The reason the Articles of Confederation developed a unicameral legislature and no executive or judicial branch was because they feared that if too much authority was given to a centralized governing body it would lead to tyranny and despotism. Because Congress had national control over the territory west of the thirteen states, soon after independence Congress took the position that by aiding the British, the Indians would lose rights to their lands. However, Congress faced conflicting coercion from settlers and land speculators regarding Western development. Once peace was established in the United States, there was a rapid rampage of settlement in the frontier areas. As a result, many leaders feared that the unregulated movement of settlements across the Appalachian Mountains would spark constant warfare with the Indians. Another reason the Articles of Confederation were accepted at the time was the Land Ordinances. The Ordinance of 1784 established the stages of self-government for the West, and “Jefferson proposed that the new territories should be incorporated into a union as states on an equal footing with the original thirteen” (Keene, Cornell, O'Donnell 140 ). Furthermore, the Ordinance of 1785 regulated the sale of land in