1. The Republican Experiment: A New Political Morality6
The Republican Experiment:
A New Political Morality

2. Defining Republican Culture
Republicanism—new core ideology
Uncompromising commitment to liberty and equality
Evangelical notions of high public morality
Post-Revolutionary divisions
Balancing individual liberty with social order
Balancing property rights with equality
Varying answers resulted in variety of republican governments 2

3. Living in the Shadow of Revolution
Revolution introduced unintended changes into American society
Hierarchical social relations challenged
Fundamental questions raised about the meaning of equality

4. Social and Political Reform
Cincinnatus Crisis
G.Washington set up the Society of the Cincinnati – hereditary organization – want to maintain old friendships
Seen as contrary to republican principles
Possible destruction of civil liberties
Property qualifications for voting reduced
Georgia and Pennsylvania allowed all taxpayers to vote (male only)
As people moved west, they received political representation in their state legislatures – but less trained because poorer and further away from legislative meetings
Capitols moved to enable better representation for frontier settlers
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, New Hampshire
Separation of church and state
Thomas Jefferson insisted rules had no right to interfere with the free expression of someone’s religious beliefs
Still very little toleration for anything that challenged Christian values 3

5. African Americans in the New Republic
Abolitionist sentiment spread in wake of the Revolution
John Woolman – Quaker – evils of slavery
African Americans embraced Declaration’s stress on natural rights
African American intellectual success made it hard to deny their equality
Benjamin Banneker, math and astronomy
Phyllis Wheatley, poetry 4

6. African Americans in the New Republic: Emancipation
Northern states
By 1800, slavery was legally dying in North
Racism and segregation remained
Southerners debated abolition
Some individuals freed slaves
Economic motives overcame republican ideals
Cotton gin breathed new life into slavery

7. The Challenge of Women’s Rights
Pre-Revolutionary trend ended tyranny in the family
Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education – children watch parents and mimic their behaviors
English ideals are focused on love
Women demanded the natural right of equality – Abigail Adams
New petitions for divorce
New Jersey – women owned property =vote
Nurtured proper values through “Republican Motherhood”
Mother, wife, homemaker
1807 repeal of women’s right to vote in NJ
Thomas Jefferson – uneducated voters is not something the country is ready for 5

8. Blueprints for State Government
1777 – 10 states had written constitutions – adopted by state legislatures
Bill of Rights
Separation of powers
Voting to all white men who owned property
Higher qualifications for office holders
State constitution writers insisted on preparing written documents
Major break with England’s unwritten constitution

9. Natural Rights and the State Constitutions
State constitutions guaranteed natural rights:
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
Private property
Trial by jury 8

10. Natural Rights and the State Constitutions
Governors weakened
Elected legislatures given most power 8

11. Articles of Confederation
John Dickinson’s plan for central government
Proposed cession of West to Congress opposed
Proposed equality in state representation opposed
Articles of Confederation severely limited central government’s authority over states
Could wage war, make treaties, send diplomats, borrow money 11

12. Articles of Confederation: Central Government Structure and Power
Each state had one vote
Could send two to seven representatives
No executive branch
No taxing power –reliance on states
Amendments required unanimity

13. Articles of Confederation: Central Government Structure and Power
In charge of foreign and Native American relations, military, and disputes between states
No western lands

14. Problems with Articles
Financial: war debt unpaid; worthless money, no taxing power, donations only
Foreign: little respect for a nation that didn’t pay debts nor have an army; Britain and Spain threaten settlement in the West
Domestic: Shay’s Rebellion – Massachusetts colony taxed farmers in the west; they tried to seize weapons from armory – G. Washington sent military – set a precedent that rebellion is no longer the answer.

15. Acomplishments of AoC Western Land: Key to the First Constitution
Native Americans lost out when British left
1781—Virginia took lead in ceding western claims to Congress
Other states ceded claims to Congress
Congress gained ownership of all land west of Appalachians 12

16. Western Land Claims Ceded by the States

17. Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement
Land Ordinance of 1785
Orderly division of land into sections and townships
One section set aside to finance school system
Land to sell for minimum of $1 gold per acre 13

18. Land Ordinance of 1785 13

19. Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement
Created three to five new territories in Northwest (territory lying between the Great Lakes & the Ohio River)
Population of 5,000 may elect Assembly
Population of 60,000 may petition for statehood
Bill of Rights provided
Slavery outlawed

20. Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement
South of the Ohio River
Settlement more chaotic
Daniel Boone and Kentucky
population 100
1784 – population 30,000
Speculators purchased the land from Indians and sold at higher prices to settlers.
1790 – entire region was crazy quilt of claims and counterclaims that generated lawsuits for years.

21. Northwest Territory

22. Strengthening Federal Authority
Dissatisfaction with Confederation
Economic recovery after the Revolution slow
People thought stronger central government would restore economic growth 14

23. The Nationalist Critique
Restoration of trade with Britain caused trade deficit and hard currency shortage
Congress unable to address trade, inflation, and debt
Congress had no power to tax
Nationalists versus localists
Failure of reform prompted nationalists to consider Articles hopelessly defective 15

24. Diplomatic Humiliation
Congress failed to get states to collect debts owed British merchants
In retaliation, British refused to evacuate Ohio River Valley
Spain closed New Orleans to American commerce in 1784
John Jay to negotiate re-opening Mississippi
Instead, signed treaty favoring Northeast and not the farmers of the Ohio River Valley
West and South denounced, Congress rejected Jay-Gardoqui Treaty 16

25. “Have We Fought for This?”
By 1785, the country seemed adrift
Washington: “Was it with these expectations that we launched into a sea of trouble?”

26. The Genius of James Madison
Stronger central government gained support (Federalists)
James Madison persuaded Americans that large republics could be free and democratic
Competing factions would neutralize each other
Federalist #10 17

27. Constitutional Reform
May 1786—Annapolis Convention agreed to meet again, write a new constitution
Shay’s Rebellion, 1787
Tax revolt of indebted veterans
Symbolized breakdown in law and order as perceived by propertied classes – showed Americans the need for a stronger central government 18

28. The Philadelphia Convention
Convened May 1787
Fifty-five delegates from all states except Rhode Island
Delegates possessed wide practical experience
Secrecy rule imposed
Vote by state, needed only a majority instead of nine states 19

29. Inventing a Federal Republic: The Virginia Plan (larger states)
Central government may veto all state acts
Bicameral legislature of state representatives
One house elected, the other appointed
Larger states would have more representatives
Chief executive appointed by Congress
Small states objected to large-state dominance 20

30. Inventing a Federal Republic: The New Jersey Plan
Congress given greater taxing and trade regulation powers
Each state would have one vote in a unicameral legislature
Articles of Confederation otherwise untouched 21

31. Compromise Saves the Convention
Each state given two delegates in the Senate—a victory for the small states
House of Representatives based on population—a victory for the large states
All money bills must originate in the House
Three-fifths of the slave population counted toward representation in the House 22

32. Compromising with Slavery
Issue of slavery threatened Convention’s unity
Northerners tended to be opposed
Southerners threatened to bolt if slavery weakened
Slave trade permitted to continue to 1808
“Great as the evil is, a dismemberment of the Union would be worse.” —James Madison 23

34. The Last Details
July 26—Committee of Detail formed to prepare rough draft
Revisions to executive
Electoral College selects president – 4 year terms; unlimited terms allowed
Executive given a veto over legislation
Executive may appoint judges
Decision that Bill of Rights unnecessary

35. “We, the People”
Convention sought to bypass vested interests of state legislatures
Power of ratification to special state conventions
Constitution to go into effect on approval by nine state conventions
Phrase “We, the People” made Constitution a government of the people, not the states 24

36. Whose Constitution? Struggle for Ratification
Supporters recognized the Constitution went beyond the Convention’s mandate
Document referred to states with no recommendation

37. Federalists Supported the Constitution
Name suggests they supported less of a strong central government than they did
Well-organized
The Federalist Papers 26

38. Anti-Federalists Opposed to the Constitution
Distrusted any government removed from direct control of the people
Suspected the new Constitution favored the rich and powerful
Their ideas later reflected in the age of Andrew Jackson 25

39. Progress of Ratification
No clear correlation between social status and support for Constitution
Succeeded in winning ratification in eleven states by June 1788
North Carolina ratified November 1789
Rhode Island ratified May 1790
Americans closed ranks behind the Constitution

40. Ratification of the Constitution

41. Adding the Bill of Rights
The fruit of anti-Federalist activism
Adding Bill of Rights forestalled Second Constitutional Convention
Purpose was to protect individual rights from government interference 27

42. Adding the Bill of Rights
Rights included:
Freedom of assembly, speech, religion, the press, and bearing arms
Speedy trial by a jury of peers
No unreasonable searches
First ten amendments added by December 1791 27

43. Success Depends on the People
Some Americans complained that the new government had a great potential for despotism
Others were more optimistic and saw it as a great beginning for the new nation 28