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Articles of Confederation as Tested by PC 8th-Grade Students

November 20, 2021

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    8th Grade formed their own government last week and became the Articles of Confederation Congress. These students were presented with 3 problems they had to try and solve within the boundaries of the Articles of Confederation constitution. The problems were as follows: 

• Problem #1

  Massachusetts is in extreme debt.  In order to keep their government operating, they have imposed very high taxes on farmland.  Farmers have rebelled against the government and fighting has taken place.  Massachusetts has a small state militia (army), but they are losing control of the situation.

• Problem #2

  Part of New York under the leadership of Ethan Allen is demanding that they become a new state called Vermont.  They are threatening to ally themselves with Great Britain if Congress does not grant them statehood.

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  Problem #3

  Georgia is charging South Carolina merchants extremely high taxes to buy their products.  South Carolina farmers are threatening to riot if the South Carolina government cannot convince Georgia to lower its taxes.  Georgia says that it must charge high taxes because its economy is doing terribly since the war.

Each class did successfully solve at least one of the problems presented but failed to pass one or two of them. There was a lot of debate and hands-on dealing with the issues. This makes these far-off concepts like a failed government of 200 years ago, much more relatable to our students.