Ch 9 – The Confederation
& The Constitution
I. The Pursuit of Equality

American Revolution was not a sudden radical change.
Rather it was an accelerated evolution.

A. Social changes included:

States reduced property-based voting requirements

Common folk desired titles of “Mr.” & “Mrs.”

Employers called “boss” instead of “master”

Indentured servitude ended

Elitism is scorned (Society of Cincinnati = Continental Army officers’ exclusive club)

Primogeniture laws eliminated

Artisan/laborers trade organizations expand

Separation of Church & State pursued

Abolition of slavery movement begins (starting with Quakers in PA in 1775)

B. Complete change lacking for African-Americans and women

No state south of PA ends slavery

Free blacks discriminated against

Laws against interracial marriage

Women not granted voting rights

C. Women’s roles redefined

“Republican motherhood” (def)

New civic virtues would be cultivated by mothers’ devotion to her family

Education opportunities for women expand
II. Constitution-Making in the States

1776 – Continental Congress asks colonies to make new constitutions (thus
changing their status to potential “states”)

Americans view constitutions as contracts that define powers of gov’t

Authority derived from the people, not the King

States’ constitutions were similar:
-bill of rights
-annual elected legislators
-weak executive/judicial branches vs. strong legislative branch

Many state capitals relocated west away from seaports
III. Economic Crosscurrents

A. Land Distribution

Royal lands confiscated

Loyalist lands confiscated & broken into smaller parcels

French Revolution reaction avoided due to abundance of cheap land

B. Manufacturing

No longer dependent on British imports

Brandywine Creek (south of Philly) = waterwheels power mills

C. Commerce

British ports closed to Americans

American merchants access new markets in Europe and Asia

D. Poor Economy

War profiteering and speculation had run rampant

State gov’ts in debt

High inflation

Citizens worse off than before the war
IV. Shaky Start towards Union

A. Lack of unity

Many suspicious of authority

Conservative Tory element departed/fled

Patriots’ common cause (freedom) achieved, so what next?

B. Bad Economy

1786 – recession caused by flood of cheap British manufactured goods

Young American industries damaged

British seek both opportunity for profit and revenge