Political IdeasWhen American leaders declared independence and founded the united states, they were aware that they were creating something new.

They established a republic=form of government in which power resides with a body of citizens who make laws for the whole.

elected officials exercise that power but are responsible to the citizens and must govern according to laws or a constitution

New political ideasIn an ideal republic, all citizens are equal under the laws, regardless of their wealth or social class; however, rights of many people were restricted based on race, class, or gender

this ideal republic contradicted traditional practices, but republican ideas began to change american society after the war

state constitutions• After British rule, many Americans insisted

that each state have its own written constitution that placed limits on the government’s power. Virginia’s constitution of 1776, New York’s constitution of 1777, and Massachusetts’s constitution of 1780 all established governments in which the governor and members of the senate and the assembly would be elected. By the 1790s, most of the other states had created similar institutions.

john adams worried, with others, that democracy could endanger a republican

government and lead to tyranny.

When adams used the word democracy, he meant a society where the majority rules.

He and other founders feared that in a pure democracy, minority groups would not have

their rights protected.

for example, the poor might vote to take everything away from the rich

Adams argued a government needed “checks & Balances” to prevent any group in society from becoming too strong

he also thought there should be a separation of powers

Expansion of Voting Rights The experience of fighting beside people from

every social class and region increased Americans’ belief in equality. Almost all of the new state

constitutions eased up voting restrictions for men. In many states even white males without property could vote, as long as they paid taxes. However,

the right to run for elective office was still

limited in most states to those who owned a certain

amount of property.

Freedom of religion• Many Americans wanted to prevent a government-

backed church from forcing people to worship in a certain way. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom made it illegal for Virginia to collect taxes for churches and declared that Virginia could have no official church. Many states also added a bill of rights to their constitutions.

• Virginia’s Declaration of Rights guaranteed Virginians freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and the right to a trial by jury of his or her peers.

Thomas jefferson• In virginia, baptists led a

movement to abolish taxes collected to support the anglican church

• t.j. wrote the virginia statute for religious freedom, which was enacted in 1786

• “[N]o man shall be compelled to...support any religious worship, place or ministry...nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess...their opinions in matters of religion.”

Women in the war• Women often ran businesses and farms to

enable their husbands, brothers, and sons to serve as soldiers. Women in frontier settlements sometimes had to defend their farms and homes against Loyalist militias or Native Americans in the employ of the British. Some women became soldiers, unofficially, but that was rare. Women regularly traveled, serving as nurses and doing the men’s cooking and washing. Women also carried messages back and forth among military leaders.

Mary hays “Molly pitcher”

Sybil Ludington

As Americans began to consider more closely what their revolutionary ideals implied, women made some advances.

After the Revolution, women gained greater access to education. The

number of schools for girls rose, and more women became literate. As women became educated, states

granted them more control over their lives, which included increasing—to a

limited and variable extent—their property rights. After the war, women

could also more easily obtain a divorce.

Emancipation in MassachusettsTwo early legal tests for the new Massachusetts state

constitution did not abolish slavery, but demonstrated that the Massachusetts courts would not support the institution.

Elizabeth Freeman (c. 1742–1829)

• Elizabeth Freeman, later called Mumbet, began life as an enslaved African American. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy western Massachusetts lawyer and businessman. The family called her Betty or Bett. For nearly 40 years, Bet worked for the Ashley family. One day, Ashley’s wife tried to strike Bett’s sister with a shovel. Bett intervened and took the blow instead. Furious, Bett stormed out of the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to force her to return, Bett consulted with a local lawyer named Thomas Sedgewick. With his help, Bett sued for her freedom.

• While serving the Ashleys, Bett had listened to many discussions about the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought that should apply to her. In 1781 a jury agreed, and Bett won her freedom—and took Freeman as her last name. Elizabeth Freeman was the first enslaved person in Massachusetts to gain freedom under the new constitution. Her case helped to end slavery in Massachusetts.

Quock Walker (1753–?)• Between 1781 and 1783, an enslaved Massachusetts

man named Quock Walker also took the extraordinary step, in a series of cases, of suing a white man who had assaulted him. That man, Nathaniel Jennison, also claimed to own Walker, who had escaped from Jennison’s farm after a severe beating. Given the times, this was a bold step, but Walker believed, as Freeman did, that the law was on his side. Massachusetts’s new constitution referred to the “inherent liberty” of all men. The judge, Chief Justice William Cushing, agreed and found in his favor. “Our [state] Constitution,” Cushing said, “set out with declaring that all men are born free and equal . . . and in short is totally repugnant to the idea of [people] being born slaves. This being the case, I think the idea of slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution.”