Gordon Wood and the Articles of Confederation

“There were, of course, many defects in the Articles of Confederation that had become obvious by the 1780s…Yet it was not the defects of the Articles of Confederation by themselves that were causing the sense of crisis. These defects were correctable and were scarcely capable of eliciting the many expressions of horror and despair…the Constitution went far beyond what the weaknesses of the Articles demanded.”

- Historian Gordon Wood

1. What is Wood’s point of view toward the Articles of Confederation?

2. Pick TWO of the following and explain how these could be understood as ‘defects’? How could these have been corrected?

a. Taxation

b. Commerce

c. Military/diplomacy

d. Debt

e. International trade

3. Pick ONE of the following and explain how it would have led to ‘expressions of horror and despair’?

a. Shays Rebellion

b. Newburgh Conspiracy

c. ‘excessive democracy’ at the state level

4. What would Wood cite as evidence that state the Constitution went ‘far beyond’ these corrections?

5. Would Wood agree that the Constitution was a ‘counter-revolution’ by the nationalists?