Treaty of Paris, and Life
under the
Confederation:
Post-Independence
Political Institutions and
Social History.
Quick Review:

I. Contrasting interpretations of Revolution and
early Independence
A. Neo-conservatives
1.
Pragmatic understanding – revolution as
evolution
2. Ideological - Was Revolution (Wood)
B.
New Left and Progressives focus on
conflict
1.
Zinn will assume this mantle
a. Other New Left were more nuanced
2. Charles Beard– Revolutionary insurgents
aligned with moneyed interests
Revolutionary Interlude, Part 1

IV. A. Thomas Paine
 1.
Recent Immigrant (1774)
a.
 2.
Independence advocate
Common Sense – THE best seller
a.
Natural rights
b.
Republicanism vs. deference
c.
Actual vs. virtual representation
d.
Ending deference and aristocracy
A.
Modified into meritocracy
Revolutionary Interlude, Part 2

IV.B. Loyalism vs. Insurgents
1. Loyalists
a. Many were wealthy (So were FF)
b. Anglicans, and some Quakers (NY and
PA)
c. Helped found Anglo-Canada
d. 80k pretty much expelled; 200k
remain
e. 50k in UK Army
D. No centralized leadership
Revolutionary Interlude, Part 3


IV.B.2. Insurgents
a.
Many in New England and Virginia
b.
Congregationalism (post-Puritans)
c.
As much as 1/3rd-40%
IV.C.
 1.
13 colonies have home-field advantage
 2.
Third-tier generals for UK
 3.
UK has navy and mercenaries
 4.
US has to wear UK down
Treaty of Paris (1783)
 (II)
B. Treaty Provisions
 1.
American independence
 2.
Spain regains Florida (St. Augustine and
Pensacola)
 a.
Seminoles, and Creeks affected
 3.
US gets all land to Mississippi River, excluding
Florida
 a.
This affects relations with the Choctaws,
Creeks, and Cherokees
 4.
US must safeguard and return Loyalist property
 1.
Affects the Maritimes and the lives of
property on the move.
 5.
Britain must destroy forts on US territory
II. A Post-Revolutionary Society, Part 1
 1.
Social Status
 a. Legal end of Primogeniture
 i. Slavery
 b. Western US loses property qualifications for
voting
 2. Slavery
 a.
“Withering away” of slavery in North, but
slow
 b. Mainly, economic reasons
 c. Quakers
 3.
Rights for women
 a. Couverture/coverture remains
 b. Republican Motherhood
II. A Post-Revolutionary Society, Part 2
4. Separation of church and state
a. State-run Congregationalism
remains in New England
b. Anglican Church dissolved in
South
c. Forms Episcopalians
i. Partial result of pushback
from Great Awakening, new
Baptists
III. Creating a New Government: The Articles
of Confederation, the States, and the
Conservatism of the Constitution
 A.
Problem: Provisionality of Second Continental
Congress
 1. Gov’t by committee
 2. New compact necessary
 i. Slavery
 B. States ordered to create new governments
 1. Some had during the Revolution
 a. Revolutionary state gov’ts often
revolutionary
 2. Locke
 3. Massachusetts – 1780 Constitution - Oldest
III. Articles (cont’d)
 C.
Continental Congress
1.
Temporary
2.
Funding via bonds and short-term paper
3.
Disagreements about state boundaries in
West
a.
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
Connecticut?
b.
Dueling speculators
a.
Prevents despotism
4.
Short-term legitimacy
Articles of Confederation
 D.
Articles of Confederation (1777- 1781 (1787))
 1.
New compact between states, led by a Congress
 a.
Can raise army
 b.
Can declare war
 c.
Sighs treaties
 2.
No executive
 3.
All states are sovereign
 a.
Prevents despotism
 b.
All states, regardless of population, have
equal votes
 c.
9/13 needed to pass laws
 d.
Unanimity necessary to pass amendments
Articles of Confederation, Weaknesses, 1
 E.
Weaknesses of Articles
1.
Financial
a.
Cannot raise taxes
b.
Can raise army
c.
Cannot regulate tariffs or trade
d.
Signs treaties
2.
Laws
a.
b.
Cannot enforce law (States do it)
No national court system to review
laws
Articles of Confederation, Weaknesses, 2
E.
3.
All states are sovereign
a.
Prevents despotism
4.
Sovereignty of states and voting
system
a.
What to do if states conflict
b.
Can’t change laws/9/13 votes
necessary
c.
foreign states and trade
Articles of Confederation, Strengths, 1
 F.
LAND !!!
1.
Land Ordinance 1785 (Directed towards
West)
a.
In footsteps of Washington
b.
Survey territory and divide into plots
c.
Townships are six square miles
i.
6 by 6 = 36 sections
ii.
1 for public school,
d.
speculation
i.
Government sells land to
speculators for budget
Articles of Confederation, Strengths, 2
F.
LAND !!!
2.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
a.
North of Ohio (Ohio, Illinois, and
Indiana)
b.
Northwest is one territory
c.
Creates procedure for statehood
d.
New States (3-6) will have same
rights and responsibilities as
original
e.
No slaves north of Ohio River
Articles of Confederation, Strengths, 3
Rethinking
a.
idea of “empty land”
Problems
i.
Markets as social creations
ii.
Markets and property as cultural
and social, not natural
iii.
Land created as commodity in
part through government
iv.
Locke - “Improvement” – vs.
“empty land”
b.
US Government as intermediary,
planner, and supplier of capital and
infrastructure