A New America

“… and to the Republic …” After achieving independence, The United States became a republic (Latin: “res publica” or “thing of the people”) A republic is a government in which citizens vote to elect officials and those officials must govern based upon a set of common laws In a republic, power ultimately resides in the “citizens,” all of whom are equal

Who’s a Citizen? The idea that all citizens can vote, however, means you have to define who is a citizen Problems: Many Americans owned slaves – were Africans citizens? Women had very few rights – were women citizens? The wealthy were often seen as being above others – were the poor really the political equal of the rich?

John Adams John Adams and others argued that for the young republic to survive, it could not be a true democracy because the majority (the poor) would act to strip the minority (the rich) of their rights (in this case, to property)

Separation of Powers Adams argued that to avoid this “tyranny of the majority,” the best government would be one where the executive, legislative, and judicial branches had separate powers that “checked and balanced” one another In this way, no one group could achieve too much power

Montesquieu This idea of separation of powers was one of the ideals of the Enlightenment, having been proposed by the French Baron de Montesquieu in his 1748 book The Spirit of the Laws

Bicameral Legislatures Adams also argued that the legislature should be divided into two houses (“bi-” = two) One house should be controlled by citizens of property (to ensure their rights were protected) and the other should be made up of the “common” people (to ensure their rights were protected)

State Constitutions Many states adopted constitutions based upon Adams’ ideals (including, arguably, the two most powerful states, Virginia and Massachusetts) The United States as a whole, however, did not; instead the federal government would be a simple (and very weak) legislature until 1789

Expanded Suffrage Men who had fought in the Revolution fully expected to be able to vote as equals, regardless of their social class, once the War was over Most states allowed any adult, white male who had paid taxes to vote

Own Property to Vote? Even in states that had owning property as a prerequisite to vote, most veterans qualified because they had been paid in land for their war service (remember, the paper money issued during the war was practically worthless, so veterans much preferred to be compensated with land grants instead)

Virginia’s Declaration of Rights Written by George Mason in 1776 Guaranteed all Virginians Freedom of speech Freedom of religion Right to bear arms Trial by jury No searches without a warrant No seizure of property without due process

Freedom of Religion? In Virginia, Baptists petitioned to abolish the state’s practice of collecting taxes to support the Anglican Church By collecting this tax, Virginia was essentially saying that the Anglican Church was the “official” religion of state

Separation of Church and State In 1786, Gov. Thomas Jefferson approved the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, declaring that the state had no official church and would no longer collect taxes for any church Most states followed Virginia’s lead, abolishing state-collected taxing for churches and furthering the principle of creating a “wall of separation between church and state”

Small Gains for Women The biggest gain for women in the new America was in increase in opportunities for education 1779: Judith Sargent Murray penned “On the Equality of the Sexes,” an essay arguing that women could achieve as much as men if only they had access to education

African-Americans in the War During the War, the British freed some slaves (as a way to hurt rebellious plantation owners) and even exported thousands of slaves to loyal British colonies in the Caribbean 5000+ Africans even served in the Continental Army during the War, fighting for the colonists

Slavery in the North After the War, many Americans saw the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom while keeping slaves in bondage In 1777, Vermont became the first state to ban slavery outright By 1800, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts had all begun the process of ending slavery in their states by establishing an age at which all existing slaves must be freed (usually in their late 20s)

All Men Are Created Equal? Freedom from slavery did not mean equality, however Freed blacks found it difficult to get good jobs, an education, or voting rights They even faced the danger of being kidnapped to be sold back into slavery in the South

Loyalists Flee After the War, Loyalists (Americans who had opposed the Revolution) faced penalties such as seizure of property and loss of social status About 100,000 fled the United States, mostly for Canada

A New American Identity The War had brought the colonists together against a common enemy, forcing them to stop thinking of themselves as “Virginians” or “New Yorkers” and start thinking of themselves as “Americans”