1. Chapter 7
The
American Revolution
Part II

2. The Articles of Confederation
Our first national government (limited power)
A loose union of states
A dismal failure but an important foundation

3. MAP 7.5 State Claims to Western Lands
The ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 awaited settlement of the western claims of eight states. Vermont, claimed by New Hampshire and New York, was not made a state until 1791, after disputes were settled the previous year. The territory north of the Ohio River was claimed in whole or in part by Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. All of them had ceded their claims by 1786, except for Connecticut, which had claimed an area just south of Lake Erie, known as the Western Reserve; Connecticut ceded this land in The territory south of the Ohio was claimed by Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; in 1802, the latter became the last state to cede its claims.

4. Negotiating Independence
Peace negotiations began in 1782
Result: separate treaties between Great Britain and the United States, France, Spain
Spain regained Florida
France was left without reward
The map of European and American claims to North America was radically altered by the Revolution

5. MAP 7.6 North America After the Treaty of Paris, 1783
The map of European and American claims to North America was radically altered by the results of the American Revolution.

6. Negotiating Independence (cont'd)
The United States gained:
independence
the promise of the withdrawal of British troops
land to the Mississippi River
fishing rights off the Canada coast

7. The Crisis of Demobilization
Congress fails to compensate soldiers or officers after war
Newburgh Conspiracy:
contemplated action if Congress fails to act
George Washington intervenes
Civilian control of the military was firmly established

8. The Problem of the West Western land settlement raised new issues:
land losses for several Indian tribes
Tribes too weak to defend themselves
tens of thousands of Americans rushing into the newly acquired Ohio River Valley

9. Land Policy
Land Ordinance of 1785 – Surveyed the Northwest Territory for its sale.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – Divided the NWT into 5 states
Three Stage Process
Slavery issue?

10. MAP 7.7 The Northwest Territory and the Land Survey System of the United States
The Land Ordinance of 1785 created an ordered system of survey (revised by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787), dividing the land into townships and sections.

11. A New Democratic Ideology
Governments should directly reflect popular wishes of everyone (including western farmers and urban artisans)
Many favored the town meeting as the ideal form of government
Conservatives argued for balanced government, fearing majority tyranny (“the unthinking many”)could lead to a violation of property rights

12. The First State Constitutions
Fourteen states adopted constitutions between 1776 and 1780
Shaped through debate between radicals and conservatives
Results: some extreme, most reasonable

13. Virginia’s Declaration of Rights
Written by George Mason in June 1776:
“all men are naturally free & independent”
inherent rights: life, liberty, property, happiness & safety
government is the servant of the people
provided the model for other state guarantees of such rights as freedom of speech, assembly, and the press.
State bills of rights were important precedents of the United States Bill of Rights.

14. How Radical was the Revolution?
A Political Revolution
Republican Ideology
State Governments
Expansion of Political Participation
A Social Revolution
Freedom of Religion

15. How Radical was the Revolution?
However, contradictions between a revolution for liberty and those marginalized:
Native Americans
Women
Continued support for slavery
Northern states—abolish slavery
Upper South relaxed bans on emancipation
Lower South resists

16. How Radical was the Revolution?
Lafayette who had fought for Americans said after the Revolution: “I would have never drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived thereby that I was founding a land of slavery.”
“Very seldom in history do a people imagine a new world, see it within their grasp, and then give it up.” (author unknown)

17. The American Revolution, 1776–1786
Independence was born out of conflict and violence. While a national political community began to emerge in the Revolutionary era, state and local community loyalties remained strong, pointing to future challenges (sectionalism and the Civil War).