369 AP US HISTORY
AMERICA: PAST AND PRESENT
EIGHTH EDITION
CHAPTER 6: THE REPUBLICAN EXPERIMENT
Learning Targets
1. Describe the conflict among American Republicans of the 1780’s over the relative
importance of the liberty as opposed to order
2. Delineate the types and extent of the social and political changes brought by the American
Revolution
3. Describe the post-revolutionary position on slavery of both the North and the South
4. Specify the post-revolutionary changes in the expectations, rights, and roles of American
women
5. Describe the major sources and principles of the earliest American constitutions
6. Identify the major problems of western settlement and evaluate the Confederation Congress’s
response to those problems
7. Identify the major domestic and foreign-policy problems of the Confederation Congress and
the nationalists’ critique of the congressional responses
8. Explain how republican ideology contributed to the ills confronting the country in the 1780’s
and how Madison proposed to deal with those problems.
9. Trace the development of the movement for a new constitution from the Annapolis
convention through Shays’ Rebellion to the Philadelphia convention of 1787
10. Identify the major differences between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, then describe the
compromise of the issue by the delegates at the convention
11. Describe the conflict over slavery and its resolution by the delegates to the Philadelphia
convention
12. Identify the major issues separating the Federalists and Anti-federalists. Describe and
evaluation the positions taken by each
13. Trace the ratification process from the organization of the opposing sides to June 1788
14. Describe and explain the major contribution of the Anit-federalists to the Constitution
15. Explain why and how the new government protected the people from themselves
Important Terms/Names:
republicanism
Articles of Confederation
Natural rights
Land Ordinance of 1784
Land Ordinance of 1783
Land Ordinance of 1787 (Northwest
ordiance)/Localists
Nationalists
Republicans/Localists
Jay-Gardouqi Treaty
Annapolis Convention
James Madison
Madison’s Federalist #10
Shay’s Rebellion
Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans
Alexander Hamilton
Three-fifths compromise
Bill of Rights
Chapter 6 Id’s/Terms Definitions (Not all provided)
1781
Articles of Confederation
Pgs. 170 – 171
The Articles of Confederation was the first attempt at forming a new republican government for the
nation. The Second Continental Congress found itself taking over more and more authority in national
affairs, and it decided to try to make a lasting government. The Congress appointed John Dickinson, a
brilliant lawyer, to head a committee to write the Articles of confederation. Dickinson’s plan for
government didn’t match anyone else’s idea so Congress basically made their own plan. Everybody saw
power as dangerous so the articles made for a weak central government and practically independent
states. There was one legislative body in which each state had one vote. The state could send from two
to seven annually elected representatives. There was no single executive and no veto power. Finally,
Congress couldn’t tax. The only way for Congress to get money was to ask for state donations, which
often didn’t come. This would be deadly in war. Overall, the Articles of Confederation was an alliance
of independent states.
1784
Land Ordinance of 1784
Pg. 173
After the west was given to the Confederation in 1781, there were many problems along the frontier.
There were many skirmishes between frontiersmen and established farmers. The squatters were upset
because the states were not protecting them well enough from the Indians. The government had to act
quickly to avoid disaster. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson came up with the first Land Ordinance. The
ordinance made ten new territories out of the wilderness. Each territory was to establish a republican
government. When the territory had a population equal to the smallest state in the Confederation, it could
apply for statehood. While it was still a territory, all free white men cold participate in local government.
1785
Land Ordinance of 1785
Pgs. 173 – 174
The government wanted to sell the wilderness fast to have a source of income independent of state
donations. The second land ordinance set up a plan to accomplish this sale in an orderly fashion. The
ordinance provided that surveyors measure out townships running east to west, 6 miles on a side. These
units were divided into 36 sections of 640 acres. Section 16 was set aside for public education, and the
government got four other sections for its own use. The government was to auction off these lands at not
less than a dollar an acre, and the minimum one could buy was 640 acres without paper money.
1787
Land Ordinance of 1787/Localists
Pgs. 174 – 175
The eastern colonists thought that the people in the Northwest Territory were little better than savages.
This view brought about the Land Ordinance of 1787 also called the Northwest Ordinance. This
ordinance challenged Jefferson’s original plan by providing for the creation of 3-5 territories each ruled
by a governor, secretary, and three judges appointed by Congress. When the population hit 5000,
property owning voters could elect an assembly, but the governor had veto power. Once the population
hit 60,000, the territory could petition for statehood. The Northwest Ordinance also included a bill of
rights that guaranteed trial by jury, freedom of religion, due process of law, and abolition of slavery.
1781
Nationalists
Pg. 176
After the Revolution, America fell on troubled economic times. There were many reasons for this. First,
people who had wanted to buy British imports during the Revolution and couldn’t, rushed to do so.
English merchants flooded the market with easy credit, so American coin flooded back to Britain and left
Americans short. When British merchants recalled their debts, many Americans went bankrupt. Also,
the country already was in debt for the Revolution. Finally, the government couldn’t do anything because
it didn’t have the right to tax, and when it tried to print paper money, inflation made it worthless. The
nationalists (Alex Hamilton, James Madison, Robert Morris) suggested major constitutional reform to end
the economic crisis. They called for an amendment allowing congress a 5% tax on imported goods. The
tax money would go towards relieving the public debt. Also, Robert Morris tried to start a national bank,
but he failed. The nationalists realized that the U. S. would need a complex, centralized, economic
system. They were ahead of their time in thinking, but they failed in their objectives.
1776 – 1789
Republicans/Localists
Pgs. 176 – 177
Republicans were the original people who started the Revolution. The Articles of Confederation was
basically a strong republican document because many of the members of the Second Continental
Congress were republicans. The republicans placed freedom above all else. They became anti-federalists
who believed in a very weak central government with strong local government. They also believed in
individual rights like freedom of religion, speech, and press; the right to trial by jury; and due process of
law.
1786
Jay-Gardouqi Treaty
Pg. 177
The Congress was having trouble keeping control of foreign affairs as well as the economy. They
couldn’t kick the British out of the Ohio River Valley, and they failed in their dealings with Spain. After
the Treaty of Paris, Spain refused to accept the U.S.’s southern boundary. They closed down the lower
Mississippi to protest the border. This hurt the settlers economy because they needed the Mississippi to
have a cheap way to transport goods around the country. The Congress denounced Spain. In 1785, Don
Diego de Gardouqi and John Jay got together to negotiate opening up the Mississippi. Gardouqi would
not compromise so Jay took over. He said that if Spain would allow Americans merchants to trade
directly with them, the Americans would wait 25 years before using the Mississippi. When southerners
heard about Jay’s compromise, they went nuts claiming that the North was trying to ruin their economy.
The Jay-Gardouqi Treaty did not pass Congress.
1780’s
Madison’s Federalist #10
Pgs. 177 – 178
Madison’s most famous political essay was Federalist #10. In America in the 1780’s most men agreed
with Montesquieu that a republican government could not exist in a large country because the
representatives would be too far away from their constituents, lose touch with them, and become tyrants.
Madison didn’t agree with this view. He looked into the writings of David Hume and decided that a
republican government could exist in a large country because in a large state, the number of interests and
opposing sides would be so great that they would basically cancel out. No one faction would be able to
get a majority, so the people running the country would be the best the country could provide. Madison’s
idea was that the government would be responsive to the will of the people rather, but not favor one
particular group.
1786
Shay’s Rebellion
Pg. 179
In western Massachusetts, several thousand impoverished farmers seemed to be in debt, no matter how
hard they worked. They always seemed to owe money to easterners because of high taxes, high interest
rates, and an unsympathetic state government. In 1786, Daniel Shays, a veteran of Bunker Hill, led a
group of farmers to close a country courthouse where creditors were suing to foreclose farm mortgages.
The farmers then went on to Springfield, a federal arsenal, but were disbanded by state militiamen before
they got there.
1787
Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans
Pgs. 179 – 180
When the Constitutional Convention got together in May of 1787, James Madison realized that whoever
controlled the agenda would control the convention. He put together a plan for a new federal government
called the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan provided for a bicameral legislature. The lower house was
popularly elected while the upper house was chosen by the lower house from representatives nominated
by state assemblies. The number of representatives was proportional to a states population. The
Congress elected the executive. The Virginia plan was pushed through the convention extremely quickly
and passed easily. After it passed, opponents figured out what happened and put a plan of their own
called the New Jersey Plan. The New Jersey Plan was basically the Articles of Confederation all over
again. The only difference was that the Congress was given the right to tax and regulate trade. The New
Jersey Plan was listened to and rejected.
1789
Bill of Rights
Pgs. 187 – 188
The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was the lasting effect of the AntiFederalists. They didn’t get the government they wanted, but they got the guarantee of individual rights
that they believed in. Almost every state convention said that the Constitution lacked a guarantee of
individual rights and that the government could become oppressive easily. The Bill of Rights guaranteed.
1. freedom of speech, press, and religion
2. right to bear arms
3. freedom from forced quartering of soldiers
4. freedom from unwarranted search and seizure
5. right to know the charge, and freedom from double jeopardy
6. right to a speedy, public trial
7. right to trial by jury of peers
8. freedom from cruel and unusual punishments