the United States When the guns fell silent in 1781 at Yorktown, VA the British stopped fighting the war. When the British and Americans signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the war was officially over, but was the American Revolution? Questions existed in America what type of government should we have, type of economics and what type of society. Did a complete revolution take place
The new governments did not try to make radical changes the wealthy were still in power South Planters still ran society North wealthy merchants and shippers One thing that the revolution did do was change the institution of slavery from a national to a regional (southern) phenomenon because most northerners gave up slaves at this time (this was mostly an economic Forming a central government Two part problem 1). Changing the individual colonial governments into governments free of England, and 2). Even more difficult, creating a central government that would be a proper substitute for the English system. In forming a central governments Americans looked to Democratic ideals of the Greeks and Romans, the morals of the Jewish and Christian writers of the Bible, the English history of having a Parliament (representative body) as set forth in the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Right, as well as the Enlightenment and the Mayflower Compact. The Creation of State Governments In place of colonial charters, each state adopted a constitution. All constitutions were different, although each has an elected legislature (representative bodies), an executive (governor) and a system of courts. What was most important was that the people were establishing the rules by which political life was to be organized and run. People could change their government peacefully through voting. The States: Experiments in Republicanism The people demand written constitutions Each state had its own (13 separate republics) provide clear definition of rights describe clear limits of government
Revolutionary state constitutions serve as experiments in republican government
State constitution writers insist on preparing written documents
State constitutions guarantee cardinal rights freedom of religion freedom of speech freedom of the press private property
Forming a Central Government Started with the Albany Plan of Union (1754) Benjamin Franklin Stamp Act Congress people came together to air grievances which continued at the First Continental Congress Second Continental Congress was our first government it ran the country on a day to day basis- continual existence SCC did the following appointed generals, negotiated treaties with France and Spain, set budget for the war, borrowed money from other countries, operated postal service and drafted the declaration of independence The Articles of Confederation By November 1777, the Congress drafted a written constitution called the A. O. C. Stressed the independence of the states declaring the United States as being a league of Friendship or alliance they did not make a permanent country A. O. C. gave each state one vote in Congress All laws had to be approved by at least 9 of 13 states The articles could not be amended unless all states agreed A. O. C. Continued The government did not have the power to tax people or states what they rebelled against Under A. O. C. all colonies, later states, agreed to give up western lands (west of Appalachian Mts.) Upon Marylands demand because her charter was not a coast to coast charter therefore Maryland did not have claims to western lands. Treaty of Paris 1782 1783 Official end of Revolutionary War Giving up the western holdings 1781Virginia takes lead in ceding Western claims to Congress
Other states cede claims to Congress
Congress gains ownership of all land west of Appalachians
New State Boundaries The Northwest Ordinance A plan to govern lands bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes while they grew from territory to statehood. The ordinance provided that the land be divided into territories. When a territory consisted of 60,000 people the voters could write a constitution and become a state. Northwest includes the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Slavery in the Northwest The new territories agreed to ban slavery before they could become states. So we must acknowledge that the Northwest Ordinance was the first time that the United States attempted to regulate slavery. The Northwest Ordinance continued Problems Congress unable to address inflation, debt Congress has no power to tax Failure to pay soldiers Unanimous vote to amend articles
ECONOMIC CRISIS Recession hitseconomic slowdown Paper money worthless No employment Little gold/silver How can you pay state taxes?
Economic and Trade Problems
Economic problems due to disruption of farming and trade some states refused to pay the central government for protection because they did not have the money. Americans were now on the opposite end of the Navigation Acts and liked it less their shippers could not trade with the English. Trade Problems British sold manufactured goods in the U.S. cheaper than the U.S. could produce and sell them (this is called dumping) Taxes on imported goods (called tariffs could have solved this problem but the government did not have the power to tax)
Inflation With a shortage of money, congress printed tons of Continental Dollars - inflation due to too much money and no confidence in the money not backed by gold. Due to inflation merchants in Rhode Island refused to accept the seemingly worthless Continental Dollars. Weak Central Government Diplomatic Humiliation England keep troops on U.S. soil after 1783 Spain closes New Orleans to American commerce in 1784 John Jay to negotiate reopening Mississippi instead signs treaty favoring Northeast West and South denounce, Congress rejects Jay-Gardoqui Treaty
Annapolis Convention Sept. 1786discuss economic problems Only 5 states send delegates (nothing can be done) Alexander Hamilton draws resolution for Congress (Set up another meeting) Representatives from all states Revise the Articles of Confederation
Shays Rebellion
The state governments had the right to tax the people Massachusetts tried to pay off their Revolutionary War debt quickly Shays Rebellion Continued Because the economy was so bad in the United States, and people did not have enough money to pay their taxes some refused to do so. Daniel Shay led a rebellion of 1,200 men (many veterans of the Revolution) they were prepared to take over the government because it was taxing them just as the British had done. The group was defeated in 1787.
Shays Rebellion Quotes concerning the rebellion If they have real grievances, redress them; if not employ the force of the government against them at once G. Washington
A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants T. Jefferson
Federalist Papers 85 articles that appeared in newspapers from late 1787-1788 Explanation of the Constitution Alexander Hamilton John Jay James Madison
Federalist Paper # 51 Written by Madison A. How should power be divided in a republic? 1. separate and distinct 2. each department should have a voice of its own 3. drawn from the people (popular vote) a. exceptionJudicial Branchappointed WHY? 1. qualifications 2. permanent position Where did he get this idea from???
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU (1689-1755) Wrote Spirit of Law 1. Believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed. 2. Best governments have power balanced among three groups of officials. (separation of powers) 3. His ideas about separation of powers became the basis for the United States Constitution Checks and Balances 1. Ambition must counter act ambition 2. First government must control the governed, then government must control itself Legislative BranchThe strongest branch in a republican governmentneeds to be weakened HOW? divide itbicameral different term lengthrotating election Executive BranchNeeds more power How is this accomplished? 1. Theory of the small republic a. Homogeneitysame ideas, values, religion 2. Theory of the large republic a. Heterogeneitydiversity b. Multiplicity of interests 3. Faction a. Majority b. Minority
Federalist #10 ProblemFACTION 1. Tyranny of the majority 2. Minority SolutionBoth are unsuitable 1. Remove the cause of faction a. destroy libertyLiberty is to faction what air is to fire b. theory of the small republicsocial homogeneitygiving every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.
Reasons the solutions are unsuitable
1. To destroy liberty is oppression
2. Infallibility of reason people are not always virtuous
3. Passions of opinion peoples opinions differ on everything
4. Diversity of faculties people have different capabilities
Real solutionFactions cannot be removed but its effects can be controlled!!!! HOW?? Protection of natural rights is the first objective of government
THEORY OF THE LARGE REPUBLIC
A. prevent the majority from having the same passions, opinions, and interests
B. elect representatives from a more diverse population will result in a coalition of different opinions
C. protect the rights of the minority
The Genius of James Madison Stronger central government gains support
James Madison persuades Americans that large republics could be free and democratic
The Philadelphia Convention Convenes May 1787 55 delegates from all states except Rhode Island Delegates possess wide practical experience
Revise the Articles of Confederation Anti-Federalists Thomas Jefferson George Mason James Monroe Richard Henry Lee Samuel Adams Patrick Henry
All warned against the problems that a big and powerful government could create. Anti-Federalist and why they did not want the US Constitution The Anti-Federalists did not want to ratify the Constitution. Basically, they argue that: It gave too much power to the national government at the expense of the state governments. There was no bill of rights. The national government could maintain an army in peacetime. Congress, because of the `necessary and proper clause,' wielded too much power. The executive branch held too much power.
Presidents of the United States prior to George Washington
Peyton Randolph of Virginia (1723- 1775) When delegates gathered in Philadelphia for the first Continental Congress, they promptly elected the former King's Attorney of Virginia as the moderator and president of their convocation. Henry Middleton (1717-1784)
America's second elected president was one of the wealthiest planters in the South, the patriarch of the most powerful families anywhere in the nation. His public spirit was evident from an early age. He was a member of his state's Common House from 1744-1747. During the last two years he served as the Speaker. John Hancock (1737-1793) The third president was a patriot, rebel leader, merchant who signed his name into immortality in giant strokes on the Declaration of Independence. The boldness of his signature has made it live in American minds as a perfect expression of the strength and freedomand defianceof the individual in the face of British tyranny. As President of the Continental Congress during two widely spaced termsthe first from May 24 1775 to October 30 1777 and the second from November 23 1785 to June 5, 1786Hancock was the presiding officer when the members approved the Declaration of Independence. Henry Laurens (1724-1792)
The only American president ever to be held as a prisoner of war by a foreign power, Laurens was heralded after he was released as "the father of our country," by no less a personage than George Washington. John Jay (1745-1829)
America's first Secretary of State, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, one of its first ambassadors, and author of some of the celebrated Federalist Papers, Jay was a Founding Father who, by a quirk of fate, missed signing the Declaration of Independenceat the time of the vote for independence and the signing, he had temporarily left the Continental Congress to serve in New York's revolutionary legislature. Nevertheless, he was chosen by his peers to succeed Henry Laurens as President of the United Statesserving a term from December 10, 1778 to September 27, 1779. Samuel Huntington (1732-1796)
An industrious youth who mastered his studies of the law without the advantage of a school, a tutor, or a masterborrowing books and snatching opportunities to read and research between odd jobshe was one of the greatest self-made men among the Founders. He was also one of the greatest legal minds of the ageall the more remarkable for his lack of advantage as a youth. Thomas McKean (1734-1817)
During his astonishingly varied fifty-year career in public life he held almost every possible positionfrom deputy county attorney to President of the United States under the Confederation. Besides signing the Declaration of Independence, he contributed significantly to the development and establishment of constitutional government in both his home state of Delaware and the nation. At the Stamp Act Congress he proposed the voting procedure that Congress adopted: that each colony, regardless of size or population, have one vote the practice adopted by the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation, and the principle of state equality manifest in the composition of the Senate. John Hanson (1715-1783)
In 1775 he was elected to the Provincial Legislature of Maryland. Then in 1777, he became a member of Congress where he distinguished himself as a brilliant administrator. Thus, he was elected President in 1781. He served in that office from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782. He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederationand like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed. Elias Boudinot (1741-1802)
He was not renowned for his legal mind or his political skills. He was instead a man who spent his entire career in foreign diplomacy. He served as president from November 4, 1782 until November 2, 1783. Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800)
November 3, 1783 to November 29, 1784. Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794)
His resolution "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," approved by the Continental Congress July 2, 1776, was the first official act of the United Colonies that set them irrevocably on the road to independence. It was not surprising that it came from Lee's penas early as 1768 he proposed the idea of committees of correspondence among the colonies, and in 1774 he proposed that the colonies meet in what became the Continental Congress. Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796)
President from June 6, 1786 to February 1, 1787. It was during this time that the Congress actually entertained the idea of of establishing a constitutional monarch in America. Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818)
He was elected President in 1787and he served from February 2 of that year until January 21 of the next. Cyrus Griffin (1736-1796)
It was during his term in the office of the Presidencythe last before the new national compact went into effectthat ratification was formalized and finalized. He served as the nation's chief executive from January 22, 1788 until George Washington's inauguration on April 30, 1789.