The Confederation And The Constitution, 1776-1790

Chapter 9
The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776–1790

CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: The American Revolution was not a radical transformation like the French or Russian revolutions, but it did produce political innovations and some social change in the direction of greater equality and democracy.
Theme: Compromise on a number of important issues was required in order to create the new federal Constitution. Adopting the new document required great political skill and involved changing the ratification process defined in the Articles of Confederation, writing persuasively in support of the stronger central government, and promising to add amendments to protect individual liberty and states' rights.
Theme: The federal Constitution represented a moderately conservative reaction against the
democratic and decentralizing effects of the Revolution and the Articles of Confederation. In effect, it embedded the revolutionary ideals of liberty and popular government within a strong framework designed to advance national identity and interests against the dangers of fragmentation and disorder.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The American Revolution did not overturn the social order, but it did produce substantial changes in social customs, political institutions, and ideas about society and government. Among the changes were the separation of church and state in some places, the abolition of slavery in the North, written political constitutions, and a shift in political power from the eastern seaboard toward the frontier.
The first weak national government, the Articles of Confederation, was unable to exercise real authority, although it did successfully deal with the western lands issue. The Confederation’s weaknesses in handling foreign policy, commerce and the Shays rebellion spurred the movement to alter the Articles.
Instead of revising the Articles, the well-off delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a permanent charter for a whole new government. In a series of compromises, the convention produced a plan that provided for a vigorous central government, a strong executive, and protection for property, while still upholding republican principles and states’ rights. The pro-Constitution Federalists, generally representing wealthier and more commercial forces, frightened other groups who feared that the new government would undermine their rights and their interests.
The Federalists met their strongest opposition from Anti-Federalists in Virginia and New York, but through effective organization and argument, as well as promises to incorporate a bill of rights into the document, they succeeded in getting the Constitution ratified. By establishing the new national government, the Federalists checked the Revolutionary movement, but their conservative regime embraced the central Revolutionary values of popular republican government and liberty.

1. Egalitarianism
2. Society of the Cincinnati
3. Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom
4. Abigail Adams
5. Civic Virtue
6. Republican Motherhood
7. Natural Rights
8. Fundamental Law
9. Navigation Laws
10. Empress of China
11. Profiteering
12. Second Continental Congress
13. Articles of Confederation
14. Old Northwest
15. Land Ordinance of 1785
16. Northwest Ordinance of 1787
17. North African Pirates
18. Shays’s Rebellion
19. Democratic Despotism
20. Constitutional Convention
21. Alexander Hamilton
22. George Washington
23. Benjamin Franklin
24. James Madison
25. Constitutional Delegates
26. VA Plan
27. NJ Plan
28. Great Compromise
29. Electoral College
30. Three-Fifths Compromise
31. Common Law
32. Bicameral Legislature
33. Checks and Balances
34. Senators
35. Electors
36. Federalists
37. Antifederalists
38. Gilded Trap
39. Bill of Rights
40. The Federalist
41. John Jay
42. Alexander Hamilton
43. James Madison

SECTION QUESTIONS

The Pursuit of Equality
What social changes resulted from the American Revolution?
How did the relationship between Church and Government change?
How did attitudes toward slavery change?
How did attitudes toward women change?
Constitution Making in the States
What was the importance of the state constitutions?
What did the State Constitutions have in common?
How did the State Constitutions reflect new democratic feelings?
Economic Crosscurrents
What were the positive and negative effects of the war on America in economic terms?
A Shaky Start toward Union
Why was the end of the war difficult on the national government?
Creating a Confederation
What forces served to unify the separate states during the war?
What served as conflict between the states under the Articles of Confederation?
The Articles of Confederation: America's First Constitution
What weaknesses plagued the Articles of Confederation? What was good about it?
Why were the Articles a “Landmark in government?”
Landmarks in Land Laws
Explain the importance of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance.
The World's Ugly Duckling
Using examples, explain the title of this section.
The Horrid Specter of Anarchy
Were the United States of America in danger of falling apart under the Articles of Confederation? Explain why people of the time might have thought so. (note the “were”; in this period, the country always was referred to in the plural, as in “These United States”, not “The United States”)
A Convention of "Demigods"
What kind of men gathered in Philadelphia for the "sole and express purpose of revising" the old government?
What was the original goal of the Constitutional Convention?
Why might it have been called a Convention of “Demigods?”
Who were notably absent from the convention? How might their absence have affected the final outcome?
Patriots in Philadelphia
How might you describe the “typical” delegate to the Constitution?
How does George Washington's quote, "We have, probably, had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation." help to explain the purposes of our founding fathers.
Hammering out a Bundle of Compromises
Describe the compromises that were achieved by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
How did sectional conflicts (north v south; big v small; east v west) shape the final design of the Constitution.
Safeguards for Conservatism
How democratic was the Constitution as originally written?
The Clash of Federalists and Anti-federalists
Who were the anti-federalists and why did they oppose the Constitution?
The Great Debate in the States
Did most of the states approve of the Constitution? Why?
What issues kept some states from immediate approval?
The Four Laggard States
Explain some of the opposition to ratification of the Constitution?
A Conservative Triumph
What does your text mean when it says that the Constitution, "...elevated the ideals of the Revolution even while setting boundaries to them."?
Analysis Questions

1. Which of the social changes brought about by the Revolution was the most significant?
Quote: “The people assembled in arms…return for answer that, however unjustifiable the measure may be which the people have adopted in recourse to arms, various circumstances have induced them thereto.…That virtue which truly characterizes the citizens of a republican government hath hitherto marked our plans with a degree of innocence, and we wish and trust it will still be the case.” Daniel Shays (1747–1825) (Reply to Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s demand for surrender, 1787)

2. Was the United States in a crisis under the Articles of Confederation, or was the “crisis” exaggerated by the Federalists to justify their movement?
3. Why was the United States so uniformly held in contempt by European governments after the Revolution?
4. What would have happened to the Constitutional Convention if Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry all
attended?
5. Should the Founding Fathers’ general elitism and indifference to the rights of people, women, African Americans, and Indians be held against them?
Quote: “Hearken not to the unnatural voice which tells you that the people of America, knit together as they are by so many cords of affection, can no longer…be fellow-citizens of one great, respectable, and flourishing empire, Hearken not to the voice which petulantly tells you that the form of government recommended for your adoption is a novelty in the political world.…If novelties are to be shunned, believe me, the most alarming of all novelties, the most wild of all projects, the most rash of all attempts, is that of rending us in pieces, in order to preserve our liberties and promote our happiness.” James Madison (1750–1836) (Federalist No. 14, 1788)

6. What was really at stake in the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists?
Quote: “It is now confessed that this is a national government.…The means, says the gentleman, must be commensurate to the end. How does this apply? All things in common are left with this government. There being an infinitude in the government, there must be an infinitude of means to carry it out.” Patrick Henry (1736–1799) (Virginia debate on the Constitution, 1788)

7. Why did Americans accept the Constitution with its strong national government and powerful executive after only a decade earlier violently revolting against similar British institutions?
8. How would the United States and its government would be different if the Articles of Confederation had remained the national government.
9. What evidence is there for the assertion that the basic principles of the Constitution were firmly grounded in the political and religious experience of America’s colonial and revolutionary periods? (84)
10. The Bill of Rights did not come from a desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution, but rather from a fear of the powers of the new federal government. Assess the validity of the statement. (91)
11. Analyze the degree to which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form of government with respect to any TWO of the following: Foreign relations Economic conditions Western lands ( 96)
12. Analyze the extent to which the American Revolution represented a radical alteration in American political ideas and institutions. Confine your answer to the period 1775 to 1800. (97)
13. Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation. (03)
14. To what extent was the United States Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation? (05 B)
15. “The United States Constitution of 1787 represented an economic and ideological victory for the traditional American political elite.” Assess the validity of that statement for the period 1781 to 1787. (06B)
16. Analyze the reasons for the Ant-Federalists’ opposition to ratifying the Constitution. (08B)

HISTORIC NOTES

• As a consequence of the American Revolution, Americans begin to rethink their views regarding the separation of church and state as well as the future of slavery in a democratic republic.
• The American economy is profoundly affected by the war, a situation aggravated by the absence of a governmental structure that could address the nation’s economic and judicial requirements.
• The first government, the Articles of Confederation, fails to deal adequately with the problems facing the new nation. Social tensions stimulate the demand for a stronger central government, one with the power and authority to suppress domestic disturbances such as the Shays’ Rebellion.
• The Antecedents of the United States Constitution can be found in the political ideas, theories, and concepts associated with the state constitutions.
• The U.S. Constitution is ratified and replaces the Articles of Confederation, but not before advocates and opponents of a strong central government do political battle on the state level.
• Despite inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation, the government did address a significant problem associated with disputed land claims by posing the Northwest Ordinance. The government was unable, however, to prevent British and Spanish encroachments and influences in the west.
• Because of the opposition of the antifederalists, the Constitution extended certain delegated powers to the federal government while reserving important powers to the states. Further, a Bill of Rights was later added. Advanced Placement United States History Topic Outline
4. The American Revolutionary Era, 1754-1789
A. The French and Indian War
B. The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain
C. The War for Independence
D. State constitutions and the Articles of Confederation
E. The federal Constitution