • Student interactive notebook and graphic organizers (teacher created)
  • Flash cards, primary sources, maps, student handouts and classroom web page published
  • United Mainstreaming Video clips
  • Power points –on classroom web site.
  • Money interactive game to demonstrate currency differences and problems between states