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Period 3: 1754–1800 Videos 20 videos

AP U.S. History 1.1 Period 3: 1754–1800
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AP U.S. History 1.1 Period 3: 1754–1800. Why was the power to declare war granted to Congress by the Articles of Confederation ineffectual?

AP U.S. History 1.2 Period 3: 1754-1800
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AP U.S. History 1.2 Period 3: 1754-1800. The structure of the government that the Articles of Confederation established most clearly reflects the R...

AP U.S. History 1.3 Period 3: 1754-1800
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AP U.S. History 1.3 Period 3: 1754-1800. In the Articles of Confederation, the issue of slavery was...what?

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AP U.S. History 1.2 Period 3: 1754-1800 273 Views


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AP U.S. History 1.2 Period 3: 1754-1800. The structure of the government that the Articles of Confederation established most clearly reflects the Republican belief that what?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the iron fist,

00:07

the latest trend in men's gloves. Yeah.

00:10

All right, take a look at the excerpt.

00:12

[ mumbles ]

00:16

The structure of the government that the Articles of Confederation

00:19

established most clearly reflects

00:21

the Republican belief that... what?

00:24

And here are your potential answers.

00:25

[ dog barks ]

00:26

All right, well... [ mumbles ]

00:29

[ mumbling continues ]

00:32

All right. So what's this question asking?

00:34

Well, first, it looks like we need to know

00:35

what exactly the structure of government

00:38

was under the Articles of Confederation.

00:40

The only branch mentioned in the excerpt is Congress,

00:43

and that's a great clue, because under

00:44

the Articles, there was only one branch -

00:46

Congress.

00:47

So let's keep that in mind as we check out our potential answers.

00:50

Did that one-branch system reflect

00:52

the Republican belief that A -

00:55

the government needs checks and balances?

00:57

Well, hmm. In order to have checks and balances,

00:59

you kind of need more than one branch of government.

01:02

That'd be like saying justice is blind,

01:04

but only out of one eye. So it's not A.

01:07

Did the Articles of Confederation reflect

01:09

the idea that B - citizens should

01:11

participate directly in a democracy?

01:13

Well, actually, the national legislature

01:15

under the Articles was made up of representatives

01:17

elected by state legislatures,

01:19

not the people themselves.

01:21

So it wasn't direct democracy.

01:23

More like indirect democracy.

01:25

Then did the Articles recommend C -

01:27

voting rights should extend to

01:29

those who don't own property?

01:30

Well, seems fair, right?

01:32

Well, not in the eyes of those farmers.

01:34

Because if you didn't own property, well,

01:36

you couldn't vote. Rentals don't count.

01:38

That eliminates C, as well.

01:39

So that means the Articles of Confederation

01:42

reflected the idea that D - a strong

01:44

central government leads to tyranny.

01:47

That it did.

01:48

Remember what the colonists had just experienced

01:50

leading up to the Revolution -

01:51

the destructive power of a strong

01:53

central government under England's monarchy.

01:56

Under British Parliament, the colonists were subjected

01:58

to persecution, income inequality,

02:01

and civil rights abuses.

02:03

So to prevent the American system from following

02:05

in its deadbeat dad's footsteps,

02:07

our founding fathers created a weak central government with

02:10

only one branch, Congress.

02:12

So the correct answer is D.

02:14

But remember, that one-branch system didn't last.

02:16

The Articles were replaced by the U.S. Constitution,

02:20

which called for three branches of government.

02:22

And we all know the best things

02:24

come in threes. Like Larry, Curly, Moe.

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