New Nation

• 3 Types of Republic– 1. Small in size and homogeneous– Willing to give up personal gain for the best for all

citizens ( Social Contract Theory)– 2. Bases on Economics– As an individual increased his own wealth, thereto

would the society benefit– 3. Believed that everyone should have a say in

Government– Government should ask common folk what they wanted

Virtues and the Arts

• In the early years of the country government and people were trying to keep a working man’s mentality.

• Luxury items were wrong, even the art was portraits of hard working Americans

• Mason Locke Weem’s “Life of Washington” – created a 6 year old Washington that cut down a cherry tree and could not lie about it.

• This tried to promote the new nation to take on Washington virtues and patriotism

Public Education

• 1. Some states were using state taxing to fund education for elementary schools

• 1789 Massachusetts was among first for public education

• 2. States saw the importance of teaching girls as well as boy– Girls – they needed to raise the future of America)

Women’s Role

• Judith Sargent Murray – believed that men and women should be treated as equal in education

• Believed that women should be taught to be independent of men

• Abigail Adams (wife of John Adams)- wrote here husband a letter in 1776 to remember the women when he was writing the new government

Women and Slavery

• New Jersey wrote in their State constitution that “all inhabitants” of New Jersey had the right to vote

• Therefor unintentionally giving women and free African Americans the right to vote. (oops)

• Many northern states gradually banned slavery after the war – know as the First Emancipation

• 1777 – Vermont first state to ban slavery• 1799 - New York freed children born into slavery

but not till they turned 20

Slavery

• Even though slaves were freed, they were not equal.

• Many laws increased discrimination • Blacks were not allowed to testify against

whites in courts• African Americans needed to start to form

their own school, churches and stores.

Theory of Racism

• Thomas Jefferson “blacks ere inferior to whites in the endowments both of body and mind” Notes to Virginia - 1781

• However he was an advocate of emancipation.• Jefferson believed that African Americans should

leave Virginia and start their own colony. • White males feared that Black men desired

White women, but yet mad no mention of White man’s desire of Black women

Designing a Republic Government

• Articles of Confederation – 1st Government of US

• Unicameral – legislation made up of 1 house• Each state received 2 representatives, but only

one vote• No taxing powers, No Army, US Currency

worthless• Allowed states to maintain their own

sovereignty.

State Constitutions

• States were allowed to create their own constitutions, however many states still feared leadership becoming a tyrant.

• Limited powers– Limited term limits on public office– Only a legislative– System of checks and balances in place– Lowered the qualifications of voting

Foreign Affairs

• In the beginning of our county America looked weak to foreign countries. (did not have army)

• Cheap British goods were flowing into America, not allowing US manufactures to flourish

• Spain would not allow the US to use the Mississippi River to transport goods

• British closed down trade with America in the British West Indies

Foreign Affairs

• In the Treaty of Paris of 1783, US had to pay back their pre-revolutionary war debt to England

• However with a weak Government and no army and no way of gaining money the US Government could not pay this back

• This made the US look extremely weak in the eyes of foreign nations.

The West

• Indian Relations• Indians were making treaties with other

Indians that they did not have the authority to make, over land that the US controlled

• Indians now had no choice but to deal with the US because all other nations had no authority in North America after the Treaty of Paris 1783.

The West

• Land Ordinance of 1785• US was given the land west of the Applianchian

Mts. • Land was broken into 6 mile squares with each

having 36 sections, each section having 640 acres. ( $1 per acre)

• Would not see to the poor• Lands were used to pay soldiers and others for

payments for the Revolutionary War

The West

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787• Set up ways that territories can become State

in the United States of America– Had to write a Constitution, to be approved by

Congress– Freedom of Religion– Trial by jury– No cruel and unusual punishment– Prohibited any new State to come in as a slave state

War in the Northwest

• Indians did not accept the US as having control of Indian lands, therefor treaties could not be made.

• Miami Indians kept attacking settlers in the Ohio Valley Region

• Little Turtle was the war chief that led this attacks against the western settlers.

• The Northwest Indian Wars began

War in the Northwest

• Under the Articles it was difficult for US to get enough soldiers to defeat little turtle

• Finally General Anthony Wayne defeated the Miami Confederation of Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers

• Treaty of Greenville • Allowed settlers to go North of the Ohio River• Gave Indians the territory Indiana ( which will

be taken away later)

Shay’s Rebellion

Daniel Shay was a farmer from Massachusetts that fought in the Rev. War. Like many he was promised money for fighting in the war, his lands had been foreclosed by the bank, US gov. had no money to pay such farmersShay led a rebellion of 1500 men to Springfield to capture weapons to use against the US.They were defeated, however it showed the weakness of the national government

Annapolis Convention

• Civil war almost broke out between Maryland and Virginia over border disputes

• George Washington steps in and called a meeting held Annapolis, Maryland.

• Only 5 states showed up• Because of the lack of attendance at the convention

and events like Shay’s Rebellion and Northwest Indian Wars, George Washington called a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the Articles of Confederation

Constitutional Convention

• Framers- 55 men, known as delegates were chosen to write the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia.

• They met in Independence Hall, where 11 years earlier the Declaration of Independence was signed.

• The delegates named George Washington the President of the Convention

• Only 12 States out of the 13 sent representatives. – Rhode Island did not

Constitutional Convention

• All delegates agreed to work in secret.• We know most about the convention because

of the notes of James Madison• James Madison is known as “The Father Of

the Constitution”• Delegates were sent to Philadelphia to revise

the Articles of Confederation • They all agreed to write a new Government

for the United States

New Plans for Government

• Each state was asked to create their idea for a new Government for the United States.

• Virginia Plan – this plan called for a Government with 3 separate branches of Government; Legislative, executive and judicial

Virginia Plan

• Legislative – would be made up of 2 houses • Representation in each house would be based

on population or the amount of money that each state would give the new government

• Those of the lower house would be voted in by the people

• Those of the higher house would be selected by the members of the lower house.

Virginia Plan

• Congress would choose the Executive Branch, which is the President and the Judicial Branches, which is the national court system.

• These branches would then get together and write the new constitution to the United States

• Many states believed this plan favored the larger and richer states to much

New Jersey Plan

• The New Jersey Plan also called for 3 separate but equal branches of government

• The legislative branch should be made up of a unicameral- which means one branch-

• This legislative would have equal representation – each state having 2 representatives

• The legislative would choose the executive• The executive would choose the Judicial

Great Compromise

• The Connecticut Compromise – this compromise was agreed upon by all states.

• The Legislative Branch should be made up of 2 houses called Congress

• The lower should be called the House of Representatives and should be based on population

• The upper house shall be called Senate and each state would receive 2 members no matter their size in population or financial contribution to the Government

3/5 Compromise

• This compromise said that all free people should be counted as one person

• All slaves should be counted as 3/5 of a person.

• This means for 5 slaves the south could have 3 people count for representatives for the House of Representatives and 3 people for taxation purposes

Ratifying the Constitution

• Supporters of the Constitution and its strong central government called themselves Federalists, while those more in favor of states’ rights were called Antifederalists.

• The framers of the Constitution devised it so that the Constitution could be passed by special state conventions (where the people had direct says), rather than in state legislatures (where it was more likely to be rejected by politicians fearing loss of power).

Federalist Papers

• James Madison’s answer to them came in the form of Federalist papers 10 and 51, in which he argued that the checks and balances would help and that liberty was safest in large republics, in which anyone could have support, even rebels who went against the norm.

• Basically, Madison was arguing that if people could be corrupted by office, they could also be corrupted by factional self-interests, and that was a radical argument in 1787.

Bill of Rights

• In any case, it soon became clear that a bill of rights was needed; many states approved the Constitution only after a bill of rights was promised, and even then, they passed it after much debate.

• James Madison finally introduced a set of proposals, mostly based on the Virginia bill of rights, to Congress, which passed twelve of them; ten of those twelve were passed by the states and went into effect as the first ten amendments, or the Bill of Rights, in 1791.

Ratifying the Constitution• Delaware was the first state to ratify the

constitution on June 21, 1788.• Virginia would only ratify the constitution with a

agreement of a Bill of Rights to be added later• The Constitution was approved finally on April 6th

of 1789.• At this meeting everyone there agreed to appoint

George Washington the President of the United States.

• He did not want the position but finally took the position on April 30th 1789 and became the first President of the United States