From the Declaration to the Articles of Confederation

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D on consent in three documents and Hamilton's complaint (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "The Declaration of Independence (1776)". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: July 4, 1776. For whom: the king, the colonists and the world. Why: to explain why the colonies were separating. Excerpt 1: "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," Excerpt 2: "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:" Card B, "The Articles of Confederation (1781)". Who made it: the Continental Congress. When: ratified in 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to set up the first national government. Excerpt 1 (Article V, in part): "delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislatures of each State shall direct," Excerpt 2 (Article VIII, in part): "The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled." Card C, "The Constitution (1787)". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set up the national government. Excerpt 1 (Article I, Section 2): "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States," Excerpt 2 (Article I, Section 8): "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;" Card D, "The Federalist No. 15". Who made it: Alexander Hamilton, writing as Publius. When: December 1, 1787. For whom: the people of New York. Why: to argue that the Confederation was flawed. Excerpt 1: "The great and radical vice in the construction of the existing Confederation is in the principle of LEGISLATION for STATES or GOVERNMENTS, in their CORPORATE or COLLECTIVE CAPACITIES, and as contradistinguished from the INDIVIDUALS of which they consist." Excerpt 2: "we must extend the authority of the Union to the persons of the citizens…"

2. 1.

   Under the Articles Congress needs money from the thirteen states. Tala applies card D to card B, excerpt 2. What flaw does Hamilton describe?

   • The state legislatures set the taxes, which makes Congress too strong over the states and over their own voters
   • Congress's call for taxes reaches the people only if a state legislature acts: it legislates for states, not citizens
   • Congress sets the time for collecting, so it acts without the consent of any state or any legislature involved
   • Congress can tax citizens directly, but only with the assent of nine States, so a few states can stop any tax it seeks
3. 2.

   Card A says just powers come from the consent of the governed. Milo sets excerpt 1 on card B beside excerpt 1 on card C. Which body is closer to that consent?

   • The House, chosen by the people; the Articles' delegates were appointed as each state's legislature directed
   • Neither is close, since consent would need each person to agree to each act of the government
   • The Articles' delegates are closer, since a state legislature knows its people better than a national election can
   • Both are equally close, since each body is made up of officials chosen by some part of the people
4. 3.

   Claim: "The Constitution gave up the Declaration's principle by giving Congress the tax power." Pia tests it against cards A to C. What is the best verdict?

   • Weak: card A objects to taxes without consent, and card C ties the tax power to a Congress with an elected House
   • Strong: the Declaration condemned each tax, so any tax power in any Congress contradicts it directly
   • Strong: Congress could now tax the people directly, which is just what the Declaration condemned in Parliament
   • Untestable: eleven years separate the two documents, so any link between them is a matter of hindsight

5. Use this

   Cards A to C on one state, one vote (the excerpts are exact; card C is real data). Card A, "The Articles of Confederation (1781), Articles V and IX". Who made it: the Continental Congress. When: ratified in 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to set how Congress voted. Excerpt 1 (Article V, in part): "In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote." Excerpt 2 (Article IX, in part): "The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, … nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, … unless nine States assent to the same: nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of the majority of the United States in Congress assembled." Card B, "The Federalist No. 22". Who made it: Alexander Hamilton, writing as Publius. When: December 14, 1787. For whom: the people of New York. Why: to argue against the Confederation's rule of equal votes. Excerpt 1: "The right of equal suffrage among the States is another exceptionable part of the Confederation. Every idea of proportion and every rule of fair representation conspire to condemn a principle, which gives to Rhode Island an equal weight in the scale of power with Massachusetts, or Connecticut, or New York; and to Deleware an equal voice in the national deliberations with Pennsylvania, or Virginia, or North Carolina." Excerpt 2: "A sixtieth part of the Union, which is about the proportion of Delaware and Rhode Island, has several times been able to oppose an entire bar to its operations." Excerpt 3: "To give a minority a negative upon the majority (which is always the case where more than a majority is requisite to a decision), is, in its tendency, to subject the sense of the greater number to that of the lesser." Card C, "The first census, 1790". Who made it: the U.S. Census Bureau, as tabulated in reference works. When: Census Day, August 2, 1790. For whom: the public. Why: to count the people of each state. Table, columns State | Population in 1790, with enslaved people counted: Virginia | 747,610; Pennsylvania | 434,373; North Carolina | 393,751; Massachusetts | 378,787; New York | 340,120; Maryland | 319,728; South Carolina | 249,073; Connecticut | 237,946; New Jersey | 184,139; New Hampshire | 141,885; Georgia | 82,548; Rhode Island | 68,825; Delaware | 59,094. Total of the thirteen states: 3,637,879. Note: the count came three years after Hamilton wrote and one year after the Articles ended.

6. 4.

   Article IX needs nine of 13 States for major acts (card A). Zee reads card C and asks how small a share of the people could block one. What is the best answer?

   • About 10 percent: four of the thirteen states are enough to block a measure that needs nine yes votes
   • About 15 percent: the five smallest states, 536,491 of about 3.64 million, could block it
   • Over half, since blocking a measure needs a majority of the states, which is seven of the thirteen
   • About 28 percent: the seven smallest states could block it, since seven is a majority of the thirteen
7. 5.

   Luz tests Hamilton's "sixtieth part" (card B, excerpt 2) against the 1790 counts on card C. What is the best verdict?

   • Close for each: Delaware is about 1 in 62 and Rhode Island about 1 in 53, though together they are about 1 in 28
   • Exact: Delaware and Rhode Island are each exactly one sixtieth of the people of the thirteen states combined
   • Wrong: Delaware and Rhode Island together make a sixtieth, so Hamilton understated the share of the pair
   • Untestable: the census came three years after Hamilton wrote, so it cannot be used to check his figure
8. 6.

   Card A lets a majority of the United States decide ordinary questions. Bo reads card C. How small a share of the people could carry such a question?

   • About 15 percent: the five smallest states are enough to carry an ordinary question on their own
   • About 54 percent, since seven of thirteen states is a majority of the people as well as of the states
   • About 50 percent, since a vote among states weighs the people of each state equally in the end
   • About 28 percent: the seven smallest states, 1,023,510 of 3,637,879, could carry an ordinary question
9. 7.

   Hamilton says a minority with a negative subjects the greater number to the lesser (card B, excerpt 3). Esme reads card A. Which rule fits that point?

   • The majority rule for ordinary questions: seven states could stop any measure that the other six wanted
   • The rule on adjourning: any state could stop Congress from adjourning from day to day
   • The one-vote rule: each State's equal vote lets a majority of states outvote the others on any question
   • The nine-State rule: a few states could stop a war, a loan or a spending measure that most states wanted

10. Use this

    Cards A to D on whether the Convention could change the rule (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "The Articles of Confederation (1781), Article XIII". Who made it: the Continental Congress. When: ratified in 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to say how the Articles could be changed. Excerpt (in part): "…and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State." Card B, "The Constitution (1787), Article VII". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states. Why: to say how the Constitution would take effect. Excerpt: "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same." Card C, "The Federalist No. 40". Who made it: James Madison, writing as Publius. When: January 18, 1788. For whom: the people of New York. Why: to answer the charge that the Convention went beyond its powers. Excerpt: "that in all great changes of established governments, forms ought to give way to substance; that a rigid adherence in such cases to the former, would render nominal and nugatory the transcendent and precious right of the people to 'abolish or alter their governments as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness,'" Card D, "The Declaration of Independence (1776)". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: July 4, 1776. For whom: the king, the colonists and the world. Why: to explain why the colonies were separating. Excerpt: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,"

11. 8.

    Article VII lets nine States establish the Constitution (card B). Jun compares card A. Does Article VII follow the Articles' own rule for change?

    • No: Article XIII asks every State's legislature to confirm; Article VII asks only nine conventions
    • Yes: nine of thirteen States is the margin the Articles used for war, loans and other major questions
    • Yes: Article XIII governs alterations, and the Constitution replaces the Articles instead of altering them
    • No, and the Constitution is void for that reason, since an act against Article XIII cannot take effect
12. 9.

    Suppose the Constitution had to pass by Article XIII (card A). Twelve of 13 legislatures confirm it and Rhode Island's does not. Noah applies card A. What follows?

    • It would take effect, since twelve of thirteen is more than the nine States that Article IX asks for major acts
    • It would not take effect: twelve confirmations leave one State without the confirmation Article XIII requires
    • It would take effect among the twelve, since a plan can bind the States that confirm it
    • It would take effect, since silence from Rhode Island counts as consent under the Articles
13. 10.

    Claim: "Madison showed that the Convention acted lawfully under the Articles." Ari tests it against cards A to C. What is the best verdict?

    • Shown: forms give way to substance, so the Convention's acts were lawful under the Articles themselves
    • Shown: Madison quotes Congress's own call, so the Convention had full authority from the Articles
    • Refuted: Madison cites the right to alter government, which has no force as law, so his argument fails entirely
    • Not shown: Madison argues forms give way to substance, which concedes the form in Article XIII was not followed