Chapter 9: Early Years of America: 1776-1789

Articles of Confederation1781-1789

The Constitution: 1789-present

Thomas Jefferson’s self-composed epitaph…….“Here was buried Thomas JeffersonAuthor of the Declaration of IndependenceOf the Statute of Virginia for Religious FreedomAnd father of the University of Virginia”

Born April 2, 1743Died July 4, 1826

The Letter to the Danbury (Conn) Baptist Ministers……..

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”

-President Thomas Jefferson, 1802

Early ideas in the United States of America…………

•Was the revolution radical?????•Strong anti-Brit/Tory sentiment……80,000 Tories flee•Primogeniture laws eliminated•Anglican Church disestablished in Virginia, becomes “Episcopal”

1786….TJ’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom•Slavery

most Northern states abolished slavery in State Constitutions1775 Quakers establish anti-slavery society“slavery” clause removed from Declaration

•Womenno suffrage, except New Jersey“Remember the Ladies” goes unheededRepublican Motherhood- unselfish commitment to common good, especially in raising sons to be virtuous members of the Republic

A Semi-Revolution

I advocate a semi-revolution.The trouble with a total revolution(As any reputable Rosicrucian)Is that it brings the same class up on top.Executives of skillful executionWill therefore plan to go halfway and stop. Yes, revolutions are the only salves,But they’re one thing that should be done by halves.

-Robert Frost

Republican Motherhood: 1776-1800……..family portrait by Charles Wilson Peale

Republican MotherhoodToday

Politics in the New Nation

•Fundamental Law…..State Constitutions•Articles of Confederation approved in 1781 (after states rescind land claims)•Capitals move west (inland)

NY-AlbanyVA- RichmondNC- RaleighSC- ColumbiaGA- Atlanta

•Loyalist property redistributed•States write Constitutions (except RI & Conn we keep charters)

Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)

A. Features1. no executive of judicial branch2. 1 state= 1 vote3. legislation= 2/3 vote, amendment=unanimous (never done)4. Power to tax remained at state level5. could not regulate interstate commerce

State govts powerTaxationCoining moneyEst. courtsEngage in war (w/Congress consent)

Positive legacies of the Articles of Confederation……

•Necessary step•Kept Union intact, albeit weak•Future powers established-treaties, postal•Land Ordinance 1785…section 16=schools•NW Ordinance….banned slavery, territory to state 60,000

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Written by Th. Jefferson

Foreign Challenges•Britain

no commercial treaty, dumping Brits cut off West IndiesNo British diplomats sentWestern forts still occupied, loyalists not

compensated•Spain

1784 opened Latin American ports, closed New Orleans

Claimed Florida and West Florida (later a conflict)•France

demanded payment of debtrestricted trade in West Indies

•Barbary Piratesno tribute paid, terrorism on High Seas

.

Troubles in………………..Paradise…………………….

• Debt problems- govt cannot obtain loans, credit bad•Newburgh Conspiracy 1783…..Washington specs save day•Currency- hard currency to Britain in trade

Continentals face hyperinflationState currencies not accepted by others

•Commercial DifficultiesInterstate taxesNo British bounties for Indigo, Naval storesHigh demand for British goods = dumping

•Practical Difficulties

1. 1783- W. Penn soldiers invade Philly, demand backpay similar to Paxton Boys of 1764

2. Shays’s Rebellion….1786….1500 protestDemonstrates weakness of Confederation….

. "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.“

–GW @ Newburgh, 1783

Paxton Boys, 1764

Shays’s RebellionMassachsetts,1786

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Constitutional Convention (1787), Philly All states represented, except RIdouble distillation…….wealthy….1/2 lawyers55…..guarded…….”demigods”-TJGW Chair…Franklin 81…Madison 36….Hamilton 32

Missing: Pat Henry…Sam Adams….John Adams…TJ

….. MotivesStrong national govt, a republic, not democracy (dirty word)Control tariffsImprove commerce & travel w/navyQuell rebellions (stronger military)Improve domestic economy

. Compromises1. Great Compromise- Bicameral Legislature

Senate…treaty powersHouse…declare war, power of purse

2. Electoral College3. 3/5 Compromise4. Elastic Clause…..Art I: “necessary and proper” clause.

…Protections against mobocracy1. 3 Branches- checks and balances2. Judges appointed for life3. Senators elected by state legislatures (until 17th Amendment)4. Electoral College5. Federalism

The Electoral College established by the Constitution

....

9th Amendment………..The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. The modern day layman's translation of this would be:The listing in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be understood to deny or diminish other rights kept by the people..

The Tenth Amendment……..“Powers not delegated to the United States or denied to states are reserved to the states or to the people.”

Battle for Ratification 1787-1789Federalists v Anti Federalists

The Federalist Papers by John Jay, Alex Hamilton, James Madison9 states needed to ratify……when promised a Bill of Rights, approved

"Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of." - Federalist Papers, No. 48, February 1, 1788

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." - Federalist Papers, No. 51, February 8, 1788

…democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would at the same time be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.

-Madison, Number 10

…….On the Electoral College……….It was equally desirable that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicated an investigation.

-Hamilton, Number 68