New Political Ideas Click the mouse button to display the information. By declaring its independence, America had established a republic, or a form of government where power resides with a body of citizens with the right to vote.  In an ideal republic, all citizens are equal under the law and the government gets its authority from the people.

John Adams felt that true democracy hurt a republican government.  He argued that government needed checks and balances to stop any group from getting too strong and taking away minority rights.  Adams wanted a mixed government with a separation of powers with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. New Political Ideas (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

Adams said that the legislature should have two houses.  His ideas influenced many state constitutions.  Many states attached a bill of rights to their constitutions. New Political Ideas (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

American leaders thought that an educated public was critical to the success of the new republic.  Many state constitutions provided government funding for universities.  In 1795 the University of North Carolina became the first state university in the nation. New Political Ideas (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The Revolution led to an expansion of voting rights.  After fighting side by side, people’s belief in equality increased.  Many states allowed any white male who paid taxes to vote regardless of property ownership. New Political Ideas (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

In 1786 Virginian Governor Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to pass the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.  It declared that Virginia no longer had an official church and the state could no longer collect taxes for the church. New Political Ideas (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

What ideas did John Adams promote for the country’s new republican government? Adams argued that government needed checks and balances to stop any group from getting too strong and taking away minority rights. Adams wanted a mixed government with a separation of powers with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Adams said that the legislature should have two houses. Click the mouse button to display the answer. New Political Ideas (cont.)

The Revolution Changes Society Although African Americans and women had helped with the Revolutionary War effort, greater equality and liberty after the war applied mostly to white men.

Women played an important role in the Revolutionary War at home and in battle.  Some women ran the family farm during the war.  Others traveled with the army to cook, wash, and nurse the wounded.  Molly Pitcher carried water to Patriot gunners during the Battle of Monmouth. Margaret Corbin accompanied her husband to battle, and after his death she took over his place at the cannon and held the position until the battle ended. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

After the Revolution, women made some advances.  They could more easily obtain a divorce.  They also gained greater access to education. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

Thousands of enslaved African Americans obtained their freedom during and after the war.  Many American leaders felt that enslaving people conflicted with the new views on liberty and equality.  Southern leaders were uninterested in ending slavery because they relied heavily on enslaved labor to sustain their agricultural economy. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

Virginia was the only Southern state to take steps to end slavery.  In 1782 the state passed a law encouraging the voluntary freeing of enslaved persons, especially those who had fought in the Revolution. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

After the war, Loyalists were often shunned by their friends and occasionally had their property seized by state governments.  Many fled to England, the British West Indies, or Canada. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

The Revolution created nationalist feelings because all Americans were fighting a common enemy.  This feeling gave rise to many patriotic symbols and American folklore. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

American painters John Trumbull and Charles Willson Peale depicted heroic deeds and American leaders of the Revolution in their work.  They helped build an American culture. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

What advances did women make after the war ended? Women could more easily obtain a divorce and had better access to education. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The Revolution Changes Society (cont.)

The Achievements of the Confederation Click the mouse button to display the information. In November 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.  This was a plan for a loose union of the states under Congress.

The Articles of Confederation set up a weak central government.  The Confederation Congress met just once a year.  It had the power to declare war, raise armies, and sign treaties.  It, however, did not have the power to impose taxes or regulate trade. The Achievements of the Confederation (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The only way the Confederation Congress had to raise money to pay its debts were to sell its land west of the Appalachian Mountains.  Congress arranged this land into townships to make it easier to divide, sell, and govern.  It set up the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 as a basis for governing much of this territory. The Achievements of the Confederation (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The ordinance created a new territory north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.  When the population of the territory reached 60,000, it could apply to become a state.  The ordinance guaranteed certain rights to the people living there, and it banned slavery. The Achievements of the Confederation (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The Confederation Congress negotiated trade treaties with European countries.  By 1790 the trade of the United States was greater than the trade of the American colonies before the Revolution. The Achievements of the Confederation (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

Why was the Northwest Ordinance set up? The Northwest Ordinance was set up to divide, sell, and govern the territory north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The Achievements of the Confederation (cont.)

Weaknesses of the Congress Click the mouse button to display the information. After the Revolutionary War, British merchants flooded American markets with inexpensive British goods.  This drove many American artisans and manufacturers out of business.  American states set up customs posts on their borders and levied taxes on other states’ goods to raise money.  The inability of the Confederation Congress to regulate commerce threatened the union of the states.

The Confederation Congress had other problems with foreign policy.  Since the federal government had no powers over the states, it could not force the states to pay their debts to Britain or to return property to Loyalists as stated in the Treaty of Paris.  Also, the Congress had no way to raise money to pay these debts.  So the British retaliated by refusing to evacuate American soil as promised in the treaty. Click the mouse button to display the information. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

Also, the limited powers of the Confederation Congress prevented it from working out a diplomatic solution with Spain when that country stopped Americans from depositing their goods in Spanish territory at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

The end of the Revolutionary War and the slowdown of economic activity with Britain caused a severe recession in the United States.  States did not have the gold and silver to back paper money, but many of them issued it anyway.  The paper money greatly declined in value. Click the mouse button to display the information. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

Shays’s Rebellion broke out in Massachusetts in  It started when the government of Massachusetts decided to raise taxes to pay off its debt instead of issuing paper money.  The taxes were worst for farmers, especially those in the western part of the state.  Those who could not pay their taxes and other debts lost their farms. Click the mouse button to display the information. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

So farmers in western Massachusetts rebelled by shutting down county courthouses.  The rebellion, led by Daniel Shays, included about 1,200 followers.  They went to a state arsenal to get weapons.  A government militia defended the arsenal against the rebels. Click the mouse button to display the information. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

Many Americans began to see the risk of having a weak central government.  They argued for a stronger central government. Click the mouse button to display the information. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

What weaknesses of the Confederation Congress led to an argument for a stronger United States government? Click the mouse button to display the answer. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)

The Confederation Congress could not regulate commerce, so the states set up customs posts on their borders and levied taxes on other states’ goods to raise money. The federal government had no powers over the states, so it could not force the states to pay their debts to Britain or to return property to Loyalists as stated in the Treaty of Paris. Congress had no way to raise money to pay these debts. The limited powers of the Confederation Congress prevented it from working out a diplomatic solution with Spain. Weaknesses of the Congress (cont.)