Life After the Revolutionary War Relationships Among the Different Peoples of Early America 4-3.4

Keeping up to Date In the previous unit, we discussed the Revolutionary War, the events that led up to it, and it’s initial cause, the French and the Indian War. In this unit, we want to look at the lives of all of the people who were affected by the Revolutionary War. Specifically, we want to look at the lives of the African Americans, Women, and Native Americans.

First and Foremost It is important to know that despite the principle that “All men are created equal,” which was written in the Declaration of Independence, only the white men of early America had “rights.” In fact, it wasn’t until the Civil War that African Americans began to receive rights, and an even longer time before they had the same rights as white men. Women, on the same note, did not earn the same rights as men until 1919, more than 200 years ahead of this unit.

African Americans After the War Even after the Revolutionary War, slavery continued in America. Some slaves were promised freedom from both American and British forces that helped their side in the war. However, the majority of those promises for freedom were not kept.

African Americans Differences in the North and South The North After the war, many northern states began to pass laws to gradually emancipate (or free) their slaves. Many emancipation laws required that they be gradual (or over time.) The South There were no emancipation laws to be passed in the south. The reason behind this, is that the southern economy was heavily dependent on slave labor. Can you guess why? Southern plantation owners enacted more and more stringent controls over slaves, because of the fear of liberating large numbers of slaves, and their dependence on slave labor.

Women During the Revolutionary War, it was up to the women to work the farms or run family businesses. They cared for their children and planted and harvested crops in the absence of their husbands. (Abigail Adams – Wife of John Adams) During the war, many women also served directly as nurses or even cooks.

Women Some women posed as men to enlist and fight in battle, and even more often, fought along side their husbands. (Martha Washington – Wife of George Washington) Despite their service, as already noted, women did not earn the same rights as white men after the war.

Native Americans The after effects of the Revolutionary War had, perhaps, the worst impact of all on the Native Americans. The Native Americans had already lost their ally, the French, after the French and the Indian War, and the only force that was insuring that their land laid untouched was the British government, who banned settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Native Americans Without the British, Americans were now free to push west. Do note that Native Americans did resist the expansion. The British did, to some extent, continue to offer support and protection to the Native Americans after the war, but they were limited only to their forts, within the Northwestern boundaries of the new United States.

Growth of a Nation Eventually, during expansion, the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 were listed. Both of these ordinances were revolutionary to the new United States, as they acquired more land for settlers, banned slavery in newly created states, and promised “good faith towards Indians.” Good faith ordinances were only short lived though, as soon the government of the United States would push and encourage settlement of the west.