The American JourneyA History of the United States, 7th Edition

By: Goldfield • Abbott • Anderson • Argersinger • Argersinger • Barney • Weir

Chapter

•The First Republic

•1776-1789

7

The First Republic

1776-1789

The New Order of Republicanism

Problems at Home

Diplomatic Weaknesses

Toward a New Union

Conclusion

Learning Objectives

What were the most significant weaknesses of the Articles

of Confederation?

How did economic problems lead to political conflict in the

1780s?

What steps did Britain and Spain take to block American

expansion?

Learning Objectives (cont'd)

Which groups in American society were most likely to

support the Constitution? Why?

The New Order of Republicanism

Defining the People

The central tenet of republicanism was the people were

sovereign.

Republicanism also suggested that political rights should be

limited to those who owned property because economic

self-sufficiency was considered necessary for informed

political judgment.

Defining the People (cont'd)

Republicanism limited political participation to propertied

adult white men, approximately 60–85 percent of all adult

white men.

Women and the Revolution

The traditional patriarchal assumptions that politics was a

male domain did not change. Women were considered a

dependent class.

Though some women protested their status, only New

Jersey extended the suffrage to women and that was

rescinded in 1807.

Women and the Revolution (cont’d)

Women did benefit from slightly less restrictive divorce

laws, somewhat greater access to education and

business, and a higher moral status.

Suffrage

The right to vote in a political election.

The Revolution and African Americans in the South

The Revolution stimulated the growth of free black

communities and the development of African American

culture.

One in ten African Americans in slavery gained their

freedom.

FIGURE 7–1 Growth of the Free Black

Population between 1750 and 1800

Northern Blacks and the Revolution

Most northern states gradually abolished slavery but African

Americans struggled against racial prejudice.

Natural rights

Political philosophy that maintains that individuals have an inherent right,

found in nature and preceding any government or written law, to life

and liberty.

The Revolution’s Impact on

Native Americans

Most Native Americans stayed neutral during the Revolution

but sought to free themselves from American domination.

Territorial demands on the Native Americans escalated.

To combat the growing pressure of white Americans, Native

Americans forged new alliances.

The Revolution’s Impact on

Native Americans (cont'd)

In the 1780s, imperial rivalries continued to allow Native

Americans to play the United States and European

colonial powers off against each other.

The State Constitutions

New state constitutions were in place by 1777 and were

written documents that curbed the power of governors

and strengthened legislatures.

The new state constitutions weakened the traditional ties

between church and state for the support of religion.

The State Constitutions (cont'd)

Radicals and conservatives held differing visions of

republicanism. Radicals wanted all male citizens to

participate in government. Conservatives wanted limited

government by substantial property holders.

Conservatives ruled in South Carolina and restricted

suffrage to approximately 10 percent of white males.

The State Constitutions (cont'd)

Radicals ruled in Pennsylvania where all free males who

paid taxes could vote.

Bill of Rights

A written summary of inalienable rights and liberties.

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation delegated extremely limited

powers to the central government. It was predicated on

protecting the freedoms for which the Revolution was

fought from oppressive, centralized power.

Congress was the sole national authority but constitutional

safeguards made it impossible to to threaten state

interests.

The Articles of Confederation (cont'd)

Congress was primarily responsible for foreign policy and

national defense.

The issue of western lands hindered ratification of the

Articles until 1781.

Articles of Confederation

Written document setting up the loose confederation of states that

comprised the first national government of the United States from

1781 to 1788.

MAP 7–1 Cession of Western Lands by the

States

Problems at Home

The Fiscal Crisis

The United States and the states had incurred heavy debts

during the Revolution.

A group of nationalists wanted to strengthen the national

government and reduce state power. Robert Morris

organized a Bank of North America to hold government

funds, make loans to the government, and issue paper

money.

The Fiscal Crisis (cont'd)

Morris wanted Congress to assume payment of the national

debt but that required Congress gaining the power to tax.

He proposed a constitutional amendment for a national

impost or tariff but it failed.

Nationalists

Group of leaders in the 1780s who spearheaded the drive to replace the

Articles of Confederation with a stronger central government.

Economic Depression

After the war, Britain kept its markets closed to American

goods, hoping to keep the United States weak and

dependent.

British merchants flooded the American market with cheap

consumer goods but ultimately required payment in hard

currency.

Foreign loans were the United States’ only source of hard

money.

Economic Depression (cont'd)

Prevailing economic conditions led to an immense bubble of

credit that burst in 1784 triggering a depression that

lasted the remainder of the decade.

FIGURE 7–2 American Exports to and Imports

from Britain between 1783 and 1789

The Economic Policies of the States

Artisans, merchants, and workers pushed for tariffs against

British goods to encourage domestic manufacturing and

to protect jobs and wages.

Northern state legislatures passed tariffs, but the lack of a

uniform, national policy rendered them ineffective.

The Economic Policies of the States(cont'd)

Tariff policies raised sectional tensions between northern

and southern states. Southern agrarian states favored

free trade policies.

The most bitter divisions were between debtors and

creditors. Shays’ Rebellion in 1786 showed the

seriousness of this issue.

The Economic Policies of the States(cont'd)

Shays’s Rebellion

An armed movement of debt-ridden farmers in western Massachusetts in

the winter of 1786–1787. The rebellion shut down courts and created

a crisis atmosphere, strengthening the case of nationalists that a

stronger central government was needed to maintain civil order in the

states.

Congress and the West

Congress took several steps to establish jurisdiction in the

West, including negotiating a series of treaties with Native

Americans to gain their land, and passed several

ordinances to organize the settlement of western lands.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Northwest Ordinance that

included an antislavery clause.

Congress and the West (cont'd)

Land Ordinance of 1785

Act passed by Congress under the Articles of Confederation that created

the grid system of surveys by which all subsequent public land was

made available for sale.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Legislation passed by Congress under the Articles of Confederation that

prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territories and provided the model

for the incorporation of future territories into the Union as coequal

states.

Congress and the West (cont'd)

Southwest Ordinance of 1790

Legislation passed by Congress that set up a government with no

prohibition on slavery in U.S. territory south of the Ohio River.

FIGURE 7–3 Land Ordinance of 1785

Diplomatic Weaknesses

Impasse with Britain

The Confederation Congress was unable to resolve major

differences with Great Britain.

Issues included prewar American debts and treatment by

the patriots of Loyalists that the British used to maintain

their hold on western forts.

Spain and the Mississippi River

Spain refused to recognize the southern and western

United States boundaries, denied United States free

navigation of the Mississippi River, and sought to exploit

the divided loyalties of westerners.

MAP 7–2 Disputed Territory in the West after

the Treaty of Paris

Toward a New Union

Nationalists saw that everywhere were unsolved problems

and portents of disaster—the republic’s survival was at

stake. Fundamental actions needed to be taken to

address the situation.

Toward a New Union (cont'd)

Annapolis Convention

Conference of state delegates at Annapolis, Maryland, that issued a call

in September 1786 for a convention to meet at Philadelphia in May

1787 to consider fundamental changes to the Articles of

Confederation.

Constitutional Convention

Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted the Constitution

of the United States.

Toward a New Union (cont'd)

Constitution of the United States

The written document providing for a new central government of the

United States, drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and

ratified by the states in 1788.

The Road to Philadelphia

A meeting at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate

began the movement for a new constitution.

The subsequent Annapolis Convention was attended by

nine states and called for a constitutional convention in

Philadelphia in May 1787.

All states except Rhode Island sent delegates to the

constitutional convention.

The Road to Philadelphia (cont'd)

The delegates were largely lawyers, most had served in the

Confederation Congress, over one-third had fought in the

Revolution, were extremely well-educated, and wealthier

than the average American.

The Convention at Work

Congress had authorized only a revision of the Articles of

Confederation, but the delegates quickly moved to

replace it.

Their first action was to elect George Washington

unanimously as the convention’s presiding officer.

The Convention at Work (cont'd)

The Virginia Plan called for a new national government with

a bicameral legislature, executive, and judiciary. It granted

Congress greater legislative powers and made

representation proportional to population. It favored large

states.

The Convention at Work (cont'd)

Small states responded with the New Jersey Plan that kept

the one state, one vote rule of the Articles but expanded

the powers of Congress and the national government.

The Convention at Work (cont'd)

Virginia Plan

Proposal of the Virginia delegation at the 1787 Constitution

Convention calling for a national legislature in which the states would

be represented according to population. The national legislature would

have the explicit power to veto or overrule laws passed by state

legislatures.

The Convention at Work (cont'd)

New Jersey Plan

Proposal of the New Jersey delegation at the 1787 Constitutional

Convention for a strengthened national government in which all states

would have equal representation in a unicameral legislature.

The Great Compromise

The issue of state representation in the national

government was solved by the Great Compromise. Equal

representation was provided in the Senate and

proportional in the House of Representatives. It also

settled the issue of counting slaves for representation in

the House.

The Great Compromise (cont'd)

Great Compromise

Plan proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut at the 1787

Constitutional Convention for creating a national bicameral legislature

in which all states would be equally represented in the Senate and

proportionally represented in the House.

Regulation of Commerce and

the Issue of Slavery

The issue of trade legislation was solved by compromise.

A simple majority of Congress could enact trade legislation

but Congress was barred from acting against the slave

trade for 20 years.

The Office of the Chief Executive

Because Washington was the likely first president, the

delegates provided the chief executive with broad

discretionary powers.

Overview of the Constitution

The Constitution provided for a strong executive, a

Supreme Court, and specifically delegated economic

powers to Congress.

The powers of the states were restrained but provided for

internal checks and balances on the national government.

Overview of the Constitution (cont'd)

The relationship between the state and national

governments were based on federalism.

Judicial review

A power implied in the Constitution that gives federal courts the right to

review and determine the constitutionality of acts passed by Congress

and state legislatures.

Overview of the Constitution (cont'd)

Federalism

The sharing of powers between the national government and the states.

The Articles of Confederation

and the Constitution Compared

The Struggle over Ratification

Federalists supported the Constitution and antifederalists

opposed it.

The Federalists skillfully built momentum for ratification and

used The Federalist, a series of essays, to allay fears the

national government would be too strong.

The Struggle over Ratification (cont'd)

The key to ratification was passage by Virginia and New

York. North Carolina joined the Union in 1789 and Rhode

Island joined in 1790.

Federalist

A supporter of the Constitution who favored its ratification.

The Struggle over Ratification (cont'd)

Antifederalist

An opponent of the Constitution in the debate over its ratification.

MAP 7–3 The Ratification Vote on the

Constitution

Conclusion

Conclusion

Between 1776 and 1789, Americans developed a unique

constitutional system.

Written constitutions were proclaimed supreme over

legislation and detailed the powers of government, and

protected freedom through the Bill of Rights.

Equally important, the nation’s constitution and government

were changed peacefully.

Federalists versus

Antifederalists