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Forming America. American Vision Chapter 4 Section 4 M. Carter. A republic is a form of government where power resides with a body of citizens entitled to vote. Europeans viewed it as dangerous! Americans believed it was better than a monarchy: All citizens are equal under the law
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Forming America American Vision Chapter 4 Section 4 M. Carter
A republic is a form of government where power resides with a body of citizens entitled to vote. • Europeans viewed it as dangerous! • Americans believed it was better than a monarchy: • All citizens are equal under the law • Authority of government comes from the people • **Conflicted with traditional ideas**
State Constitutions • Each state wrote a Constitution- many added a Bill of Rights • John Adams argued that there needed to be a separation of power- checks and balances • Several states, including Mass. And Virginia, followed plan • 1776- George Mason- Virginia’s Declaration of Rights • Beginning of the separation of church and state • “Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions.” - Thomas Jefferson
Changing roles after the Revolution • Greater equality and liberty applied to white men- women and Africans were generally not included • Women- worked on the homefront and battlefront • Molly Pitcher • Did gain a few rights- education, divorce
African Americans- offered freedom to fight • Both the British and Washington offered • Many gained freedom after fighting • North and Middle became more opposed to slavery • After the war several states created a plan for emancipation • Freed Africans faced discrimination and segregation • Manumission- voluntary freeing of enslaved persons, especially those who fought in the war
Loyalists • Shunned, discriminated against and harassed • 100,000 fled the US • England • Britain controlled islands • Mostly to British North America- Ontario
American Culture • Patriotic, nationalistic feelings • Had gotten to know people from other states during the war • American painters – John Trumbull and Charles Wilson Peale • Heroic men of the Revolution • 1st public university in America- University of North Carolina (1795)