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 –4,000This 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