Transcript Document

Revolutionary Society
After the revolution people started to question the
meaning of equality in America
Americans continue to look at these issues
Social and Political Reform
Many Americans did not want class to have
special privileges
Abolished laws of primogeniture
Lower property requirements for voting
Pennsylvania and Georgia allowed all white tax
payers to vote
Some were afraid women would soon want a vote
Americans were now represented by elected
representatives
Governments re-examined relationship between
state and church
At the time the Anglican Church received tax
monies
1786- several states voted to cut ties with the
church
African Americans
John Woolman – Quaker (1720-1772)
Preached the veils of slavery
Abolitionists sentiment spread
African Americans demanded freedom
Many felt the revolution would set the free
Phillis Wheatley–writer–religious and moral issues
Northern states did not have the economic
justification for slavery
Anti-slavery societies formed here
Franklin –1775 – helped organize “Society for
the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held”
Vermont drafted a constitution prohibiting
slavery
Massachusetts – judge ruled slavery
unconstitutional
By 1800 was on the road to extinction in northern
states
Free blacks excluded from voting, serving on
juries
Denied access of education
Segregated neighborhoods
In southern states Slaves made up a large
percentage of the population
Slave numbers continued to grow
Many in the south believed that their economic
well being depended on slavery
Women’s Rights
 Women began making demands for more rights
Abigail Adams – told her husband to remember
women when he went to the Continental
Congress
Women needed access to education to attain
equality
Women however would continue to be defined
as mothers and homemakers
Lessons of Republicanism
In 1776 states took on the task of adopting
constitutions
States took on the process of electing legislatures
State Constitutions
Authors of the state constitutions believed men
and women possessed natural rights
Government should have no control over these
natural rights
Each state constitution contained a declaration
of rights
Religion, speech, press, unlawful searches
and seizures and trial by juries
Almost every state reduced the power of
governors
Pennsylvania and Georgia abolished the position
of governor
The framers of the state constitutions were
fearful for any one person getting too much power
Most power was in the hands of legislatures
Power to the People
 Massachusetts adopted a constitution in
1780Deligates were selected to form a new
constitution
Included: House, Senate, and elected Governor
Governor had veto power
Constitution started- “We …the people of
Massachusetts agree upon, ordain, and establish”
National Government
 1775 – Second Continental Congress waged a
war in the name of a country that did not exist
Congress assumed more and more power of
national affairs
Articles of Confederation
Congress appointed a committee to draw plans
for a confederation
Articles approved - 1777
Confederation of states
Limited power to federal government
1 Legislative body – selected each year from
each state
Each state had 1 vote
No veto power over legislation
Denied Congress the power to tax
Weak central government
Ratified - 1781
Western Legislation
1784 – cut 10 new states out of western territory
When population reached – lowest state
population – apply for statehood
1785 – Land Ordinance – orderly process for
new townships & public lands (section set aside
for education)
Northwest Ordinance
 1787
Territories established
Governor, Secretary, 3 judges
60,000 people – write a constitution and petition
for statehood
Bill of rights
Daniel Boone
Famous settler who helped explore the
Cumberland Road
Established settlements in Kentucky
 Brutal fights against Native Americans
 White people start the push west that will
destroy Native American population.
British Goods
England merchants flooded America with
English goods
Goods often cheaper that American goods
Put a strain on American economy
Local merchants could not compete with low
prices
National government had no power to regulate
trade
Southerners who wanted to ship large quantities
of raw materials could not agree on trade
restrictions
Some states printed their own money (no value)
to pay debts
Diplomatic Problems
Central government to weak to enforce peace
States passed laws restricting payments to England
merchants for pre-war debts
England refused to withdraw troops from Northwest
territory
Spain refused to abide by land boundary between
them and Georgia
Closed the Mississippi River to Americans
James Madison
 Many leaders felt that America was at a crisis
States were going in their own direction –often in
conflict with other states
Madison tried to persuade Americans toward a
stronger central government
Wanted the establishment of a government that
could run the country but still be doing the will of
the people
Shay’s Rebellion
 Poor farmers in Massachusetts
Banks –taking their homes and farms away
Many were heroes from the revolutionary war
They were paying heavy taxes
Government lack of concern
1786 – Shay and neighbors closed a county court
– foreclosures being conducted
Threatened to seize a federal arsenal
Congress did not have the funds to put together
an army and put down the uprising
Wealthy Boston men – paid for an army –4,000This backfired on leaders when the next election
voters – elected leaders sympathetic to Shays’s
demands
Many nationalist looked at Shays Rebellion as
an example of law and order
Philadelphia Convention
1787 – 55 men – representing 12 states
They were looking at a way to fix the Articles of
Confederation
Soon they decided to scrap the Articles and
establish a new constitution
Virginia Plan
Madison’s plan – two houses – one elected by
the people – other chosen from the 1st
Representatives for both houses – proportioned
by population
Known as the Big State Plan
New Jersey Plan
Small sate plan
Each state would get 1 vote in Congress
Also included power to central government to
tax and regulate trade
Great Compromise
Agreement to:
2 houses
1 – legislatures elected / population – House of
Representatives
2. Equal representation for each state - Senate
3/5th Compromise
South and north could not agree on how to count
slaves. If they counted as a full person it would
give the southern states more representation in
government
Agreement to count slaves as 3/5th a person
Slavery
Many northerners wanted to end slavery
Southerners felt their economy needed slavery
In the Constitution slaves were described as
“other persons”, “such persons”
Agreement that Congress could not stop
slavery until 1808
South – fugitive slave law – later the Fugitive
Slave Act of 1793
President
Agreement that the president should be elected by
electoral college
Prominent men in each state elected by voters
Number based on representatives and senators
Done so a president would not be indebted to
congress for his position
President –most votes
Vice-president – 2nd most votes
No majority – House decides
Veto power
Right to select judges
Some concerned about the absence of a Bill of
Rights
Preamble
 We the people of the United States
The new Nation would be a republic of the
people not of the states…
Ratification – 9 states needed
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=30OyU4O80i4
Federalist v. Anti-Federalist
Federalist favored a strong nation government
Anti-Federalist favored strong State government
Anti-Federalist criticized the formation of a new
constitution
They wanted a government similar to the Articles
of Confederation
Federalist Papers
Written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay
Essays – printed in national newspapers
Spoke in favor of a new constitution with a
strong central government
Bill of Rights
Anti-Federalist were afraid of a strong national
government
Feared government with too much power could
trample the rights of the people
Bill of Rights created by Madison
1st Ten Amendments of the Constitution
States what rights the government cannot take
away from citizens
Executive
(President and Cabinet)
Legislative
(Senate & House)
Judicial
(Supreme Court)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EISWIY9bG8