1. Chapter 7: Creating a New Nation 1775-1788
Of the People
Chapter 7:
Creating a New Nation
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

2. Common Threads
Which political theories did the American colonists use to justify their revolution, and how did they adapt those theories over the course of the next decades in the light of their experiences?
What does Britain’s failure to defeat the colonies tell us about the limits of empire?
How did the doctrine of equality take on a life of its own?
To what extent has the conflict between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists continued to shape American history?
In which ways was the American Revolution democratic? Not democratic?

3. Chapter Overview The War Begins Winning the Revolution
The Challenge of the Revolution
A New Policy in the West
Creating a New National Government

4. The War Begins Overview
The First Battles
Congress Takes the Lead
Military Ardor
Declaring Independence
Creating a National Government
Creating State Governments

5. Winning the Revolution Overview
Competing Strategies
The British on the Offensive: 1776
A Slow War: 1777–1781
Securing a Place in the World

6. The Challenge of the Revolution Overview
The Departure of the Loyalists
The Challenge of the Economy
Contesting the New Economy
Can Women Be Citizens?
The Challenge of Slavery

7. A New Policy in the West Overview
The Indians’ Revolution
The End of the Middle Ground
Settling the West

8. Creating a New National Government Overview
A Crippled Congress
Writing a New Constitution
Ratifying the Constitution: Politics
Ratifying the Constitution: Ideas

9. Conclusion
Review Questions
Critical-Thinking Questions

10. AMERICAN PORTRAIT James Madison Helps Make a Nation
“James Madison committed himself to the principles of liberty and order, and he devoted his life to establishing a government that would ensure both. Perhaps more than any other leader at the time, Madison understood how difficult reconciling these two principles would be.”
What fundamental human rights did Madison recognize?
What were Madison’s assumptions about human nature as it relates to order?
What problems did Madison see in designing a government that guaranteed both liberty and order?

11. James Madison
The Granger Collection

12. The War Begins
“Despite these signs [of impending conflict], no one anticipated eight years of warfare that would make the colonies a single nation under a centralized government.”
The First Battles
Concord and Lexington, April 19, 1775
Congress Takes the Lead
What were range of attitudes—radical to conservative—among the delegates of the Second Continental Congress with regard to war against Britain?
What events pushed moderate delegates to adopt the radical position?
Military Ardor
The Continental Army and the Quebec campaign, summer 1775

13. The War Begins (continued)
Declaring Independence
What pivotal role did Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (January 1776) play in the Declaration in July?
Why did Thomas Jefferson insist, years later, that there was nothing original about the Declaration?
What was original about it?
Creating a National Government
“Although treated as if it were a legitimate national government, Congress actually had no more authority over the states than the states were willing to give it, and it had none whatsoever over the people.”
Articles of Confederation
Creating State Governments
“In 1776, all attention was focused on state governments, where the new ideas about liberty, equality, and government were put into practice.”

14. Cover of Common Sense
The Granger Collection

15. Destruction of Statue of King George
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C

16. Winning the Revolution
The British entered the war with clear advantages in population, wealth, and power, but with a flawed premise about how the war could be won.
Competing Strategies
In what ways did both the British and the Americans misplace their faith in assuming their own side would win a quick and decisive victory?
What were the consequences of these overly confident assumptions?
What were the respective advantages and disadvantages of the Americans and the British?
The British on the Offensive: 1776
British advance: New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia
Washington’s surprise victories: Trenton and Princeton
What was “small” and what was “large” about these two victories?

17. Winning the Revolution (continued)
“The war ultimately became a struggle for the support of this unpoliticized population.”
A Slow War: 1777–1781
How did the Battle of Saratoga (October 1777) upset British strategy?
What major political victory did this battle secure for the Americans?
What were the qualities of warfare when it reached South Carolina?
Why did British strategy fail here?
The end of war: Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781
Securing a Place in the World
Treaty of Paris, 1783
British and American gains
Allies’ losses
The Granger Collection

18. Surrender of British Army
Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Art Resource, NY

19. The Challenge of the Revolution
“Radicals and moderates had compromised for victory, yet significant disagreements resurfaced once the fighting ended.”
The Departure of the Loyalists
Why did the departure of the Loyalists enhance the democratizing tendencies of the Revolution?
The Challenge of the Economy
“After the war, opportunities for profit and prosperity for some increased, while a postwar deflation pushed others to the brink of misery.”
Contesting the New Economy
In what ways was Shays’ Rebellion (1786‒1787) symptomatic of widespread economic discord in the United States?

20. The Challenge of the Revolution (continued)
Can Women Be Citizens?
How did women contribute to the American Revolution?
How did this contribution alter attitudes about a woman’s “place” in America?
The Challenge of Slavery
What opportunities did African American slaves seize in Revolutionary America?
What were the opposing trends in African American freedom that emerged in the aftermath of war in northern versus southern states?

21. Elizabeth Freeman (also known as Mum Bett)
The Granger Collection

22. A New Policy in the West
The new nation faced a major challenge in the West There was no useful model for new territories and their citizens to become equal members of an expanding, democratic nation.”
The Indians’ Revolution
Most frontier Indians sided with the British during the war.
What was the consequence of this allegiance in the war’s aftermath?
The End of the Middle Ground
Settling the West
What were the competing white interests—settlers, speculators, state and federal officials—in Indian lands after the war?

23. Creating a New National Government
“This split between moderate nationalists and radical localists culminated in the battle over the Constitution.”
A Crippled Congress
What problems did nationalists see with the federal government as authorized by the Articles of Confederation?
Writing a New Constitution
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787
Who participated in the Convention?
How was it conducted?
Why was the issue of representation so difficult to resolve?
How was it resolved?

24. Creating a New National Government (continued)
Ratifying the Constitution: Politics
What odds did the Federalists face in gaining the ratification of the Constitution?
What political tactics did they employ to achieve ratification?
Ratifying the Constitution: Ideas
What were the respective profiles of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?
Accordingly, why did the Federalists support the Constitution and the Anti-Federalists oppose it?
What were their respective fears vis-à-vis the Constitution?

25. Review Questions
What was Revolutionary ardor, and why was it highest at the beginning of the war?
What were the American and British strategies for winning the war? What were the chief challenges the Americans faced in mounting the war, and how did they affect military strategy? What were the constraints on the British in waging a war on American soil?
Which Americans believed a stronger central government was needed, and why? What were the compromises they made in writing the Constitution?
Describe the political philosophies of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

26. Critical-Thinking Questions
Which group was more democratic, the Federalists or Anti-Federalists? Or were they democratic (or undemocratic) in different ways?
How did Americans respond to the challenges to the social order presented by their doctrine of equality?
Assess the relative importance of ideals and economic interests in shaping the history of the period 1775‒1787.