The Constitution and Early Republic

American History to 1877

Legacies of the Revolutionary War

Birth of the nation in war

◦ Glorification of war in American memory

◦ War unifies the nation

◦ Gives the new nation a unifying mythology of its birth

◦ Veterans become powerful voice for national unity

◦ Flight of the conservatives: Loyalists flee to Canada & England

George Washington’s stunning move

◦ Steps down as commander-in-chief, returns to Mt. Vernon

◦ International symbol of virtue

◦ A national hero like no other Revolutionary figure

Republicanism: a radical ideology

Danger: factions (self-interested groups)

Characteristics which preserve republics

◦ Independence

◦ Equality

◦ Merit

◦ CIVIC VIRTUE

Republican society

End of deference to superiors

Important new role for women: “republican motherhood”

Slavery’s legitimacy undermined

◦ Slaves freed by the court in Massachusetts, 1783

◦ 1780s: Gradual abolition passed in Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York

Articles of Confederation

Creating a new nation

13 new republics

◦ Weak governors, strong legislatures

◦ Historic achievement

Articles, proposed 1776, ratified 1781

◦ Confederation of republics, as strong as any in history

◦ Each state, one vote in Congress

◦ Diplomacy, Indians, interstate disputes

◦ No executive: all ruled by committees

◦ No taxing power; requisition from states

◦ Amendments need unanimous ratification

Successes of the Articles

Winning the Revolution

Northwest Ordinance, 1787

Problems of the Articles

Out-of-control state legislatures

◦ The people tyrannizing themselves!

Shays’s Rebellion, 1786-87: Failure of virtue?

Vanishing national government

The Constitution

Annapolis, 1786

Philadelphia Convention 1787

James Madison: The Virginia Plan

Two compromises

◦ Senate & House of Representatives

◦ The three-fifths compromise

Controlling the passions of the people

An Enlightenment document

Constructing a government from scratch, by reason

A secular document

◦ God never mentioned

◦ Religion mentioned once: “no religious tests” for office

Ratification: Anti-Federalists

Republics are small

Too much like a monarchy

Nation would take over states

Ratification: Federalists

Revolutionary leaders support

Coordinated campaign

Federalist Papers

◦ The “extended republic”

◦ “Natural” aristocrats

◦ Factions under control

Bill of Rights

Creating an extended republic

George Washington

Organizing government

Alexander Hamilton

◦ Secretary of the Treasury

◦ Program, 1790-91

◦ Report on Credit

◦ Report on the Bank

◦ Report on Manufactures

◦ Strong government

◦ Whiskey Rebellion, 1794

Division

Thomas Jefferson

◦ Preserve agrarian republic

◦ Hamilton’s government too aristocratic

◦ Placemen? Offices to supporters

◦ Debt a bribe to wealthy?

Federalists and Republicans

Crisis

European War

◦ French Revolution, 1789-93

◦ Jay’s Treaty, 1795

◦ Pinckney’s Treaty, 1796

Washington’s Farewell Address, 1797

◦ No foreign entanglements

◦ “Baneful effects of party”

The United States without Washington

John Adams, 1796

Quasi War

◦ U.S. military buildup

Newspaper war

Extended republic on trial

XYZ Affair, 1798

Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798

◦ Prohibited “false, scandalous, and malicious writing” against government or President; anti-immigrant

◦ Federalist tyranny?

◦ Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions

“Revolution of 1800”

Jefferson vs. Adams again

Return to the principles of 1776

◦ Tone of simplicity

◦ Scaling government back

Federalist judiciary

◦ Political impeachment fails

◦ Chief Justice John Marshall

◦ Marbury v. Madison

An Empire for Liberty

Louisiana Purchase, 1803

◦ Lewis and Clark expedition

Renewed crisis

Republican diplomacy

◦ Britain and France at war

◦ 1806 Nonimportation Act

◦ Leopard and the Chesapeake

◦ 1807 Embargo Act

◦ 1809 Nonintercourse Act

◦ 1810 Macon’s Bill #2

Republicans go to war

Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, 1811

War of 1812

◦ June 18, 1812: war!

◦ Disasters in Canada

◦ Success at sea

◦ The British attack, 1814

◦ Washington & Baltimore

◦ Battle of Lake Champlain

◦ The Hartford Convention, 1814

◦ Treaty of Ghent, 1814

◦ Battle of New Orleans, 1815

Second War for Independence

Britain treats U.S. as an equal, independent nation

Britain begins longterm pro-U.S. foreign policy

The war raises national pride

◦ The “Generation of 1812”

Back to Hamiltonianism

◦ Second Bank of the United States, 1816

◦ Tariffs to encourage manufactures