How Revolutionary was the
American Revolution?
• Revolution = Major change
• What changes, what stays the same?
• CHOOSE A LOCATION IN THE ROOM –
DEPENDING ON HOW YOU FEEL IN REGARDS
TO THIS STATEMENT:
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BROUGHT MAJOR
CHANGES TO AMERICA
Ideals v. Reality
• Ideals of…
– Equality
– Freedom
– Republicanism
• Reality of…
– “white” elite male power structure (WASPs)
– legalized slavery
– Women, African-American, Native-Americans
denied rights
Think about it..
• Who makes the decisions in our school?
• How would decisions be made without a
central governing body?
• In other words, what if every homeroom had
the right to make their own rules?
Benefits? Drawbacks?
Constitution
• What is a Constitution?
• What is the difference between our Declaration of
Independence and our Constitution?
• CONSTITUTION:
– document that sets out the laws, principles, organization,
and processes of a government
– Spells out the rights of citizens
– Limits the power of government
• The Constitution is the HIGHEST LAW OF THE LAND
1st steps in setting up the New
Government…
• States wrote their own constitutions
• Some states included a Bill of Rights – list of
freedoms people were guaranteed
• Varied state to state
• There was a need for a central or federal
government with its own constitution
– Why?
1st attempt at a Federal Constitution:
Articles of Confederation
• Fear of strong central government – why?
• Articles had no chief executive (President), a weak
legislature (law making body), states printed their own
currency ($) which caused confusion, no ability to solve
problems between states, no power to tax, other
nations take advantage (British keep troops in country,
port of New Orleans closes down)
• Main problem – weak central government, states had
all the power
• Think back – what if homerooms had more power than
the office?
• Or if states today had more power than the federal
government? What could happen?
States vs Federal Government
New States
• New territories divided into townships –
sections sold by Congress to new settlers
• Once territory had population of at least
60,000 free settlers they could apply for
statehood
Shay’s Rebellion
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEoeK5M
vEdY
Bell Ringer – What does this quote
imply about Washington’s position on
the Articles of Confederation?
“I predict the worst consequences
from a half-starved, limping
government, always moving upon
crutches and tottering at every step”
- George Washington
What happened?
• Farmers hit hard by depression that
followed the war – could not pay back loans
or new taxes
• Courts were taking farms as payment and
angry farmers united under Shays’ leadership
• Over 1,000 farmers revolt, attacking
courthouses and tax collectors
• Massachusetts militia eventually drives them off
• 3 were hanged, hundreds were pardoned
** Many saw this revolt as proof that the Articles
needed to be revised**
CONVENTION MEETS BACK IN
PHILADELPHIA in MAY 1787
Mission : Revise the Articles of
Confederation