CHAPTER 6
Securing Independence, Defining Nationhood, 1776-1788
1. What factors enabled the Americans to defeat the
British in the American Revolution?
2. How did the Revolution affect relationships
among Americans of different classes, races, and
genders?
3. What political concerns were reflected in the first
state constitutions and Articles of Confederation?
4. What were the principal issues dividing
proponents and opponents of the new federal
Constitution?
The Prospects of War
Loyalists and Other British Sympathizers
Loyalists/Tories:
20%
Patriots/Whigs:
80%
Slaves:
20,000 to the British
Slaves:
5,000 fought for the patriots
Indians:
Most sided with the
British
Indians:
A few sided with the
patriots
The Prospects of War
The Opposing Sides
BRITAIN
1.
11 million people
1. Had to pay for it all
2.
Largest navy in the world
2. Had to transport it all
3.
Exceptional army
4.
Hessians and Loyalists
3. Over doubled the debt to
people already paying
record taxes
4. Had to defeat the
colonists
5. No formidable allies
The Prospects of War
The Opposing Sides
COLONIES
1.
“Home Field” advantage
2.
220,000 troops (to the British
162,000
European allies (later)
3.
4.
They didn’t have to win the
war – just outlast the British
1. 2.5 million people (1/3
were slaves or loyalists)
2. Untrained army/militia
3. Most Indians fought
with the British
4. Inexperienced officers
(except for George
Washington)
5. Short-term service
War and Peace, 1776-1783
Shifting Fortunes in the North, 1776-1778
Things were going fairly well for the Brits until…
October, 1777 – The Battle of Saratoga
• Convinced the French that the colonists could
win and they declared war against Britain
• Spain joined in 1779
• Netherlands joined in 1780
Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben whipped the Continental
Army into a formidable fighting force
Von Steuben Day parades are held every year. Ferris Beuller
went to the one in Chicago on his “day off”.
War and Peace, 1776-1783
The War in the West, 1776-1782
The colonists and the Native Americans
pretty much continued their skirmishes from
before the war
Nothing too memorable for AP purposes
except that many Indians were killed, making
it that much easier for the whites to conquer
them later
War and Peace, 1776-1783
Victory in the South, 1778-1781
October 19, 1781 – British General Cornwallis surrendered after being trapped
by G. Washington from the North and the French from the sea. This all but
ended the war.
So, in summary…
War and Peace, 1776-1783
Peace at Last, 1782-1783
Treaty of Paris (again) of 1783
• Britain recognized American independence
• Britain promised to remove all troops
• American got all land east of the Mississippi
• Spain received Florida
• Indians weren’t mentioned in the treaty
Both sides didn’t follow the treaty:
British didn’t remove troops/forts or return slaves
Americans didn’t repay British creditors, compensate loyalists
Many loyalists and slaves fled to Canada, Britain, or the West Indies
The Revolution and Social Change
Egalitarianism Among White Men
After the Revolution, white men with
property began to treat each other
with a more-mutual respect
The Revolution and Social Change
White Women in Wartime
Although during the war women were awesome and essential to winning the
war by taking over the “men’s work”…
after the war it was back to the
status quo
“All men are created equal”
apparently didn’t apply to
women… of any color
The Revolution and Social Change
A Revolution for African-Americans
Gradual emancipation started to take place in the North
However, free blacks were still very much second-class citizens without much
chance of real success
“All men are created equal” and slavery didn’t sit well with a lot of Americans,
so slavery actually looked as if it was going to fade away, but… (stay tuned for
more in the next few chapters)
The Revolution and Social Change
Native Americans and the Revolution
Native Americans suffered
more than any other group
after the war
Many of them were either
killed or their land was
taken from them
A few assimilated into white
American culture
Forging New Governments, 1776-1787
From Colonies to States
State governments usually kept a bicameral system and property requirements
to vote
The new state constitutions were
written down and included bills
of rights
At first the legislative branch had more power and the executive branch had
less, but the rich folks saw to it that that didn’t last for more than a couple of
decades
Forging New Governments, 1776-1787
Formalizing a Confederation, 1776-1781
The Articles of Confederation – written in 1776 – finally ratified in 1781
It was purposely written to create a weak national government (with the power
going to the states)
• One branch (legislative) with each state getting one vote
• No national army
• No required taxes
• No chief executive
• No judicial system
• Needed 9/13 states to
create a law
• Needed 13/13 states to
create an amendment
Forging New Governments, 1776-1787
Finance, Trade, and the Economy, 1781-1786
The Revolutionary War cost $160 million
The US couldn’t raise that money via taxes
(thanks to the rules stated in the Articles of
Confederation)
The US currency (The Continental)
depreciated by 98%
Forging New Governments, 1776-1787
The Confederation and the West
The Land Ordinance of 1785
This laid out how
land would be
surveyed into 36
sections
This was one of
the two ‘successes’
of the Articles of
Confederation
Forging New Governments, 1776-1787
The Confederation and the West
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
This laid out how new states
would be created in the land
called the NW Territory
No slaves in new territories
Britain still had forts in the NW
Territory and helped Indians
harass the Americans
Spain closed off New Orleans to
the Americans
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
Shays’s Rebellion
In 1786-1787 Daniel Shays led some angry farmers to raid a federal arsenal in
Springfield, MA. They were upset with the MA government’s severe taxes.
The rebellion itself isn’t what you
should focus on…
the real significance is what it led to…
The rebellion showed that we needed a
much stronger national government and so
the Philadelphia Convention happens (after
meeting in Annapolis) – we create the
Constitution – all because of some
ticked-off farmers!
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
The Philadelphia Convention, 1787
May 25, 1787 – September 17, 1787
55 Delegates from all states but Rhode Island
Biggest hurdle = how to represent states in Congress
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
The Philadelphia Convention, 1787
The national government got a lot more powerful while the states lost
a lot of power to the new “supreme law of the land”
However, the
separation of powers,
checks and balances,
and federalism all
limit the government
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
The Philadelphia Convention, 1787
The Preamble to the Constitution
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
The Philadelphia Convention, 1787
Slavery and the Constitution
• Can’t interfere with the international slave trade for 20 years (until 1808)
• Can’t prevent escaped slaves from being returned to their owners
• Slaves count as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes
Every 30,000 citizens = 1 representative
So, every 50,000 slaves = 1 representative
Toward a New Constitution, 1786-1788
The Struggle Over Ratification, 1787-1788
• Constitution written:
1787
• Constitution ratified:
1788
• Government commenced
operations under the
Constitution:
1789