Chapter 6

Lecture Preview

• Democratizing Freedom• Toward Religious Toleration• Defining Economic Freedom• The Limits of Liberty• Slavery and the Revolution• Daughters of Liberty

Democratizing Freedom

Focus Question:

How did equality become a stronger component of American freedom after the Revolution?

Democratizing Freedom: Equality

• The Dream of Equality– Traditional power structures and hierarchies

shaken by calls for Liberty and Freedom

– Declaration of Independence gave hope to those who had no voice in government

• Women, slaves, free blacks

Democratizing Freedom: Expansion

• Expanding the Political Nation– “Democracy-serving the interests of the people,

rather than the elite• Universal male suffrage• Religious toleration• Abolition of slavery

Democratizing Freedom: Revolution

• The Revolution in Pennsylvania– New Constitution

• Abolished governor’s office• Ended property qualification for office holding• One-house legislature elected annually by men over the

age of 21 who paid taxes• Established public schools• Guaranteed free speech

• Other states opted for two-house legislatures

Democratizing Freedom: Voting

• The Right to Vote– Southern states (VA, SC) required property qualifications

• Democratizing Government– Other states most men met voting qualifications– NJ allowed all inhabitants with property to vote

Toward Religious Toleration

Focus Question:

How did the expansion of religious liberty after the Revolution reflect the new American ideal of freedom?

Toward Religious Toleration: Catholics

• Catholic Americans– Prior to Revolution, Catholics, Jews and dissenting

Protestants restricted from holding office– Impact of French support in Revolution change

role of Catholics

Toward Religious Toleration: Church and State

• The Founders and Religion– Avoid religious-driven political conflict– Belief in benevolent creator—not divine intervention

• Separating Church and State– States deprived of public funding for churches– “free exercise of religion”—exception: Jews

Toward Religious Toleration: Jefferson

• Jefferson and Religious Liberty– Wrote “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom”

• Eliminated religious requirements to vote or hold office• Ended financial support for churches• Separation of church and state

Toward Religious Toleration: Revolution

• The Revolution and the Churches– Challenges to religious authority– Growth of different denominations– Expansion of religious influence

• Christian Republicanism– Religious values reinforced morality of new Republic– Promoted free public schools-citizenship

Defining Economic Freedom

Focus Question:

How did the definition of economic freedom change after the Revolution, and who benefited from the changes?

Defining Economic Freedom: Free Labor

• Toward Free Labor– Loss of apprenticeships and indentured servitude– Wage labor vs slavery

• The Soul of a Republic– Land ownership: would ensure republican liberty and

social equality

Defining Economic Freedom: Free Trade

• The Politics of Inflation– “Just Price”

• The Debate over Free Trade– Fixing wages and prices– Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” notion of the “invisible

hand” of the free market instead of government intervention

The Limits of Liberty

Focus Question:

How did the Revolution diminish the freedoms of both Loyalists and Native Americans?

The Limits of Liberty: Loyalists

• Colonial Loyalists– 20,000 fought for British

• The Loyalists’ Plight– Oaths of allegiance– Property confiscated– Exiled or voluntarily emigrated– Some stay and reintegrated into American society

Loyalism in the American Revolution

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

The Limits of Liberty: Indians

• The Indians’ Revolution– Fought on both sides-American and British

• White Freedom, Indian Freedom– White: Land and liberty for Americans– Indians: Independence and possession of their own land

Slavery and the Revolution

Focus Question:

What was the impact of the Revolution on slavery?

Slavery and the Revolution: Abolition

• The Language of Slavery and Freedom– Allowed whites economic independence and leisure

• Obstacles to Abolition– Protection of natural rights (property)

Slavery and the Revolution: Freedom

• The Cause of General Liberty– Ideas of freedom as a universal entitlement

• Petitions for Freedom– African-Americans used language “liberty” and fighting

tyranny to apply to their slave status

Abolition Notice

A 1775 notice in The Massachusetts Spy reporting a resolution of the Committees of Correspondence of Worcester County that advocated the abolition of slavery.

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Slavery and the Revolution: Emancipation

• British Emancipators– Some gained freedom fighting for Americans and British

armies

• Voluntary Emancipations– Banned or discouraged importation of slaves– Most northern and some southern states emancipated their

slaves

Slavery and the Revolution: The North

• Abolition in the North– Some constitutions banned slavery– “gradual” emancipation of slave’s children

• Free Black Communities– Established churches and schools– Voting for taxpaying and propertied men

Daughters of Liberty

Focus Question:

How did the Revolution affect the status of women?

Daughters of Liberty: Women

• Revolutionary Women– Fought, protested high prices, made war materials and

became military spies

• Gender and Politics– Bound to husband– Submissive and irrational-unfit for citizenship– Role of mother and caregiver

• Women’s roles:

-- Managed farms & businesses while men fought.

-- Some traveled with the army as cooks & nurses.

-- Became more politically active; expressed theirthoughts more freely.

Abigail Adams

Before, women were considered morally inferior, especially in areas of sexuality and religion. Now they were considered morally superior to men and became “caretakers” of the Republic. Ex: Abigail Adams, wife of Founding Father John Adams is best known for a 1776 letter to John Adams and the Continental Congress, requesting that they… “remember the ladies; be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. All Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular attention is not paid to the Ladies, we aredetermined to foment a Rebellion and not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice or Representation.”

Daughters of Liberty: Republican motherhood

• Republican Motherhood• Women did not enjoy increased legal rights: idea

of Republican Motherhood took hold. (“It is the

duty of women to maintain the home and raise good

& moral children who will be good citizens in the republic.”)

• The Arduous Struggle for Liberty– Expansion of vote for white men– Bound labor declined, religious freedom and blacks

challenged slavery– Indians, Loyalists and slave loss of freedom

• Women did not enjoy increased legal rights: idea of Republican Motherhood took hold. (“It is

the duty of women to maintain the home and raise good & moral children who will be good citizens in the republic.”)