THE AMERICAN JOURNEY · 2018-08-29 · The First Republic 1776-1789 •The New Order of Republicanism •Problems at Home ... 1777 and were written documents that curbed the power

Copyright ©2011, ©2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.

The American Journey: A History of the United States, Brief Sixth Edition

Goldfield • Abbott • Argersinger • DeJohn Anderson • Barney • Weir • Argersinger

THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Brief Sixth Edition

Chapter

The First Republic

1776-1789

7





The First Republic

1776-1789

• The New Order of Republicanism

• Problems at Home

• Diplomatic Weaknesses

• Toward a New Union

• Conclusion





The illustration on this 1783 map of the United States

pairs George Washington on the left with Liberty and

Benjamin Franklin on the right





Learning Objectives

• What were the most significant

weaknesses of the Articles of

Confederation?

• How did economic problems lead to

political conflict in the 1780s?

• What steps did Britain and Spain take to

block American expansion?





Learning Objectives (cont'd)

• Which groups in American society were

most likely to support the Constitution?

Why?





The New Order of Republicanism





Defining the People

• The central tenet of republicanism was the

people were sovereign.

• Republicanism also suggested that

political rights should be limited to those

who owned property because economic

self-sufficiency was considered necessary

for informed political judgment.





Defining the People (cont'd)

• Republicanism limited political

participation to propertied adult white men,

approximately 60–85 percent of all adult

white men.





Women and the Revolution

• The traditional patriarchal assumptions

that politics was a male domain did not

change. Women were considered a

dependent class.

• Though some women protested their

status, only New Jersey extended the

suffrage to women and that was rescinded

in 1807.





Women and the Revolution (cont’d)

• Women did benefit from slightly less

restrictive divorce laws, somewhat greater

access to education and business, and a

higher moral status.

Suffrage

- The right to vote in a political election.





With the exception of New Jersey, where

women meeting the property qualifications

were eligible to vote, the state constitutions of

the Revolutionary era prohibited women

from voting.





The Revolution and African Americans

in the South

• The Revolution stimulated the growth of

free black communities and the

development of African American culture.

• One in ten African Americans in slavery

gained their freedom.





FIGURE 7–1 Growth of the Free Black

Population between 1750 and 1800





Northern Blacks and the Revolution

• Most northern states gradually abolished

slavery but African Americans struggled

against racial prejudice.

Natural rights

- Political philosophy that maintains that individuals

have an inherent right, found in nature and

preceding any government or written law, to life

and liberty.





Phillis Wheatley was an acclaimed African-American

poet.





Richard Allen, a former slave in

Pennsylvania who purchased his freedom

in the 1770s, was a co-founder in 1787 of

the Free African Society in Philadelphia

and later a bishop in the African

Methodist Episcopal Church.





The Revolution’s Impact on

Native Americans

• Most Native Americans stayed neutral

during the Revolution but sought to free

themselves from American domination.

• Territorial demands on the Native

Americans escalated.

• To combat the growing pressure of white

Americans, Native Americans forged new

alliances.





The Revolution’s Impact on

Native Americans (cont'd)

• In the 1780s, imperial rivalries continued

to allow Native Americans to play the

United States and European colonial

powers off against each other.





The State Constitutions

• New state constitutions were in place by

1777 and were written documents that

curbed the power of governors and

strengthened legislatures.

• The new state constitutions weakened the

traditional ties between church and state

for the support of religion.





The State Constitutions (cont'd)

• Radicals and conservatives held differing

visions of republicanism. Radicals wanted

all male citizens to participate in

government. Conservatives wanted limited

government by substantial property

holders.

• Conservatives ruled in South Carolina and

restricted suffrage to approximately 10

percent of white males.





The State Constitutions (cont'd)

• Radicals ruled in Pennsylvania where all

free males who paid taxes could vote.

Bill of Rights

- A written summary of inalienable rights and

liberties.





The Articles of Confederation

• The Articles of Confederation delegated

extremely limited powers to the central

government. It was predicated on

protecting the freedoms for which the

Revolution was fought from oppressive,

centralized power.

• Congress was the sole national authority

but constitutional safeguards made it

impossible to to threaten state interests.





The Articles of Confederation (cont'd)

• Congress was primarily responsible for

foreign policy and national defense.

• The issue of western lands hindered

ratification of the Articles until 1781.

Articles of Confederation

- Written document setting up the loose

confederation of states that comprised the first

national government of the United States from

1781 to 1788.





MAP 7–1 Cession of Western Lands by the

States





Problems at Home





The Fiscal Crisis

• The United States and the states had

incurred heavy debts during the

Revolution.

• A group of nationalists wanted to

strengthen the national government and

reduce state power. Robert Morris

organized a Bank of North America to hold

government funds, make loans to the

government, and issue paper money.





The Fiscal Crisis (cont'd)

• Morris wanted Congress to assume

payment of the national debt but that

required Congress gaining the power to

tax. He proposed a constitutional

amendment for a national impost or tariff

but it failed.

Nationalists

- Group of leaders in the 1780s who spearheaded

the drive to replace the Articles of Confederation

with a stronger central government.





This invitation in 1784 to discuss plans for a new

bank led to the founding of the Bank of New York by

Alexander Hamilton.





Economic Depression

• After the war, Britain kept its markets

closed to American goods, hoping to keep

the United States weak and dependent.

• British merchants flooded the American

market with cheap consumer goods but

ultimately required payment in hard

currency.

• Foreign loans were the United States’ only

source of hard money.





Economic Depression (cont'd)

• Prevailing economic conditions led to an

immense bubble of credit that burst in

1784 triggering a depression that lasted

the remainder of the decade.





FIGURE 7–2 American Exports to and Imports

from Britain between 1783 and 1789





Depicted here in a folding fan, the Empress of China

was the first American ship to undertake an extensive

trading voyage to China.





The Economic Policies of the States

• Artisans, merchants, and workers pushed

for tariffs against British goods to

encourage domestic manufacturing and to

protect jobs and wages.

• Northern state legislatures passed tariffs,

but the lack of a uniform, national policy

rendered them ineffective.





The Economic Policies of the

States(cont'd)

• Tariff policies raised sectional tensions

between northern and southern states.

Southern agrarian states favored free

trade policies.

• The most bitter divisions were between

debtors and creditors. Shays’ Rebellion in

1786 showed the seriousness of this

issue.





The Economic Policies of the

States(cont'd)

Shays’s Rebellion

- An armed movement of debt-ridden farmers in

western Massachusetts in the winter of 1786–

1787. The rebellion shut down courts and created

a crisis atmosphere, strengthening the case of

nationalists that a stronger central government

was needed to maintain civil order in the states.





Armed with long

muskets equipped with

bayonets, Shays’s

supporters are depicted

here gathering on the

steps of a courthouse in

western New England

in 1786.





Congress and the West

• Congress took several steps to establish

jurisdiction in the West, including

negotiating a series of treaties with Native

Americans to gain their land, and passed

several ordinances to organize the

settlement of western lands.

• Thomas Jefferson wrote the Northwest

Ordinance that included an antislavery

clause.





Congress and the West (cont'd)

Land Ordinance of 1785

- Act passed by Congress under the Articles of

Confederation that created the grid system of

surveys by which all subsequent public land was

made available for sale.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

- Legislation passed by Congress under the Articles

of Confederation that prohibited slavery in the

Northwest Territories and provided the model for

the incorporation of future territories into the

Union as coequal states.





Congress and the West (cont'd)

Southwest Ordinance of 1790

- Legislation passed by Congress that set up a

government with no prohibition on slavery in U.S.

territory south of the Ohio River.





FIGURE 7–3 Land Ordinance of 1785





Diplomatic Weaknesses





Impasse with Britain

• The Confederation Congress was unable

to resolve major differences with Great

Britain.

• Issues included prewar American debts

and treatment by the patriots of Loyalists

that the British used to maintain their hold

on western forts.





Spain and the Mississippi River

• Spain refused to recognize the southern

and western United States boundaries,

denied United States free navigation of the

Mississippi River, and sought to exploit the

divided loyalties of westerners.





MAP 7–2 Disputed Territory in the West after

the Treaty of Paris





This portrait,

sketched in

about 1790 by

John

Trumbull, is

the only

known

likeness of

Alexander

McGillivray





Toward a New Union

• Nationalists saw that everywhere were

unsolved problems and portents of

disaster—the republic’s survival was at

stake. Fundamental actions needed to be

taken to address the situation.





Toward a New Union (cont'd)

Annapolis Convention

- Conference of state delegates at Annapolis,

Maryland, that issued a call in September 1786

for a convention to meet at Philadelphia in May

1787 to consider fundamental changes to the

Articles of Confederation.

Constitutional Convention

- Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and

drafted the Constitution of the United States.





Toward a New Union (cont'd)

Constitution of the United States

- The written document providing for a new central

government of the United States, drawn up at the

Constitutional Convention in 1787 and ratified by

the states in 1788.





The Road to Philadelphia

• A meeting at George Washington’s Mount

Vernon estate began the movement for a

new constitution.

• The subsequent Annapolis Convention

was attended by nine states and called for

a constitutional convention in Philadelphia

in May 1787.

• All states except Rhode Island sent

delegates to the constitutional convention.





The Road to Philadelphia (cont'd)

• The delegates were largely lawyers, most

had served in the Confederation

Congress, over one-third had fought in the

Revolution, were extremely well-educated,

and wealthier than the average American.





The Convention at Work

• Congress had authorized only a revision of

the Articles of Confederation, but the

delegates quickly moved to replace it.

• Their first action was to elect George

Washington unanimously as the

convention’s presiding officer.





The Convention at Work (cont'd)

• The Virginia Plan called for a new national

government with a bicameral legislature,

executive, and judiciary. It granted

Congress greater legislative powers and

made representation proportional to

population. It favored large states.






• Small states responded with the New

Jersey Plan that kept the one state, one

vote rule of the Articles but expanded the

powers of Congress and the national

government.






Virginia Plan

- Proposal of the Virginia delegation at the 1787

Constitution Convention calling for a national

legislature in which the states would be

represented according to population. The national

legislature would have the explicit power to veto

or overrule laws passed by state legislatures.






New Jersey Plan

- Proposal of the New Jersey delegation at the

1787 Constitutional Convention for a

strengthened national government in which all

states would have equal representation in a

unicameral legislature.





This c.1790 folk

art depiction of

Washington and

his wife reveals

how quickly

Washington’s fame

became part of the

public

consciousness and

made him the

obvious choice to

preside over the

Constitutional

Convention.





The Great Compromise

• The issue of state representation in the

national government was solved by the

Great Compromise. Equal representation

was provided in the Senate and

proportional in the House of

Representatives. It also settled the issue

of counting slaves for representation in the

House.





The Great Compromise (cont'd)

Great Compromise

- Plan proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut

at the 1787 Constitutional Convention for creating

a national bicameral legislature in which all states

would be equally represented in the Senate and

proportionally represented in the House.





Regulation of Commerce and

the Issue of Slavery

• The issue of trade legislation was solved

by compromise.

• A simple majority of Congress could enact

trade legislation but Congress was barred

from acting against the slave trade for 20

years.





The Office of the Chief Executive

• Because Washington was the likely first

president, the delegates provided the chief

executive with broad discretionary powers.





Overview of the Constitution

• The Constitution provided for a strong

executive, a Supreme Court, and

specifically delegated economic powers to

Congress.

• The powers of the states were restrained

but provided for internal checks and

balances on the national government.





Overview of the Constitution (cont'd)

• The relationship between the state and

national governments were based on

federalism.

Judicial review

- A power implied in the Constitution that gives

federal courts the right to review and determine

the constitutionality of acts passed by Congress

and state legislatures.





Overview of the Constitution (cont'd)

Federalism

- The sharing of powers between the national

government and the states.





The Articles of Confederation

and the Constitution Compared





The Struggle over Ratification

• Federalists supported the Constitution and

antifederalists opposed it.

• The Federalists skillfully built momentum

for ratification and used The Federalist, a

series of essays, to allay fears the national

government would be too strong.





The Struggle over Ratification (cont'd)

• The key to ratification was passage by

Virginia and New York. North Carolina

joined the Union in 1789 and Rhode Island

joined in 1790.

Federalist

- A supporter of the Constitution who favored its

ratification.





The Struggle over Ratification (cont'd)

Antifederalist

- An opponent of the Constitution in the debate

over its ratification.





MAP 7–3 The Ratification Vote on the

Constitution





President Johnson signs the 24th Amendment

barring the poll tax in federal elections.





Washington presides over the Constitutional

Convention.





Conclusion





Conclusion

• Between 1776 and 1789, Americans

developed a unique constitutional system.

• Written constitutions were proclaimed

supreme over legislation and detailed the

powers of government, and protected

freedom through the Bill of Rights.

• Equally important, the nation’s constitution

and government were changed peacefully.





Federalists versus

Antifederalists

Documents

THE AMERICAN JOURNEY · 2018-08-29 · The First Republic 1776-1789 •The New Order of Republicanism •Problems at Home ... 1777 and were written documents that curbed the power