Idaho Social Studies 6-12.US1.13
The Standard
Analyze the successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation and the events that led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Founding a New Government 1776-1791
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify achievements under the Articles, including peace with Britain and rules for new states. They explain problems caused by Congress's limited tax and trade powers. They connect war debts, Shays' Rebellion, and the Annapolis meeting to the call for a convention.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can use the Northwest Ordinance as evidence of a success and unpaid war debts as evidence of a weakness. They can explain how Shays' Rebellion added urgency and the Annapolis meeting called for a broader convention.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the Articles achieved nothing or that Congress could collect taxes but chose not to. Some think Shays' Rebellion overthrew the government, rather than adding to concerns about it.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name one achievement and one weakness of the government under the Articles. Explain how that weakness helped bring delegates to Philadelphia in 1787.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups 13 state cards and a war-debt bill; let each state decide whether to pay its voluntary share.
Read a short account of Shays' Rebellion, then ask: Why did it make some leaders want to change the government?
Sort cards labeled Treaty of Paris, Northwest Ordinance, unpaid war debts, and Shays' Rebellion into achievements, weaknesses, and pressures for change.
Compare a school club's optional dues with required dues; decide which plan could reliably pay a $75 bus fee.
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