US History survey

government for the new nationresults of Revolutionary War

Articles of Confederation, 1777

• first written constitution.• guaranteed sovereignty of states.• created a national government, but most powers to states.• disagreement over W land claims -- should land be ceded to national government?• ratified by all 13 in 1781.• Continental Congress acted as though Articles passed.

finances of Continental Congress under Articles of Confederation

• no direct taxes on individuals.• could apportion taxes among states.• Congress financed revolution by– grants & loans from friendly countries.– issuing paper money – Continentals.

Treaty of Paris, 1783• recognition of

independence.• withdrawal of British forces.• fish in N Atlantic.• goal: as much terri- tory as possible.• negotiations with French & Spanish.• Mississippi River access.

continental results, 1783

stay tuned

• other revolutions and wars rapidly changed Americans lives and borders of the US in years after the Revolution.– French Revolution, 1789 – 1799.– Haitian slave revolution – St. Domingue, 1791 –

1804. – Napoleonic wars in Europe, 1799 – 1815.

• America remained connected to Europe & Caribbean.

results of Revolution

• army officers wanted to collect life pensions as bonuses from Congress.

• possible military coup.• Washington resigned as general; could have become military dictator.• established principle of military subordination

to civil authority.

results of Revolution

• the West and Indians – more settlers.• African Americans – mixed results, depending

on area of country. • politics• finances• inadequacy of Confederation led to

Constitution.• Bill of Rights.

the West

• British abandoned Indian allies.• during & after war, settlers migrated over mountains & down Ohio River valley. • Confederation Congress created method for

Western territories to become states equal to original 13.

• surveyed & auctioned public lands seized from Indians.

• Congress sold 1.5 million acres to Ohio Company.

Northwest Ordinance, 1787

• 3 to 5 states to be created & admitted to nation as equals.

• slavery prohibited north of Ohio River.• president of Ohio Company chosen governor.• creation of land system & system to become

states was the major accomplishment of Confederation government.

result

• additional lands

African Americans

• some slaves were freed, by multiple methods– fighting for Patriots, Loyalists, British. – running away. – manumission. – purchasing selves, families, friends.

• free people of color became primarily urban.• slow demise of slavery in North.• rapid expansion of slavery in South, especially

lower South & lower Mississippi Valley.

Northern states

• all N states legislated abolition of slavery, but slaveholders resisted, created new ways to retain labor.

• middle states very slowly emancipated enslaved. • free people of color became more urban, slaves more

rural. • free people of color created institutions

– churches, schools, fraternal organizations– named them “African.”

• free people of color– changed names, found own jobs, took own residences.– developed class differences, between respectable & not.

“African” churchesPhiladelphia

Upper South

• many slaves fled, including “property” of founding fathers.

• planters condemned slave trade; saw slavery as necessary evil.

• tobacco ceased to be dominant crop; mixed farming.

• mostly rural; free people & enslaved very intertwined, unlike North. More Af-Am unity.

• excess slaves, so some sold farther south.

sale of slaves from upper to lower South

Lower South & lower Mississippi Valley

• planters pushed to reopen slave trade w Africa. • rapid expansion of slavery, from lower South

moving west, from Gulf Coast moving north. • new crops: cotton in SC & GA, expanded into back

country. Sugar in Louisiana. • violence toward slaves increased. • development of 3-caste society: white, slaves, and

mixed race free people. Free people identified with slaveholders, Euro-American culture.

New Orleans

politics

• new state legislatures included more rural & western men: farmers & artisans, as well as lawyers, merchants, large landowners.

• varied state constitutions, with democratic & conservative elements.

• Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776 (precedent to Bill of Rights) – George Mason.

• states abolished entail & primogeniture (1st son inherits all).

politics

• Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom – Jefferson, Virginia – to remove established church (supported & funded by state government).

finances

• British blockade resulted in inflation during Revolutionary War.

• depression after war. • huge debt from war. Merchants & speculators

wanted to have loans repaid in full. • average farmers had no cash. • Britain remained major trading partner.

Shay’s Rebellion, 1786

• western Massachusetts. • farmers closed courts where debtors were being sued.• conservative nationalists unhappy states had so much power; believed there was too much democracy.

next week

• the Constitution & its compromises• Federalist Papers

• student evaluations of class.