Topic 5

The Revolution and American Society

A. Introduction

1. Successful revolutions rarely achieve only their first objective. Successful revolutions usually bring about a number of unexpected changes, and this was true of the American Revolution.

2. A revolution that started to protect American liberties and establish American independence brought a number of changes in American society.

B. The Internal Revolution

1. Creation of the First State Governments

– May 1776 – Congress recommends establishment of new state governments to replace the old colonial governments.

– The most common path to statehood:

• Old colonial legislatures usually wrote the new state constitution

• Legislature declared the constitution to be in effect

– Two followed a different path: Massachusetts and New Hampshire a little different:

• People elected delegates to a constitutional convention

• Convention wrote a constitution

• Constitution then submitted to the people for approval or rejection

• This became the American way or writing and adopting constitutions.

– Four common features:

• State governors – powers sharply limited

• State legislatures – had most of the power

• Property qualifications – had to own property to vote or hold office

• A bill of rights – limited the powers of the state governments, guaranteeing citizens certain basic rights.

2. Church and state - One of the first things that some did was to separate church and state – Ties between church and state broken in a number of the new states.

– Most had state supported churches – The Congregational Church in the New England colonies (except R.I.) and the Church of England in the South

– In N.E. – Ties here were not broken during the Revolution. Why not?

• Partly because the Congregational Church strongly supported the American cause; if you attacked it you appeared to be unpatriotic.

• Also because the church was widely supported by the population

• Broken only after the Revolution and was a gradual process. Massachusetts in 1820 was the last!

– South – Church of England (Anglican Church) – Here ties between church and state were broken. Why?

• Reminded the colonists of British rule and to attack it was an act of patriotism

• Was always a minority church which had been established and supported by royal officials. Never had the widespread support the Congregational Church had in New England. So, by 1787 all ties broken.

– Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom -1785

• No person could be forced to attend or support any church.

• No person could be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.

– Couple of things to remember:

• Served as the model for the 1st amendment

• Jefferson considered this law to be one of his three most important accomplishments, along with being author of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the University of Virginia.

3. Slavery – Some took on this issue as well (a northern thing!)

– During and right after the Revolution, most of the northern states abolished slavery, in various ways.

– No southern state abolished but some slave owners voluntarily freed their slaves.

– They were a minority; most did not! Feared both the economic and social consequences. (What’s going to happen to my income and the economy of my state? How are we going to live with free black people?)

– Jefferson – Not sure black people could govern themselves and never freed his slaves.

4. Women – Unfortunately, nothing really! NJ gave women the right to vote but leaders soon changed their mind.

C. The First National Government – The Articles of Confederation

1. June 1776 – Congress created a committee to write a plan for a national government

2. Plan submitted shortly after independence declared – Articles of Confederation.

3. Plan submitted to the states in November 1777

4. Not finally ratified until March 1781

D. Congress and the Articles

1. Representation and voting: could send 2-7 delegates but every state would have one vote on any question.

2. Powers given to Congress under the Articles

– War and peace

– Diplomatic relations

– Issue money

– Establish a postal service

– Regulate Indian affairs

3. Weaknesses in the Articles

– Could not tax – could only request money from the states; 1/6 of money requested

– Could not regulate trade

– Was no system of national courts

– The passage of laws was very difficult – 9 of 13 votes

– Amending the Articles – Really was impossible 9 of 13 votes and then ratification by all the states.

E. Congress and the West – The one area where Congress had success after the Revolution

1. Land Ordinance of 1785 – survey and sale of western lands

– Land surveyed and divided into townships, 6 miles square and 36 sections

– One section for support of public education; 4 for use of national government.

– Other sections to be sold at public auctions: at least $1 acre and at least 640 acres.

2. Land Ordinance of 1787 (Northwest Ordinance)

– Entire area would be known as the Northwest Territory and would be governed by officials appointed by Congress – (Governor, secretary and three judges)

– Whenever any part of the NW Territory reached a population of 60,000 adults, the people could apply for statehood.

– To be divided into not less than 3 nor more than 5 states; Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

– Slavery was forever prohibited.

– Most impressive accomplishment of Congress after the Revolution

F. Failure in Foreign Relations

1. Not an area where the Continental Congress had any success – Was not able to work out solutions to the serious problems that we had with England and with Spain (to be explained later!).

2. Consequence of these failures

G. The move toward a new government

1. Mt. Vernon Conference – March 1785

2. Annapolis Conference – September 1786: 5/12 - "to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."

3. At first, a yawn but then there was Shays’ Rebellion occurred in Massachusetts, and things started to change! Basically, Shays and his followers were taking the law into their own hands in protest to higher taxes and the failure of the Mass legislature to grant them some debt relief.

4. The reaction to Shays’ Rebellion – Created a new feeling of urgency (“We need to do something!”), especially among “law and order” Americans!

5. Congress sort of agreed – February 1787 urged states to send delegates to Philadelphia to amend the Articles.

H. The Philadelphia Convention – May-September 1787

1. Organizing the convention

2. Points of Agreement

– Amending of the Articles would not be enough – We needed a new national government.

– The new government would be respected only if it had the power to tax and the power to regulate trade.

– The new government must be based on a system of checks and balances to prevent any one group or one section from dominating all the rest.

3. And the points of disagreement – Representation in Congress

4. Virginia Plan vs the New Jersey Plan

5. The Great Compromise – adopted in two stages:

– July 12, 1787 – Accepted the committee’s proposal that representation in the lower house would be based on population.

– Population would be determined by counting all the white people and 3/5 of the “other persons.” (i.e., slaves)

– July 16, 1787 - Each state would have equal representation in the upper house of Congress.

6. And also the slave trade:

– Compromise agreed on which said that for next 20 years (1808) Congress could not interfere with the import of “such persons.”

– Anti-slavery people did not like this, but this compromise probably necessary to get the support of the South.

7. Finished, at last!

– September 17, 1787 – Convention approved

– September 20 – Continental Congress received copies

– September 28 – CC voted to submit the Constitution to the states. Quick action indicates that CC realized that a revision would not be enough

I. The original Constitution

1. Article I – VI – See class handout

2. Finally ….

– Remember two vital features of our Constitution:

§ Separation of powers – Power is distributed among three co-equal branches and

§ Checks and balances – Each branch acts to check and balance the power of the others to make sure that no one group or interest entirely controls the government.

– These two features help explain the great success of our Constitution over the last 200 years.

– And one other thing I want to point out….

J. The fight for ratification

– federalists vs antifederalist – Not organized political parties but informal groups ….

– George Washington and Benjamin Franklin

– Also, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay – The Federalists Papers

– antifederalist – No bill of rights

– The federalists’ answer – Not needed as everyone knows this is a government of limited powers, and it cannot violate the basic rights of the people.

– Ratification proceeded fairly rapidly

– Delaware – first to ratify, December 1787

– New Hampshire – 9th to ratify, June 1788

– Problem – the key states of NY and VA had not ratified and the new government had to have their support.

– VA – James Madison – finally backed down on the question of a bill of rights. Late June, 1788 VA ratified.

– NY – Hamilton was stalling and it paid off. July 26, 1788 NY ratified. (30-27)

– Two states had not yet ratified but would

§ NC – 1789

§ RI - 1791

L. Last meeting of the Continental Congress

K. The first elections

– People began electing the members of the new U.S. House of Representatives, and the state legislatures began electing the members of the Senate.

– State legislatures also chose members of the Electoral College for our first presidential election.

– The outcome of our first presidential election was exactly what everyone expected – every member cast one of his two votes for Washington

– John Adams had the second highest and would become our first vice president.

– Washington was not only the obvious choice, he was an excellent choice – Intelligent, determined, and because everyone respected him, just about everyone now became a supporter of the new government because GW was leading it.

Topic 5 Review

• How were the first state governments created? What were the common features of our first state constitutions?
• What effect did the Revolution have on the relationship between church and state?

• What effect did the Revolution have on slavery? What happened in the South?
• What did women gain from the American Revolution?
• What were the main weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation?
• What problem did the Continental Congress deal with successfully after the Revolution and what was done?
• Steps toward a new government – what meetings were held before the Philadelphia convention?
• What happened in Massachusetts to stir up interest in the upcoming Philadelphia convention among some Americans?
• What is the most unfortunate thing about the rule of secrecy adopted at the Philadelphia convention?
• What were the differences between the Virginia and New Jersey plans of government?
• In what ways did the slavery question come up at the Philadelphia convention?
• What were the main features of the seven articles of the original Constitution?
• What does Article VI of the Constitution say about religion?
• What were The Federalist Papers – who wrote them and what was their purpose?
• On the question of ratification of the Constitution, what were the two most important states and how was ratification of the Constitution achieved in each?
• What was the main antifederalist objection to the Constitution?
• What were the two states that did not ratify the Constitution in the 1787-88 period?
• What was the only important thing the Continental Congress did at its last meeting?