CHAPTER 6: THE REPUBLICAN EXPERIMENT, 1776-1791 (#2)
The States: The Lessons of Republicanism
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old colonial charters filled with references to king and Parliament were no longer adequate
early constitutions were only provisional – but they did provide the framers of the U.S. Constitution
with insights into the strengths and weaknesses of government based on the will of the people
Blueprints for State Government
o written documents – major break with English practice
 Americans demanded that state constitutions explicitly define the rights of the people
as well as the power of their rulers
Natural Rights and the State Constitutions
o believed that there were certain natural rights that government had no control over
 wanted to define a rulers exact limits of authority
o eight state constitutions contained specific declarations of rights
 all affirmed three fundamental freedoms: religion, speech, and press
 protected citizens from unlawful searches and seizures and upheld trial by jury
 reduced the power of the governor
o would be allowed to make almost no political appointments
o state legislators closely monitored his activities he possessed no veto over their decisions
 lodged nearly all effective power in the legislature
o state constitution writers were afraid of concentrating power in the hands of a single person
 failed to appreciate that elected governors – like the representatives themselves – were
now the servants of a free people
o legislature dominated early state government
 Pennsylvania and Georgia – established a unicameral (one-house) system
 any male taxpayer could vote, making them the nation’s most democratic
 other states had bicameral legislatures – survived the Revolution because it was familiar
and because some people had already begun to suspect that certain checks on the
popular will were necessary to preserve minority rights
Power to the People
o John Adams – served as the chief architect of the governmental framework of Massachusetts
 included a house and senate, a popularly elected governor (who possessed a veto over
legislative bills) and property qualifications for officeholders as well as voters
 “We the people….” – would be echoed later in the federal Constitution
o ordinary officeholders could not be trusted to define fundamental rights
 required a convention of delegates who could legitimately claim to speak for the people
o “the People’s men” – however plain they may appear, possessed honesty and sincerity
 representative republicans
o if they or their elected officials succumbed to material temptation – they failed to comprehend
the moral dimensions of political power – or if personal liberty threatened the rights of
property, then the state constitutions were no more than worthless pieces of paper
Stumbling Toward a New National Government
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Congress gradually (reluctantly) assumed greater authority over national affairs
if independence meant anything – it implied the creation of a central authority capable of conducting
war, borrowing money, regulating trade, and negotiating treaties
Articles of Confederation
o committee to draw up a plan for confederation
o John Dickinson – envisioned the creation of a strong central government
 delegates assumed that the constitution would authorize a loose confederation of
states
 his plan placed the western territories, land claimed by the separate states, under
congressional control
 equal state representation in Congress
 recommendation that taxes be paid to Congress on the basis of a state’s total
population, black as well as white
o Articles of Confederation – bore little resemblance to Dickinson’s original plan
 jealously guarded the sovereignty of the states
 believed that the only way to preserve liberty was to place as many constraints
as possible on federal authority
 provided a government that many viewed as powerless
 a single legislative body consisting of representatives selected annually by state
legislatures
 each state possessed a single vote in Congress
 send as many as seven delegates, as few as two, but if they divided evenly on a
certain issue, the state lost its vote
 no independent executive and no veto over legislative decisions
 denied congress the power of taxation
 could obtain funds only by asking the states for contributions – requisitions
 amendments required assent by ALL thirteen states
 expected the weak national government to handle foreign relations, military matters,
Indian affairs, and interstate disputes
 did not award Congress ownership of lands west of the Appalachian mountains
Western Land: Key to the First Constitution
o vast, un-surveyed territory west of the Appalachians – everyone hoped the British would soon
surrender
o “landless” states (the small states of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) – refused to ratify
the Articles of Confederation
 appeared only fair that all states should profit from the fruits of victory from the sale of
western lands
o Virginia – agreed to cede their land if Congress nullified the land companies’ earlier purchases
from the Indians
 practically though, it Seemed impossible to govern such a large territory effectively from
Richmond
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 took three years to work out the details of the Virginia cession
o after 1781 – agreed that the West belonged not to separate states but to the United States
 the national government now exercised full sovereignty
o new government under the Articles, created the Departments of War, Foreign Affairs, and
Finance
 Robert Morris – desperately wanted to strengthen the central government
Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement
o Congressional action would bring order to western settlement and incorporate frontier
Americans into an expanding federal system
o thousands of men and women (many squatters) were pouring across the Appalachian
Mountains – Congress needed to act quickly to avoid the past errors of royal and colonial
authorities
o Jefferson – drafted an ordinance that became the basis for later, more enduring legislation
 recommended carving ten new states out of the western lands located north of the
Ohio River
 specified that each new state establish a republican form of government
 after the territories population equaled that of the smallest state already in the
Confederation – that region could apply for full statehood
 free white males could participate in local government in the meantime
o frontier represented a source of income that did not depend on the unreliable generosity of the
states
o Land Ordinance of 1785 – established an orderly process for laying out new townships and
marketing public lands
 Congress planned to auction off land at prices of not less than $1 an acre with a
minimum purchase of 640 acres
 Section 16 – was set aside for public education; the federal government reserved four
other sections for its own use
o Manasseh Cutler – a New England minister turned land speculator and congressional lobbyist
 representing the Ohio and Scioto companies – offered to purchase more than 6 million
un-surveyed acres of land located in present day southeastern Ohio by persuading
Congress to accept, at full face value, government loan certificates that had been issued
to soldiers during the Revolution
 unfortunately small homesteaders settled wherever they pleased, refusing to
pay either government or speculators for the land
o Ordinance of 1784 – placed the government of the territories in the hands of people who
congressmen and speculators had second thoughts
o Ordinance of 1787 – also called the Northwest Ordinance – provided a new structure for
government
 authorized the creation of between three and five territories, each to be ruled by a
governor, a secretary, and three judges appointed by Congress
 after the population reached 5,000 voters who owned property could elect an assembly,
but its decisions were subject to the governor’s absolute veto
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once there were 60,000 people in the territory, they could write a constitution and
petition for full statehood
 bill of rights guaranteed the settlers the right to trial by jury, freedom of religion, and
due process of law
 outlawed slavery – freed the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and
Wisconsin from the curse of human bondage
o Cumberland Gap – Daniel Boone
o one land company attempted to create a new state called Transylvania
o by 1790 – the entire region south of the Ohio River had been transformed into a crazy quilt of
claims and counterclaims that generated lawsuits for many years
Strengthening Federal Authority
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Confederation came under heavy fire from critics who wanted a stronger central government
o recovery following the Revolution was slow though
The Nationalist Critique
o sudden renewal of trade with Great Britain – strained the American economy
o many people agreed that a stronger central government could somehow have brought greater
stability to the struggling economy
 pointed out the government’s inability to regulate trade
o Congress – printed well over $200 million in paper money, but with extraordinarily high
inflation, the rate of exchange for Continental bills soon declined to a fraction of their face
value
 asked to retire the depreciated currency
 several states – not only re-circulated continental bills, but also issued nearly worthless
money of their own
o Congress - was unable to respond
 Articles specifically prohibited Congress from taxing the American people
o Confederation – would soon default on its legal obligations unless something was done quickly
o “nationalists” – called for major constitutional reforms
 primarily an amendment allowing Congress to collect a 5% tax on imported goods sold
in the states
 proposed Impost of 1781 – would be used by the Confederation to reduce the
national debt
o whoever paid the public debt would gain the public trust
 if the states assumed the responsibility, then the country could easily fragment
into separate republics
o 12 states accepted the Impost amendment – Rhode Island refused
 one negative vote and the taxing scheme was dead
o “localists” – were especially apprehensive of fiscal plans
 Morris – attempted to create a national bank
o a country with the potential of the United States required a complex, centralized fiscal system
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o a group of extreme nationalists even appealed to the army for support – Newburgh Conspiracy
of 1783
 some hoped that if the army exerted sufficient pressure on the government, maybe
even threatened a military takeover, stubborn Americans might be compelled to amend
the Articles
 Washington – confronted the officers directly at Newburgh
o April 1783 – Congress proposed a second impost, but failed to win unanimous ratification
 the nationalists gave up on the Confederation
Diplomatic Humiliation
o Congress – could not even enforce the provisions of its own peace treaty
 had promised Great Britain that its citizens could collect debts contracted before the
Revolution
o states – dragged their heels, and several even passed laws obstructing the settlement of
legitimate prewar claims
 Congress was powerless to force compliance
o British – then refused to evacuate troops from posts located in the Northwest Territory
o weak Congress could not provide soldiers for such a mission
o Spain – refused to accept the southern boundary of the United States established with the
Treaty of Paris
 claimed sovereignty over much of the land located between Georgia and the Mississippi
River
 schemed with Indian tribes in this region to resist American expansion
 Spain closed the lower Mississippi River to citizens of the United States
 Don Diego de Gardoqui – opened talks with John Jay – a New Yorker appointed by
congress to obtain rights to navigation of the Mississippi
 Gardoqui would not compromise
o Congress – terminated the negotiations with Spain
o government was struggling
 Congress met irregularly
 some states did not even bother to send delegates
 pressing issues often had to be postponed for lack of quorum
 even lacked a permanent capital