The War Changes American Society

1. The War Changes American Society • Please open your textbooks and turn to page 147

2. The United States created a new republic • A republic is a form of government where power resides with a body of citizens entitled to vote • The elected representatives must govern according to laws or a constitution

3. These ideas conflict with traditional ideas • Such as slavery, women and the wealthy

4. Many Americans believed that the best form of government was a constitutional government • States met and began to form their own Constitutions

5. Leaders like John Adams argued that government needed “checks and balances” because a true democracy would lead to “tyranny by the majority”

6. Adams proposed that the legislative branch of government should have 2 houses • A Senate to represent people of property and an assembly to represent the rights of common people

7. many states attached rights to Constitutions • Virginia granted citizens the right of free speech, religion, to bear arms, and the right to trial by jury • Many states followed Virginias example

8. The Revolution also expanded voting rights • The war weakened resentful feelings among classes • White males who paid taxes could vote

9. After the Revolution the relationship between church and state changed • Many opposed “ecclesiastical tyranny”

10. 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom • Declared that Virginia no longer had an official church and that the state could not collect taxes for churches

11. Women played a vital role in the Revolution • Some took over running the family farm, others traveled with the army washing and cooking

12. Some women joined the fighting • Mary Ludwig Hays known as Molly Pitcher carried water to Patriot gunners during the Battle of Monmouth

13. Margaret Corbin accompanied her husband to battle, and after his death she took his place at the cannon until the battle ended

14. After the Revolution women made a few advances • They could more easily divorce • Had greater access to education

15. Many enslaved Africans gained their freedom during the Revolution • The British army freed them to undermine the rebellion in the South • The British also stole slaves

16. American militias also promised freedom to enslaved Africans • Over 5,000 African Americans fought for the Continental Army during the Revolution

17. Some Americans saw the contradiction of liberty and owning slaves • Emancipation or freedom from enslavement became a major issue

18. Vermont banned slavery in 1777 • In 1780, Pennsylvania freed all children born enslaved when they reached age 28 • Discrimination did not disappear

19. Discrimination from whites encouraged African Americans to form their own culture • In 1816 the AME (African Methodist Episcopal Church) began

20. In the South little changed for enslaved Africans • Virginia however encourage manumission or the voluntary freeing of enslaved persons

21. Loyalists from the Revolution found themselves shunned • Over 100,000 fled the United States after the war

22. The Revolution sparked creativity of American painters • John Trumbull and Charles Willson Peale helped paint an American identity • The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill (1775)

23. Leaders emphasized education and pushed for the teaching of republican ideas and the history of the struggle for independence

24. The American victory created intense nationalist feelings in the United States • Folklore and Patriot Symbols aided in this