Passages History 1301 Chapter 6 Outline

Chapter Outline

Despite gaining independence, questions remained as to whether, and to what degree, Americans could settle the societal, economic, and political problems facing them.

A.     Republican Politics:  The Articles of Confederation provided a preliminary framework of government, but the national government was weaker than the state governments, whose individual constitutions were much more extensive than the Articles themselves.

B.     Women’s Rights:  Despite their participation in the revolution, women found that rights for them received scant attention from the new government.

C.     The Question of Abolishing Slavery:  It soon became apparent that the question of abolishing slavery was leading to major divisions among the new states, as the abolition movement grew in the North and support for slavery increased in the South.

D.     Defining Religious Liberty:  Another controversial issue was that of religious freedom of expression, and here the United States made some progress; religious tests for public office, however, remained common.

While the Confederation Congress faced many problems, its inability to tax on a national level was the one thing most responsible for its eventual demise.

A.     Military Demobilization:  An early quandary was what to do about demobilizing and providing for the troops that had fought the war: Should America divest itself of all military trappings, or was a standing army a necessity?

B.     Economic Troubles:  The Congress also had to decide on a course of action that would ease the economic troubles of the states.

1.       The national war debt stood at about $50 million, most of which was owed to Americans themselves.

2.       A new institution, the Bank of North America, made some headway in resolving the crisis but was viewed with distaste by many Americans, especially farmers and artisans.

3.       Britain also continued to cause problems, most specifically through closure of West Indian ports to American merchants.

4.       The overall effect was a steep decline in income, a depression that some have likened to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

C.     Foreign Affairs:  Relations with European countries remained tense, with the Spanish threatening southern and western borders and the British continuing to cause problems with native tribes in the North.

D.     The Northwest Ordinances:  Congress passed several pieces of legislation, collectively known as the Northwest Ordinances, to regulate settlement in the Northwest Territory; the ordinances provided for land distribution as well as for the formation of new states from the area.

Despite the best efforts of Congress, the United States continued to experience political as well as economic turmoil throughout the 1780s.

A.     Creditors versus Debtors:  English merchants began to accept debt payments in specie only and states imposed taxes designed to pay off war bonds, with the result that many Americans ended up in debtors’ prisons.

B.     Farmers Demand Reform:  American farmers often felt left out of the decision-making processes within their states, and more often than not, their concerns were unheeded by those in authority.

C.     Shays’s Rebellion:  Massachusetts farmers’ concerns came to a head in Shays’ Rebellion, but the state government moved quickly to quell the revolt, and the situation continued to deteriorate.

With the myriad problems facing the Confederation, some influential Americans began to call for governmental reform.

A.     The Philadelphia Convention:  Representatives from twelve of the thirteen states met in the Philadelphia Convention in May 1787, determined to settle the problems facing the country.

B.     The Great Compromise:  The Constitutional Convention that emerged set about establishing a new, workable document, but the delegates found that major issues would require a great deal of compromise.

1.       The Virginia Plan, proposed by the larger states, called for a bicameral legislature, checks and balances, proportional representation, and much more power for the federal government.

2.       The New Jersey Plan, supported by smaller states, insisted on a unicameral legislature and equal voting strength for each state, regardless of population.

3.       The resulting “great compromise” retained most aspects of the Virginia Plan but gave the smaller states equal representation in the upper house of Congress, and it greatly expanded the powers of the federal government, to the chagrin of many.

C.     The Executive, Slavery, and Commerce:  The delegates managed to overcome a variety of hurdles as they worked their way through the formation of the Constitution.

1.       An electoral college was established to oversee the election of the president and vice president.

2.       Delegates also provided for a balance of power between the various branches of the federal government.

3.       The issue of slavery was problematic, and in the end delegates abrogated their responsibilities and compromised enough to put the issue off for the foreseeable future; for the present, five slaves would count as three free persons for both representation and taxation.

D.     Ratification:  The debate over ratification of the new constitution divided Americans into Federalists (those supporting ratification) and Anti-federalists (those opposed), and it required the considerable talents of men such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to persuade a sufficient number of states that the constitution should become the law of the land, which it did in June 1788.