Chapter 6 Outline: Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood

I.

The Prospects of War

a. Loyalists and Other British Sympathizers
i. Some americans remain opposed to secession from Britain
1. 20% of white people
2. called Loyalists
a. Tories from their patriot
b. Whigs to opponents
3. agree w patriots to be opposed to Parliaments claim to tax colonies
4. disagree w patriots insistence that independence is the only way to preserve
the colonists rights
a. denounce separation as an illegal act that will start war
b. retain reverence and loyalty to the king
ii. hatred bw whigs and tories is worse than patriots and british
iii. determinants of loyalist strength
1. political power of Whigs and success in convincing others that Britain
threatened their liberty
a. leaders in NE, VA, and SC make programs of political education and
pop mobilization
i. less than 5% is loyalists
b. but in place where leaders were divided loyalists flourished
i. greatest in NY and NJ
2. geographic distribution of recent british immigrants
a. remain loyal to homeland
b. British soldiers who served in Seven Years War and stayed in colonies
i. NY
c. After the revolution, foreign-born loyalists were the majority of those
who british compensated for wartime property losses
d. Quebec is also british sympathizer
i. Quebec Act of 1774 reconcile Canadians to British rule
1. Retains Catholicism as religion of Canada and partial use
of French laws
e. No attempt to win over places w small populations
i. Nova Scotia, E&W Florida, W Indies
f. British gets support from non-whites
i. A-A consider liberation more important than American
independence from Britain
ii. During war, 20,000 slaves escape owners
1. Most recaptured, but some achieved freedom after
serving in Royal Army
iii. But majority of slaves in NE support rebels
iv. Native Americans support British
1. Six Nations Iroquois, Creeks, and Cherokees are divided
among rebels and Britain
g. Patriots have other sources of support
i. Natives in NE and Canada
b. The Opposing Sides
i. Britain has 2 advantages
1. Inhabitants of British isles outnumber colonists
2. Possess worlds largest navy and one of the best armies
a. Grows too big during war and strains resources
b. Hire German mercenaries to meet manpower needs
ii. Ability to defeat rebellion weakens after decline in sea power
1. Budget cuts leave of royal navy in dry dock waiting for major repairs
2. Merchant ships attacked or taken by American privateers
iii. British strain on economy
1. National debt doubles
a. Increases taxes
iv. American wartime problems

II.

1. Patriots face military problems

a. American men accustomed to serving citizen-soldiers in colonial
militias
i. Not trained to fight in battles against professional armies
b. Continental Army needs to supersede state militias and need to fight in
standard military formations
i. Precisely executed movements of mass formations
ii. Need to make quick movements after close-range musket fire
c. Army doesnt have experienced officers or a good way to attract longterm soldiers
2. First battles are painfully lost
a. But spain and france later lend military support
i. Didnt have to win war, just prolong it until british taxpayers
lose patience
3. George Washington
a. Learns important lessons after defeats in Ohio valley
i. Had served in VA House of Burgesses
1. Influence grows because others respect him and ask his
opinion
ii. Later sits in Continental Congress
War and Peace, 1776-1783
a. Shifting Fortunes in the North, 1776-1778
i. During 1776, war focuses on NY
1. British fleet lands at NY under General William Howe and Admiral Richard
2. Only defended by 18,000 poorly trained soldiers under GW
a. British forces them to retreat to NJ
ii. British approach Philadelphia
1. GW decides to take offensive and attack british Hessian guard on Christmas at
Trenton
2. Later attack 1200 british at Princeton in Jan 1777
a. Only have 40 casualties to their 400
iii. Significance of Trenton and Princeton
1. Boosts civilian and military morale
2. Drives a wedge between NJs loyalists and the british army
3. Victory forces British to remove almost all NJ garrisons to NY in 1777
a. After theyre gone, NJ militias disarms loyalists and jail their leaders
b. Remaining loyalists swear allegiance to Continental Congress
iv. Marquis de Lafayette joins GWs staff
1. Young French aristocrat
2. Evidence that france would support American independence and declare war
on Britain
a. But first Louis XVI wants proof that americans could win a major battle
v. British plan two-pronged assault in 1777
1. Attempt to crush rebellion in NY and NE
a. British and Iroquois allies under Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger and
General John Burgoyne
2. Nothing goes according to plan
a. St Legers force stop to siege 750 continentals at Fort Stanwix, unable
to take fort after 3 weeks, retreats
b. Burgoynes campaign takes Fort Ticonderoga
i. But advances to face americans near Saratoga uder General
Horatio Gates
1. After 2 battles he surrenders (Oct 17, 1777)
vi. Battle of Saratoga is wars turning point
1. Convinces France that americans can defeat british
a. Feb 1778, France formally recognizes United States
b. Goes to war against Britain 4 months later
i. Spain declares war on Britain only as an ally of France 1779
ii. Dutch Republic joins them 1780
c. Leaves Britain ally-less
2. GW and Britains General Howe collide in Brandywine Creek, PA 1777

a. Howe defeats GW in PA
i. Congress flees and allows Howe to occupy the city
3. Significance
a. Leaves continentals to stay winter in Valley Forge
i. Without proper supplies to survive the winter
1. No clothing, food undermines morale
b. Army lacks training
i. @ Saratoga, americans overwhelming # forces Burgoyne to
surrender, but when GW and Howes forces met, they were on
equal terms
4. Continental Army receives boost in 1778 when German Friedrich von Steuben
arrives at Valley Forge
a. Likes americans
b. Becomes famous for motivating men
c. Good administrator
i. In 4 months, turns army into a formidable fighting force
vii. British evacuate Philadelphia in June 1778 to free up troops to fight against French in
W Indies
1. General Henry Clinton
a. New British commander-in-chief in N America
b. Leads troops to NY
2. Meets Continental Army at Monmouth, NJ
a. Battle lasts for 6 hrs in 100 degree heat until Clinton retreats
b. Clintons army slips away in the night
3. Battle of Monmouth ends contest for N
a. British occupy NY, but GW keeps army nearby to watch Clinton
b. The War in the West (1776-1782)
i. War w of the Appalachians
1. Small-scale skirmishes rather than major battles
2. Tensions bw Natives and settlers continue
a. War only continues older frontier struggle
3. Begins 1776 when Cherokees attack settlers in NC and nearby colonies on
their former homeland
a. Recover and organize retaliation after suffering heavy losses
b. Burn most Cherokee towns, force them to sign over their land in SC
and NC and Tennessee
ii. Fighting lasts longer in NW
1. Ohio Indians and white settlers fight independent of American and British
coordination
a. 2 yrs in Kentucky, w/o a clear winner
b. British occupy French settlement in Illinois and Indiana
i. Colonel George Rogers Clark leads 175 Kentucky militiamen to
take French town of Vincennes in 1779
1. British unable to offer assistance, leaves native allies
vulnerable
2. John Bowman leads charges to destroy Shawnee villages
a. David Brodhead follows example in Pittsburgh to destroy Delawares
and Mingos
3. Pro-British Iroquois led by Mohawk Joseph Brant destroy PA and NY frontiers in
1778
a. American General John Sullivan retaliates by invading Iroquois country
w an army of Continental troops and some displeased Indians
i. Destroys Brants forces and 2 dozen Iroquois towns
1. Causes hundreds to starve during winter
b. Brants forces take revenge in 1780 on tuscororas and Oneidas and lay
waste to PA and NY
i. Attempt to disguise devastation inflicted by Sullivan
iii. Continues until 1782, but dont determine the outcome of the war itself
c. Victory in the South (1778-1781)
i. 1778, war shift to the S

ii.

iii.

iv.

d. Peace
i.

ii.

iii.

1. british attempt to secure S ports to make it easier to transport forces bw

America and W Indies
2. General Clinton expected to seize ports easily and move back toward the
north
a. British troops take GA, then take Charles Town, SC
i. After 2 yrs of political bickering in Britain
ii. Find that there are fewer loyalists than expected
Southern loyalism suffers
1. Cherokees kill whites indiscriminately
a. Tories switch sides to join the rebel militia and defend their homes
2. Arrival of british troops leads to increased exodus of A-A from plantations
a. 1/3 of slaves flee to British lines
b. british officials try to return runaway slaves to loyalist masters
i. plantations fear that loss of control over human property would
lead to black uprising
3. White loyalists abandon British and welcome rebels return to power in 1782
a. Loyalists are bitter about harsh treatment under patriot rule
b. Leads to cycle of revenge bw loyalists and patriots
Horatio Gates takes control of American forces in S
1. Small force of Continentals, forced to rely on poorly trained militiamen
2. Lord Charles Cornwallis defeats Gates at Camden, SC in 1780
a. After a single volley, militia leaves outnumbered Continentals to be
overrun
i. Worst rebel defeat of the wra
3. Washington and congress respond by relieving gates of command
a. Send General Nathanael Greene to confront Cornwallis
i. Fights and loses 3 major battles in 1781
ii. But eventually wins campaign
1. Gave Whig militia protection needed to hunt down
loyalists
2. Stretch british supply lines until they fail
3. Weakens Cornwallis by inflicting casualties too big to
return from
iii. Forces Cornwallis to leave Carolina backcountry and head to VA
Cornwallis est base at Yorktown, VA
1. British defeat begins August 30, 1781
a. French fleet lands off VA coast and sends troops
b. Lafayette and small force of Continentals join French while GW arrives
w army from NY
2. Battle of Yorktown
a. 6000 British troops face off against 8800 Americans and 7800 French
before surrending on Oct 19, 1781
at Last (1782-1783)
Cornwalliss defeat drains will of English people to continue fighting
1. Overtaxed
2. Force british to negotiate for peace
a. John Adams, Ben Franklin, and John Jay are delegates to peace talks in
Paris, 1782
Treaty of Paris (1783)
1. Influenced by military realities
2. Britain recognizes American independence
a. Agrees to withdraw all royal troops from new nations soil
3. Award Confederation lands W of Appalachians
4. Clarks victories give Americas NW, while Spain kept Britain out of SW
American problems w treaty
1. Under sep treaty, Britain leaves E and W FLA to Spain, but does not clearly
define borders
a. Spain interprets it to mean the FLA territory it had once lost to Britain,
but Treaty of Paris names border further south than the area claimed
by Spain
b. US and Spain debate border until 1795

III.

2. Fails to prevent future disputes bw British and Americans

a. State govts not bound by treaty (extends only to national govts)
i. Refuse to compensate loyalists for property losses and prevent
British creditors from collecting prewar debts
ii. British refuse to honor treaty pledges to abandon forts in NW
and return American-owned slaves in retaliation
iv. No mention of Natives in Treaty of Paris
1. Natives had supported british to avert alternative
a. American nation who coveted their lands
b. Treaty leaves them to deal w Confederation on their own, w/o provision
for status or treatment
2. Outrages Native leaders
a. Dont acknowledge new nations claims to sovereignty over their
territory
v. Effects of Treaty of Paris
1. 5% of all free males bw 16-45 died during war
2. drives 1:6 loyalists, thousands of slaves and native americans into exile
a. move to Canada, Britain, and the W Indies
i. blacks move from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone in W Africa after
finding inhospitable land
b. majority of immigrants were recent british immigrants
3. war secures Am Ind, but doesnt address what kind of society America would
become and what govt it would have
a. but affects both
The Revolution and Social Change
a. Egalitarianism among White Men
i. Anti-british movement caused many elites to maintain appearance of equality w
common people
1. War continues this by pressuring gentry to show respect to ordinary men
serving under them
a. Declaration of Independence enforces this
2. Some officers go out of their way to show that they feel no superiority to
troops
a. But some insist soldiers remain disciplined and subordinate at all times
b. 2 yrs after terrible winter at Valley Forge, troops rebel to protest for
new provisions
c. officers try w/o success to disarm the men, but have no success
ii. soldiers retain self-esteem after returning to civilian life
1. insist on respectful treatment by elites
a. transfers into political beliefs
i. candidates take care to not offend common people
ii. war democratized Americans politics
iii. many republican elites do not support shift to democracy
1. continue to insist that each social class has own virtues and that the lower
class should remain deferent to those w wealth and education
2. btu most rev-gen Americans insist that virtue and sacrifice defines citizens
worth (w/o consideration of wealth)
a. elect wealthy to office, but only if they please the common people
b. undermines idea that wealth or family background equals special claim
to public office
iv. rev doesnt change dist of wealth
1. war directed at British imperial rule and not structure of American society
2. exodus of loyalists does not affect class structure because they are from all
classes
a. land is quickly bought up by the whigs
b. White Women in Wartime
i. Female support of colonial resistance broadens during war
1. Female camp followers serve military units by cooking, nursing, and
laundering
2. Some disguise themselves as men and join the war

3. Most remain at home to manage families, households, farms, and businesses

on their own
ii. Changes traditional female roles
1. Increases womens confidence in abilities to think and act on matters
traditionally reserved for men
iii. Womens public roles and visibility increased during Revolution
1. Organize campaigns to raise money
2. Compare their actions to Joan of Arc and other female heroes
iv. Abigail Adams
1. Most direct wartime challenge to est gender relations
a. Wife of John Adams
b. Asks him to remember the women when writing the new code
i. Threatens to hold own rebellion w/o getting proper rights and
representation
2. Dismissed as another attempt to extend power to those who were unworthy
c. A Revolution for African-Americans
i. Wartime situation for A-A contradicts ideals of equality and justice for which
Americans were fighting
1. Only 25,000 of about 500,000 slaves were free
a. Still not allowed to vote, live w curfews, and other restrictions
b. Lack guarantee of equal justice given to even the poorest white male
ii. Early fighting in NE draws hundreds of blacks into the militia and continental units
1. Some run away and pose as free people
2. Pressure from S politicians leads GW to ban blacks from serving in 1775
a. 5 days after British invite enslaved Virginians to join british
iii. wartime opportunities for A-A grow out of armys need for personnel
1. 6 wks after banning black enlisting, GW admits all free blacks to the army
2. 2 yrs later, agrees to RIs plea to raise a non-white regiment
a. slaves could enlist and would be freed, and master would be paid abt
$2,400
3. but GW is opposed to arming slaves
a. Congress urges GA and SC to arm 3000 slaves after British invade but
GW vetoes plan
iv. White criticism of slavery grows ~10 yrs before war begins
1. Rebel leaders compare colonies and Britain to slaves and master
2. Quakers form 1st organized initiatives against slavery
a. Yearly meeting of NE Friends
i. Abolishes slavery among its members 1770
3. White enlightenment ideas also spur antislavery sentiments
a. NE states begin phasing out slavery
i. Not abolishing it, but provide for gradual emancipation
ii. Dont act against slavery in the S
iii. Worried confederation could not afford to finance abolition in
the S
1. Fear secession
v. Freed blacks remain poor laborers, domestic servants, or tenant farmers
1. Whites unlikely to hire them or pay them fair wages
2. Prince Hall
a. Bostons most prominent free black
b. Takes a leading role among Bostons blacks protesting slavery
c. Forms separate African-American Masonic lodge
d. Petitions Massachusetts legislature for support of plan to enable
interested blacks to return to Africa
i. Unsuccessful
3. Gain few civil rights
a. In a few states, some freed male blacks who owned land gain right to
vote
i. Most N states repeal curfews and other colonial laws restricting
A-A freedom of movt
d. Native Americans and the Revolution
i. No provisions for natives who want to remain free from European-Americans

1. Suffer
a.
b.
c.

IV.

worst of war
Pop declines about
Indian communities are uprooted
US promise of equal economic opportunity for all increases territorial
expansion onto Native landholdings
ii. Incorporate useful aspects of European culture into their own
1. Selectively adopt manufactured goods, domestic animals, and Christianity
a. Participate in American economy
i. Work for wages, sell food, crafts or other products
2. Insist on retaining control of homelands and way of life
a. Samson Occum and several hundred Christian Indians est town of
Brothertown on land granted to them by Oneida Indians
i. In NY
b. Chickasaws do same thing in Mississippi valley and go before congress
Forging New Govts (1776-1787)
a. From Colonies to States
i. Before 1776, colonies elect legislature assemblies to prevent govrs from encroaching
on liberties
ii. Keep bicameral legislatures after war
1. Elected lower house (assembly)
2. And upper house (elected by govr or chosen by assembly)
3. Mimic parliaments division into House of Commons and House of Lords
a. Symbol that govt should have sep rep for upper class and common
people
iii. Few question practice of property requirement for voting
1. Propertyless men might sell votes or be fooled
iv. Nearly equal division of legislative seats despite population size
1. Minority of voters elect a majority of assemblymen
v. State constitutions differ from tradition
1. Written docs that require popular ratification
2. Can be amended only by public
3. Constitutions are written compacts to limit power of the ruler and spell out
citizens fundamental rights as a check on govt power
4. Strengthen legislature power at govr expense
a. Govr becomes elected official, w more frequent elections
b. Legislatures gain power of appointment
i. Appoint judges and can impeach them and govrs
5. Makes legislatures more responsive to will of voters
vi. Republicans vs democracy
1. Democracy
a. Mob rule, or concentration of power in the hands of an uneducated
multitude
2. Republicanism
a. Ensures that govt would be entrusted to virtuous leaders due to merit
and commitment to good
b. Ideal govt would balance interest of different classes to prevent
absolute power
b. Formalizing a Confederation (1776-1781)
i. Americas 1st national govt shows fear of centralized authority
1. Strong attachment to state legislature
ii. John Dickinson (1776) drafts a proposal for a national constitution
1. Congress adopts weakened version of proposal called Articles of
Confederation
a. Send it to states to be ratified in 1777
b. All states only ratify it in 1781
iii. Articles of Confederation
1. Reserve for each state: sovereignty, freedom, and independence
a. USA is only league of friendship among sovereign states
b. Congress never united continent under one national govt
2. National govt is single-chamber congress
a. Elected by state legislatures (each state has 1 vote)

b.

Congress cant tax w/o each states approval and cant regulate
overseas or interstate commerce
c. approval of 7 states required to pass minor legislature
i. 9 states required to approve declarations of war, treaties, and
coining and borrowing of money
ii. unanimous approval required to amend and ratify the Articles
d. no executive branch
i. congressional committees oversee financial, diplomatic,
military, and indian affairs and resolve interstate disputes
e. no judicial system
i. no way to force allegiance to national laws
f. Articles eliminate all barriers to interstate travel and trade
g. Guarantees all states recognize one anothers judicial decisions
c. Finance, Trade, and the Economy (1781-1786)
i. Confederation needs to put nation on sound financial footing
1. War cost $160 million dollars
a. Govt has to borrow funds from abroad and print its own money called
Continentals
b. Lack of public faith in govt destroys 98% of value
2. Congress appoints philly merchant Robert Morris as Superintendent of Finance
a. Proposes that states collect a national import duty of 5%
i. Fails because RI is only state to reject it
3. Most states assume responsibility for war debt and began compensating
veterans and creditors w/in borders
a. Nationally minded elite insist that Us needs sources of revenue
independent of states to attract capital and est a strong national govt
4. To scare country into it, Morris and NY congressman Alexander Hamilton
create Newburgh Conspiracy
a. 1783, they persuade arm officers to threaten a coup detat unless
treasury obtains taxation authority to raise pay
b. GW learns of conspiracy and ends plot by giving speech that appeals to
officers honor
ii. Peace in 1783
1. Congress sends another tax measure to the states, but it is again rejected,
this time by NY
a. States steadily decrease contributions to congress
i. Fall back 80% in supplying funds necessary to operate govt and
honor national debt
2. Confederation fails to get trade concessions from Britain
a. Continuation after war of british trade prohibitions lead to economic
depression in NY in 1784
b. Farmers cant produce enough food for local consumption
c. NE face high taxes to repay money borrowed to finance revolution and
tightening of credit
d. mid-atlantic states less dependent on british markets
i. farmers in PA and NY prosper from rising export prices
e. Southern planters fail to return to pre-war production levels
i. Tobacco farmers shift to wheat, and others grow hemp
ii. Slave owners are left w underemployed human property due to
low maintenance crops
d. The Confederation and the West
i. Post war settlement an administration of American territory outside the states
1. Natives determined to preserve lands
2. British and Spanish support Indians in attempt to strengthen own positions
3. Congress tries to impose order on process of settling those lands
4. Ordinance of 1785
a. Procedures for surveying land north of the Ohio River
5. Northwest Ordinance (1787)
a. Congress defines steps to create new states
i. Congress has to appt a territorial govr and judges

V.

ii. As soon as 5,000 males live in an area, voters could approve a

territorial constitution and elect a legislature
iii. When total pop reached 60,000 voters could ratify a state
constitution
b. Forbids slavery in territories, but can be legalized in statehood
ii. Significance of Ordinances
1. Layout procedures to settle and est govts in the NW
2. Later serve as models for organizing territories further w
3. NW Ordinance est a precedent to ban slavery from certain territories
iii. NW Territory
1. Seems to offer enough land to guarantee property to American citizens
2. Eases fears of leaders that rapid growth of white pop would not run out of land
and leave a large class of landless porr
iv. Most available land belongs to people who the Dec of Ind called merciless Indian
savages
1. Natives struggle to preserve own independence
2. Give in under threats of continued warfare w US
a. Iroquois lose of land in Second Treaty of Fort Stanwix
b. Treaty of Fort McIntosh and Fort Finney leads to Delaware and Shawnee
leaders losing their lands
i. Tribal members are angered tht they had never authorized
negotiators to give up land
3. Believe british will provide arms and ammunition necessary to rebel against
the US
a. British hope to regain lands w/in NW territory w help of Indians
4. Joseph Brant emerge as inspiration behind Indian resistance in NW
a. Celebrity after vising King George in London in 1785
b. Organizes NW indians into military alliance to exclude confederation
citizens n of Ohio river
c. Cant win support of Iroquois who now lived in peace w NY neighbors, or
the Ohio Indians
v. Disunity w/in indian ranks allows settlers to organize militia raids into NW territory
1. Force Miamis, Shawnees, and Delawares to evauate S Indiana and Ohio
vi. Confederation confronts challenges in SE w Spanish
1. Indian allies and Spanish keep settlers off their lands
2. Spanish ally, Creek leader Alexander McGillivray
a. Negotiates a secret treaty where Spanish promise weapons so Creeks
could defend themselves to attak whites
b. Offer GA a cease-fire
i. Takes it to avoid approving taxes for war
ii. Let Creeks keep land
3. Spain tries to prevent American invasion
a. Deny settlers permission to ship their crops down the Mississippi river
to New Orleans
b. Negotiate the Jay-Gardoqui Treaty (1786) to open Spanish markets to
American merchants and renounce Spanish claims to disputed lands
i. Cost: postponed American exporters access to New Orleans for
20 yrs
ii. Congress rejects it because they believe it sacrifices their
interests to benefit northern commerce
Towards a New Constitution (1786-1788)
a. Shayss Rebellion (1788-1787)
i. Depression in NE continues
ii. State votes to pay off revolutionary debt in 3 yrs
1. Requires huge tax hike
2. States unfavorable balance of payments w britian leads to shortage of specie
(gold and silver coins)
a. Mass. bankers insist on being paid in specie too to avoid influx of
worthless paper notes
b. State mandate same policy for tax payment
iii. Daniel Shays leads farmers to shut down the courts in 5 counties

1. March on federal arsenal at Springfield, Mass.

a. Met by troops funded by boston elites and beat back
2. Sympathizers of Shays win control of Mass. legislature and cut taxes, and
secure pardon for their leader
iv. Significance of Shays
1. rallying cry for advocates of a stronger central govt
2. enable nationalists to argue that the US had become vulnerable to
mobocracy
3. sparks elite nationalists into action from above
a. delegates assemble at Annapolis, MD to discuss amendments to AoC
b. The Philadelphia Convention (1787)
i. 55 delegates from every state but RI gather at PA state house in philly
1. GW, Ben Franklin, Aleander Hamilton, James Madison
2. Wealthy, middle aged, slave-owning, w legal training
ii. Well kept secrecy: minimizes public pressure on their debates
1. Share nationalist perspective
a. Majority had sat in Congress
b. Believed that national govt had to be freed from control of state
legislatures to keep country from disintegrating
c. Prepared to replace AoC all together
iii. 1st debate concerned conflicting interests of small and large states
1. James Madison of VA calls for est of a strong central body rather than a
federation of states
a. Virginia Plan
i. Gives congress virtually unrestricted power to legislate, levy
taxes, veto state laws, and authorize military force against
states
ii. Designed to abolish state govts
iii. Specified bicameral legislature and fixed representation in both
houses of congress proportionally to each states pop
iv. Voters would elect lower house, then choose delegates to upper
chambers from nominations submitted by legislatures
v. Both houses would jointly name the countrys president and
judges
vi. Gives majority to larger states
2. William Paterson of NJ offers counterproposal
a. New Jersey Plan
i. Recommends single chamber congress, each state has an equal
vote (like AoC)
ii. Gives majority to smaller states
3. The Great Compromise
a. Suggested by a grand committee (one delegate from each state)
b. Each state would have an equal vote in the upper house, while rep in
the lower house would be based on pop
c. Passes july 17
iv. Constitution of the United States passes Sept 7, 1787
1. Provides for a vigorous national authority that supersedes that of the states
a. All acts of and treaties of the US were the supreme law of the land
b. Gives congress the authority to lay and collect taxes, regulate
interstates commerce, and conduct diplomacy
2. States cant coin money, interfere w contracts or debts, or tax interstate
commerce
a. State officials have to swear to uphold the constitution
3. National govt can use military force against any state
4. Empowers congress to enact all laws necessary and proper for the national
govt to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities
v. 2 means of restraining power of new central govt
1. separation of powers among natl govts 3 braches
a. executive, legislative, and judicial
2. designs system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch from
dominating the other two

vi. create Federalism

1. system of shared power and dual lawmaking of the national and state govts to
place limits on central authority
2. state legislatures have role in electing president and senators
a. constitution can be amended w votes from of the states
3. natl govt restricted to foreign affairs, national defense, regulating interstate
commerce and coining money
vii. count slaves persons or not?
1. Three-fifths clause
a. 3/5 of all slaves to be counted for congressional representation
b. prevents s states from having inflated population
c. The Struggle over Ratification (1787-1788)
i. constitution supporters begin campaign for ratification w/o popular support
1. americans hesitate to replace entire system of govt when philadelphia
convention was only supposed to amend AoC
a. Federalists supported constitution
i. Name is supposed to imply balance of state and natl govt
2. Antifederalists
a. Believe const is not going to balance power of natl and state govts
b. Reflect suspicion of centralized executive power
c. Compared to state govts, natl govts were less responsive to popular
will
d. Const nullified laws of the states except those that didnt contradict
federal law
e. Despite checks and balances, there are no guarantees of new govt to
protect liberties of the individuals
f. None are as famous as federalist leaders
ii. Constitution ratified June 21, 1788