Chapter 7 Consolidating the Revolution

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Chapter 7Consolidating the Revolution

• The American People, 6th ed.

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Struggling with the Peacetime Agenda
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Demobilizing the Army

• After the war, many of the troops refused to go
  home until the government acted upon their
  grievances regarding back pay and other benefits.
• Some officers began to hint at a military coup if
  demands were not met.
• Washington moved quickly to defuse the situation,
  asking for patience and giving assurances that
  pay would be rendered, as it eventually was.

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Opening the West

• The most notable accomplishments of Congress
  during this period were
• The Land Ordinance of 1785 Provided for the
  systematic survey and sale of the lands west of
  Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio River.
• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Provided for
  the political organization and terms of eventual
  statehood for the same region.
• Congress operated as if the Native Americans were
  a conquered people who had given up their land by
  virtue of their alliance with Britain.
• Subsequent treaties with Indian tribes were often
  produced by force, and usually spawned resentment
  and violence.

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Wrestling With the National Debt

• Evidence of the Confederations inadequacy rested
  in its inability to deal effectively with the
  nations war debt.
• The debt has been recently estimated at 35
  million, owed largely to Dutch and French
  bankers.
• Lacking any authority to tax, Congress had to
  rely on the willingness or ability of the states
  to meet these debts.

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Surviving in a Hostile Atlantic World

• Even after the United States had won its
  independence, England, France, and Spain
  continued to be an aggressive presence on the
  continent.

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Sources of Political Conflict
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Separating Church and State

• Prior to 1776, only Rhode Island, New Jersey,
  Pennsylvania, and Delaware promoted full
  religious freedom.
• Other states supported a central church to which
  they gave government funds for operation.
• The rhetoric of the Revolution inferred that
  freedom of choice was the only safe basis for
  church/state relations.

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Slavery Under Attack

• By 1790, every state except South Carolina and
  Georgia had abolished the importation of new
  slaves within their borders.
• As a result, a higher proportion of slaves were
  American born, speeding the process of cultural
  assimilation.
• In the North, slavery was abolished or put on an
  eventual path to abolition.

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Politics and the Economy

• Although the victors, Americas loss of trade
  with England sent the country into an economic
  depression.
• As always, certain artisans and people with the
  right political connections suffered little
  trouble.
• Many farmers were unable to pay the exorbitant
  taxes on their farms with the worthless paper
  money of the states.

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Political Tumult in the States
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The Limits of Republican Experimentation

• The period following the Revolutionary War saw a
  backlash in the political spirit of the country
  as conservatism returned to the mainstream.
• Political leadership began to fall to men who
  felt the republican experiment had gone too far.

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Shayss Rebellion

• Massachusetts citizens in 1786 had to borrow
  money to simply pay their taxes or support their
  families.
• People usually borrowed from each other rather
  than from a traditional bank.
• Facing foreclosure, the citizens turned to the
  state for stay laws prohibiting private
  creditors from demanding payment in hard
  currency rather than questionable paper money.
• Massachusetts scoffed at the citizens and
  demanded immediate payment of debts in gold or
  silver.
• Backed into a corner, the citizens led by
  Daniel Shays took up arms against the
  government of Massachusetts and later the United
  States.
• The insurrection eventually collapsed, but it
  underscored the problems of the Articles of
  Confederation.

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Towards a New National Government
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The Rise of Federalism

• Federalists the supporters of a strong, central
  government.
• Anti-federalists Concerned with supremacy of
  the states.
• Federalist leaders feared the loss of their own
  political and social power.
• Congresss inability to deal with the pressing
  issues of the country nullified the arguments for
  state supremacy.

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The Grand Convention

• Delegates gathered at Independence Hall in
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787 to construct
  the blueprint for a new and better form of
  government.
• George Washington was chosen as the convention
  president and all deliberations were to be kept
  secret.

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Drafting the Constitution

• Two major differences separated the delegates
• The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral system
  of legislature with proportional representation.
  Large states loved it.
• The New Jersey Plan called for representation in
  terms of equal votes per state but adopted the
  basic state supremacy plan of the Articles.
• After some debate, the Virginia Plan was votes as
  the most workable solution.

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• Another contentious question was how to census
  the number of blacks within its borders. The
  Great Compromise dictated that blacks be counted
  as three-fifths of a white resident for purposes
  of proportioning.
• An Electoral College of informed delegates would
  be selected by state legislatures for electing
  the president.
• Selection of the Senate would come from the votes
  of the House of Representatives.
• Dodging a political bullet, the founders agreed
  that slavery as an institution could not end for
  at least twenty years.

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The Struggle Over Ratification

• No national referendum or review was ever held on
  the content of the Constitution.
• It took less than a year to secure the nine
  states needed to win ratification.

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