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The Republican Experiment 1783–1788

6. The Republican Experiment 1783–1788.

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The Republican Experiment 1783–1788

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  1. 6 The Republican Experiment1783–1788

  2. Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences The Library Company of Philadelphia commissioned this painting by Samuel Jennings in 1792. The broken chain at the feet of the goddess Liberty is meant to demonstrate her opposition to slavery. (Source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.)

  3. The Republican Experiment1783–1788 • Defining Republican Culture • Stumbling Toward a New National Government • “Have We Fought for This?” • Whose Constitution? Struggle for Ratification

  4. A New Political Morality • During 1780s individual states intent on local interest rather than national welfare • Washington, Madison concluded the U.S. needed a strong central government • Their quest for solutions brought forth new and enduring constitution

  5. Defining Republican Culture

  6. Defining Republican Culture • Republicanism—new core ideology • Uncompromising commitment to liberty and equality • Evangelical notions of high public morality

  7. Defining Republican Culture (cont’d) • Post-Revolutionary divisions • Balancing individual liberty with social order • Balancing property rights with equality • Varying answers resulted in variety of republican governments

  8. Social and Political Reform • Cincinnatus Crisis • Changes in laws of inheritance to erase feudal elements • Property qualifications for voting reduced • Capitals moved to enable better representation for frontier settlers • Separation of church and state

  9. Questions of Equality in the New Republic In this illustration, which appeared as the frontispiece in the 1792 issue of The Lady’s Magazine and Repository of Entertaining Knowledge, the “Genius of the Ladies Magazine” and the “Genius of Emulation” (holding in her hand a laurel crown) present to Liberty a petition for the rights of women. (Source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.)

  10. African Americans in the New Republic • Abolitionist sentiment spread in wake of the Revolution • African American intellectual success made it hard to deny their equality

  11. African Americans in the New Republic (cont’d) • African American intellectual success made it hard to deny their equality • Benjamin Banneker, math and astronomy • Phyllis Wheatley, poetry • By 1800, slavery legally dying in North • Racism and segregation remained • Southerners debated abolition

  12. Phillis Wheatley This engraving of Wheatley appeared in her volume of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), the first book published by an African American.

  13. The Challenge of Women’s Rights • Pre-Revolutionary trend ended tyranny in the family • Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education • Women demanded the natural right of equality

  14. The Challenge of Women’s Rights (cont’d) • Nurtured proper values through “Republican Motherhood” • Women more assertive in divorce, economic life • Denied political and legal rights

  15. Abigail Adams Benjamin Blyth painted this portrait of Abigail Adams, wife of the future President John Adams, c. 1766.

  16. The States: Experiments in Republicanism • States create constitutions, 1776 • Rhode Island, Connecticut already had republican governments • Some later rewritten • Basic assumptions • Constitutions must be written • Premised on natural rights • Most state constitutions had declarations of rights

  17. Stumbling Toward a New National Government

  18. Stumbling Toward a New National Government • War for independence required coordination among states • Central government first created to meet wartime need for coordination

  19. Articles of Confederation • Plan for central government • Severely limited central government’s authority over states • No executive, taxing power • Amendments required unanimity • Expected to handle foreign, Native American relations • No western lands

  20. Western Land: Key to the First Constitution • Native Americans lost out when British left • Maryland’s ratification of Articles delayed for Virginia’s renunciation of western claims

  21. Western Land: Key to the First Constitution (cont’d) • 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

  22. Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement • Northwest Ordinance, 1787 • Created three to five new territories in Northwest • Population of 5,000 may elect Assembly • Population of 60,000 may petition for statehood • Bill of Rights, slavery outlawed • Daniel Boone and Kentucky

  23. Map 6.1 Northwest Territory The U.S. government auctioned off the land in the Northwest Territory, the region defined by the Ohio River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River. Proceeds from the sale of one section in each township were set aside for the construction of public schools.

  24. “Have We Fought for This?”

  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. Map 6.2 Western Land Claims ceded by the states after winning the war, the major issue facing the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation was mediating conflicting states’ claims to rich western land. By 1802, the states had ceded all rights to the federal government.

  27. The Genius of James Madison • Recognition by 1780s of shortcomings in small state republics • Ordinary citizens not virtuous enough for a republic • Majority did not preserve the property rights of the minority

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

  29. 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 • Crisis strengthened support for new central government

  30. Shays’s Rebellion This 1787 woodcut portrays Daniel Shays with one of his chief officers, Jacob Shattucks. Shays led farmers in western Massachusetts in revolt against a state government that seemed insensitive to the needs of poor debtors. Their rebellion frightened conservative leaders, who demanded a strong new federal government.

  31. 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

  32. Inventing a Federal Republic • 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

  33. 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

  34. The Last Details • July 26—Committee of Detail formed to prepare rough draft • Revisions to executive • Electoral College selects president • 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

  36. Whose Constitution? Struggle for Ratification

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

  38. Federalists and Antifederalists • Federalists supported the Constitution • The Federalist Papers • Antifederalists opposed the Constitution • Suspected the new Constitution favored the rich and powerful • Their ideas later reflected in the age of Andrew Jackson

  39. TABLE 6.1 Revolution or Reform? The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Compared

  40. 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

  41. Adding the Bill of Rights (cont’d) • 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

  42. Map 6.3 Ratification of the Constitution Advocates of the new Constitution called themselves Federalists, and those who opposed its ratification were known as Antifederalists.

  43. Conclusion: Success Depends on the People

  44. Conclusion: 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

  45. Timeline

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