BLOODY AND DESTRUCTIVE NEIGHBOR AND FAMILY MESSY LOCALIZED FIGHT CIVIL WAR? Revolution and aftermath

BLOODY AND DESTRUCTIVE

NEIGHBOR AND FAMILY MESSY LOCALIZED FIGHT

CIVIL WAR?

Revolution and aftermath

May 1776Louis XVI aid to

rebels Secret and unofficial

Until defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga 1777

Leads to two French Treaties

1st Trade basedVery beneficial to America

2nd Recognized IndependencePerpetual alliance with USAFight against GB until independenceDisavow territorial claims

Treaties shift British attention

The Reconstitution of Authority

Intense debate in America on constitutionalism

Written constitution importantFuller expressions of popular sovereigntyPower is derived from the people

John Adams and the Separation of Powers

Thomas Paine and unicameral government

Adams responds with Thoughts on Government Mixed and balanced Separation of powers

Constitutional Conventions: “popular sovereignty in its purest form”

The Virginia Constitution

June 1776, Virginiafirst state to adopt a permanent,

republican constitutionSovereign legislature

George Mason and Virginia’s Bill of Rights

Many states adopted variations of Virginia’s model constitution

The Pennsylvania Constitution

Quaker and Proprietary Parties

Constitutional Convention 1776

“Constitutionalists”unicameral

Anti-constitutionalistsRepublicansbicameral

Massachusetts Redefines Constitutionalism

Resentment of the “River Gods”Reformation of old ways

Berkshire Constitutionalistsconvention

General Court/constitution

Confederation

John Dickinson and the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” State sovereignty and

equality Congress must

requisition money from states

Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress Assembled Thomas Burke

Ratification processAll had to agreeSlavesStalls over western land claimsApproved 3-1-1781

Effective?Jefferson/Sam Adams homeWashington armyFranklin/John Adams diplomats

The Loyalists

Many colonists were conflicted: new American union vs. part of British

empireRisks for loyalists living in American

coloniesOne-sixth of white population chose

British side of the war 19,000 men joined loyalist military units

State government banished loyalists and confiscated their property

Loyalist Refugees, Black and White

Slaves outside New England sided with Britain

British government freed thousands of slaves

Loyalists refugees, mostly to Canada 30/1000 Am. Rev. 5/1001 French Rev.

American Revolution laid groundwork for 2 Western hemisphere rivals—Canada and the U.S.A.

The Indian Struggle for Unity and Survival

Most Indians believed only hope to stop colonist’s expansion was British victory

NeutralityIroquois

MohawksJoseph Brant

ShawneesCornplanter

RacismIndian unity

George Rogers Clark

Attrition

British war weary after 1778 Not only America

British army is desperate for soldiers Recruited many Irish Catholics Resulted in Protestant violence: Gordon riots

Yorktown 1781 Cornwallis defeated

March 1782 Lord North PM resigns George III writes, never releases, abdication letter

New Government leans towards peace

Attrition weakened American forces and undermined economy

Continental soldiers left unpaid, ill-clothed, poorly fed

178016,000 on paper3,600 in reality – not enough horses to move equipment

Mutinies in New Jersey

Congress abandons wartime economic controls and restores market

Robert MorrisBank of North America

Congress still weak, no laws, only ordinances

1778John Jay & John Adams secret

negotiation with New British Government

Independence - Treaty of Paris (1783)

British recognize United States independence

Mississippi as Western boundary of United States

Access to Grand BanksPrewar debts still validCongress must urge states to restore confiscated loyalist property

Post war problemsIndians don’t accept TreatyArmy discontent

Threatened coup 1783I have great apprehensions for the union of the statesCharles Thompson

Secretary to congress

A Revolutionary Society

Independence transformed American life

Biggest winners: free householdersGained enormous benefits from

democratization of politics and chance to colonize Great West

Biggest losers: loyalists, Indians, Africans

End Tuesday

A Revolutionary Society

Religious Transformations

Anglican Church “disestablished” in Southern states George III head

Congregational church “established” in New England Performed public functions Salary paid from Taxes 1818 Connecticut 1833 Massachusetts

Office holding generally restricted to Christians or Protestants

Toleration extended to Catholics and Jews Bishop John Carroll 1790

Thomas JeffersonStatute for Religious Freedom 1779

Where as Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others

The First Emancipation

Revolutionary Era: freedom for many slaves

Some freed because of Revolutionary War

Connecticut regiment Jeffery LibertyCuff LibertyDick Freeman Jube Freeman

Massachusetts bill of rights‘Free and equal’

1781Bett Freeman

Massachusetts and New Hampshire slaves walk away to freedom

Pennsylvania 1780 first gradual

emancipation statute model for slave

emancipation in North

Manumission of slaves allowed in Virginia and Maryland

Slaves essential to plantation economy valuable asset in the South

South Carolina & GeorgiaReopen transatlantic slave trade 1790

60,000 new slaves ‘imported’ by 1808

The Challenge to Patriarchy

Reverence for elderly gave way to idealization of youth

War gave women more responsibility and power

Philadelphia Ladies Association (1780) Esther de Berdt Reed

Republican Motherhood and the spread of women’s education

New jersey 1776 -1806 right to vote

Daniel Boone and the Cumberland Gap

Postwar settlement boom

Spain and Britain fuel Indian resistance

Secessionist Movements Franklin Green Mountain Boys

The Northwest Ordinance

Land Ordinance of 1785 Surveyed and divided land into townships Ohio Company and apparent speculator

triumphNorthwest Ordinance of 1787

3-5 states equal to original 13 Congressionally appointed governor,

locally elected assembly after population of 5000

At 60,000 population, could apply for statehood

Public funded education No slavery

1780s

OverviewDifficult times (critical period)

Failing economyDebtors vs. creditorsBitter state politics

Demand to amend the Articles of Confederation

Commerce & Debt

Depression and debtAmerica in great difficulty

American Exports to Great Britain1774 - £ 1.9 million1784 - £ 750,000British imports

1784 - £ 3.7 million

Deficit caused fiscal and social problems

Trade with France could make up difference

British Navigation Acts Closed West Indies to American Shipping

States began to pay debts with paper money Often worthless

States and Debt – The Massachusetts example

Massachusetts had previous problems with paper money Didn’t want to issue more

Several states issued debt “stays”Delaying due date on debts

Massachusetts didn’t go that waySolution – High TaxesFarmers in west of state hit hardSee it as a repeat of British tyranny under new

nameLeads to Shays Rebellion 1787