HIST 1103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Northwest Ordinance, Daniel Shays, Port River
Document Summary
General: loosely united alliance of independent states. Each state was independent and the alliance sort of united them. All of the states had the power: very weak central government, highly decentralized, power retained by the states. Unicameral legislative branch: 1 house, 13 votes for the original states, 1 vote per state, each state had 2-7 representative, if the 2-7 disagreed than that state lost their vote. No separate executive branch: feared the concentration of power in one person"s hands. They didn"t want someone to win and get too much power: president of the congress. If disputes between states, congress would step in between and help figure it out. Federal government did not have the power to tax: no way to raise revenue, only states could tax, could only ask states for contributions. Federal government did not have the power to raise troops: could only ask states for support.
