Articles of Confederation and the 20th Amendment

[ComradeJunichi]

Hey everyone,

I'm in US History AP and I'm having a lot of difficulty because I'm not familiar with it at all - 0 percent. I went to school in Korea (a foreign school) but in the foreign school we didn't learn much about US History.

I'm writing a DBQ (Document Based Questions, I think - I've never even encountered these before) and I don't know much about the topic. I read the documents just last period (10 minutes ago) and I have no clue what the hell is going on.

The question is: "Between 1781 to 1789 the Articles of Confederation established a beneficial government in America". It's something to that sort and I have to write whether I agree or disagree with that statement.

I'm writing the DBQ on Monday and that's the last day to write it. Can anyone try and help me out? Thanks a bunch.



Now, second part is for an essay I need to write tomorrow. Does anyone know anything about the twentieth amendment of the Constitution? I need to write an essay on it tomorrow.

"in what way does it change the original constitution"
"any particular court cases or incidents to create this amendment?"
"arguments for/against its inclusion?"
"constitutional method used for proposal and ratification?"

I know some information but those are some questions I don't know the answer to. Please, please, help me.

[Umoja]

I did that DBQ on the AoTC last year in US AP I (It's a two year course at my school). If I remember correctly, it was pretty straightforward, and you didn't need to know very much background other then the information in the documents. I'd advise, for any DBQ, that you swallow your leftist tendencies, and just write a good essay based on the answer they guide you to. Always drop back to your thesis in every paragraph, and use every reasonable effort to use each document.

Look at how the AoTC worked. It established a very loose federal government, I know one of the first documents shows how Rhode Island (the smallest state) managed to overrule a federal vote because each state got one vote, and for a federal law to pass it needed to be supported 100%. Also, keep in mind that the Federal Government then could do next to nothing. They had no army, no centralized monetary system, and no control over any of it's states. The states held ALL the power in that time, and were more like independent republics bound together. It was useful for a time, but another map shows the state claims to new territory. No laws existed for admitting new states, so States attempted to extend themselves. Note how many of the boundaries overlap...

If you need anymore help, I'll be glad to try.

[ComradeJunichi]

Wow, I just realized how foolish and dumb I am. I can't believe I couldn't make these connections - however, I guess it's also because I'm not interested in US History.

I'm so glad you are over there able to help me because that has helped me a lot. Is it possible that you help out a little more? I understand about Rhode Island and the map. Rhode Island document is significant because the smallest state was able to overrule a federal vote. The map was significant because the Articles of Confederation was a very loose government and the states began adding new territory. (Is this why the Northwest land ordinates...or whatever happened? I heard about this before but I don't know much. It's so tough because we dont even learn anything, we have to do it all on our own. Literally, the teacher doesn't teach at all - no exageration).

Anyway...yeah, as you can see I really have no clue about US History. This is the first history course I've ever had trouble in.

[Umoja]

I don't remember the date of the Northwest Ordinance, but I'm pretty sure it came about after the United States put the Constitution into effect. I think the argument they want you to come up with was that he Articles of the Confederation weren't all that effective.