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Birth of the USA > 5. Founding the Republic, 1776-1789 > Flashcards

5. Founding the Republic, 1776-1789 Flashcards

1
Q
  1. How were the Articles of Confederation created?
A

In June of 1776, Congress created a 13 man committee (one from each state) to draw up a constitution.

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2
Q
  1. What did the Articles of Confederation propose as a system of government?
A

A congress as a central government where each state had one vote and delegations of 2 to 7 men.

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3
Q
  1. What powers did Congress have under the Articles?
A
  • Declare war.
  • Raise an army/navy
  • Borrow and issue money
  • Conclude treaties and alliances
  • Apportion expenses between states
  • Settle boundary disputes
  • Regulate Native American affairs
  • Ask for money and men from states during war
  • Set weights and measures and establish a post office
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4
Q
  1. Why was the process of ratification of the Articles so difficult?
A

Due to disputes over Western lands

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5
Q
  1. Name five economic problems that America faced after the revolutionary war?
A
  1. British blockade and leaving the mercantilist system damaged American exports
  2. Hyperinflation caused by issuing paper money
  3. Large numbers of merchant ships seized by British Navy
  4. New England fishing industry temporarily destroyed
  5. Large migration of slaves seeking British protection disrupted Southern plantations
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6
Q
  1. Why was there no attempt made to promote social equality after the revolutionary war? NO ANSWER
A
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7
Q
  1. Why was there little unification between the colonies after the revolutionary war?
A
  • Most states had fought the British to maintain their own internal affairs
  • Distrust of central authority
  • Americans thought of themselves by their states first, then as an American.
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8
Q
  1. What was taken for granted before 1775? Why did this change?
A

Slavery had been ‘taken for granted’ as a natural part of American society.
- This changed due to the revolution’s focus on human liberty and the declaration’s idea of ‘all men created equal’.

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9
Q
  1. What effect did the war have on the attitudes of Black slaves?
A
  • The presence of a free Black community within America showed a possible free future within America.
  • Increased confidence to work for freedom e.g several slaves took cases to court in MA over the 1780 constitution which declared ‘all men are free’.
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10
Q
  1. Which side, Britain or America, offered the best prospects for freedom after the war?
A
  • Britain promised ‘full security’ in the British side ‘to follow an occupation thought proper’.
  • Some ex slaves given freedom in Nova Scotia, some absorbed into British army, most resettled in the West Indies.
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11
Q
  1. What was proclaimed by General Clinton and why was it significant?
A
  • Any slaves captured on the American side would be sold.
  • Any slaves who joined the British were promised ‘full security’ in the British side ‘to follow an occupation thought proper’.
  • This gave an incentive to be a loyalist
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12
Q
  1. Why in some cases were Black slaves allowed to fight, and why did Washington end up allowing Black men to fight?
A
  • In times of crisis, New England allowed Black men to fight in militias.
  • Washington eventually allowed Black men to serve due to extreme manpower shortages.
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13
Q
  1. Who were one of the first groups to begin openly denouncing slavery?
A

Quakers

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14
Q
  1. Where was there the most opposition to slavery in 1776?
A

New England, almost no slave population and almost no economic dependence on the institution of slavery.

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15
Q
  1. What law was passed in 1783 regarding slavery?
A

Manumission laws which allowed owners to free slaves.

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16
Q
  1. What trend increased after 1783?
A

The freeing of slaves in the South, mostly children of enslaved women.

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17
Q
  1. Who banned the transatlantic slave trade? Why was this ill-motivated?
A

Virginia and Maryland in 1778 and 1783, they hoped to maintain the value of existing slaves

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18
Q
  1. Names the two policies relating to Western lands under the Articles? When were they passed?
A
  1. Land Ordinance 1785

2. Northwest Ordinance 1787

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19
Q

19b. Explain the two Western Land policies passed under the articles.

A
  1. Land Ordinance 1785: Created a surveying system for the sale of Northwest land.
  2. Northwest Ordinance 1787: Created a set of procedures for admitting new territories to statehood.
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20
Q
  1. Why was a coherent policy on Western lands needed?
A

Populations in Western territories were increasing rapidly

- There was also a fear these areas could declare independence from America

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21
Q
  1. What issues arose with foreign policy with Britain under the AOC?
A
  • Britain was still clinging to frontier forts it had promised to evacuate, blaming America’s failure to restore loyalist property.
  • Britain refused to negotiate a treaty until congress could implement the treaty on states.
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22
Q
  1. What issues arose with foreign policy with Spain under the AOC?
A
  • Jay initiated a treaty which would give up American use of the Mississippi, this alienated Western states who proposed an independent Western union.
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23
Q
  1. List some problems with the American post-war economy.
A
  • Debt to Britain, large imports and low exports
  • Specie flow outside America
  • Control over commercial matters retained by states
24
Q
  1. List some positive aspects of the American post-war economy.
A
  • Population growth from 2.75 mil to 4 mil 1780 to 1790
  • Western expansion
  • New markets available in Europe and the Far East
  • Interstate trade increased
  • British trade restrictions could be easily evaded.
25
Q
  1. How much debt did America owe in 1783? What were the two parts?
A

$41 million

  • $8 mil foriegn debt
  • $33 mil domestic debt
26
Q
  1. What happened at Newburgh over the Winter of 1782-3?
A

Soldiers, upset about lack of pay and pensions, met to make their demands.
- Possibility of a coup was diffused by Washington.

27
Q
  1. What role did Robert Morris play in the financial system from 1781?
A
  • Superintendent of finance
28
Q
  1. What was the financial situation by 1787?
A
  • National gov had requisitioned over $15 mil from states, only $2.5 mil was paid.
  • Western lands were the gov’s only source of income, but yielded $760,000 by 1788.
29
Q
  1. Why did debtors and creditors come into conflict within the states?
A
  • Debtors demanded an increase in paper money to pay their debts
  • Creditors opposed this because it would cause inflation and reduce the value of their credit.
  • Issue exacerbated by heavy state taxes.
30
Q
  1. By the late 1780s why did it seem that debtors were winning political control?
A
  • By 1787, several states were issuing paper money.
  • Rhode island was a worrying example where creditors were compelled to accept paper money, paper money depreciated quickly and creditors fled the State.
31
Q
  1. Give some examples of how the financial problems during the 1780s led to social tensions.
A
  • In September 1786, New Hampshire went back on its promise to issue paper money and hundreds of farmers threatened the assembly. 2000 militia men were called out.
  • Similar disturbances in Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia.
32
Q
  1. Why were many Americans (Like Washington) dissatisfied with the AoC by the mid 1780s?
A
  • Upset at the powerlessness of the national government in commercial and foreign affairs.
  • Creditors wanted a national government that would put an end to the issuing of paper money.
  • General fear of articles’ weakness leading to disentigration and chaos.
33
Q
  1. Give reasons for growth of national consciousness in the 1780s, and examples of it happening.
A

The war mixed different states in the army and produced national heroes and shrines.

  • Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes in 1777.
  • Bald eagle added to the Great Seal in 1782.
34
Q
  1. Give examples of men who were inspired by nationalism and wanted a unified republic that would command respect of the world.
A
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • James Madison
  • George Washington
35
Q
  1. What were the ideas of conservative nationalists?
A
  • Popular sovereignty
  • Lacked faith in general population to exercise judgement
  • Felt State governments had excess democracy
  • Favoured a strong national government where power was in the hands of wealthy and educated men.
36
Q
  1. Why did many Americans believe the AoC was working reasonably well?
A
  • The AoC won the war and gained America’s independence.
  • State governments were now more responsive to people.
  • A strong central government could replicate the British government.
  • Most people equated local self-government with personal liberty.
  • Most state governments were competent enough for the time.
37
Q
  1. What examples of interstate disharmony were there in the 1780s?
A
  • Differences in tariffs and import duties compared to other states
  • Some boundary disputes, especially that between Virginia and Maryland over the Potomac river.
38
Q
  1. Why was the Virginia and Maryland agreement of 1785 significant?
A
  • An early example of state co-operation.
  • At the meeting they also suggested further interstate collaboration on financial and customs policies.
  • Spurred James Madison to propose a national convention over commercial regulations.
39
Q
  1. What was the significance of the Annapolis meeting of 1786?
A
  • Brought together men from various states who all agreed on a need for constitutional reform.
  • The meeting also proposed the 1787 Philadelphia convention.
40
Q
  1. When and why did Congress approve the Philadelphia/Constitutional convention?
A
  • February 1787.
  • Agreed after the shock of Shay’s rebellion.
  • But ‘For the sole and express purpose of of revising the Articles of Confederation.’
41
Q
  1. What was the influence of James Madison on the Philadelphia convention in 1787?
A
  • He came to philadelphia already prepared with his lengthy memorandum on the need for a powerful national republic.
  • He circulated this among delegates.
42
Q
  1. What was the social and professional makeup of the 55 delegates at the Philadelphia Convention?
A
  • All had held public office
  • 42 had been at Continental or Confederation congresses.
  • 7 Present or former State governors.
  • 34 had legal training
  • 19 were slave owners.
43
Q
  1. Who were the key men at the 1787 convention?
A
  • Madison
  • James Wilson
  • Governor Morris
  • Washington and Franklin did not speak much but gave the meeting prestige.
44
Q
  1. Outline the Virginia Plan.
A
  • Largely Madison’s work
  • Two house legislature
  • Representation proportional to population.
  • First house elected by voters, second from the members of the first.
  • States would be reduced to administrative units, with the federal government able to veto them.
45
Q
  1. Outline the New Jersey plan.
A
  • One house with each state having one vote.

- Mere amendment of articles, but with additional congressional powers of taxation and commerce regulation.

46
Q
  1. What was the Great Compromise?
A
  • A report of the ‘Grand Committee’
  • Decided on equal representation in the upper house (Senate) and proportional rep in the lower house (House of Representatives)
47
Q
  1. How did slavery divide the North and South at the Convention?
A
  • Southern states wanted slaves to count in their populations while not counting for proportions of taxation.
  • Northern states wanted Slaves excluded for population, but included for taxation.
48
Q
  1. How was the ‘slavery issue’ resolved at the Convention?
A

Congress accepted a formula by which slaves were counted as 3/5 of a person for all purposes.

49
Q
  1. What happened on 17th of September 1787?
A

The remaining delegates of the philadelphia convention approved the constitution.

50
Q
  1. Give examples of praise for the Constitution.
A
  • Strong system of checks and balances
  • Reconciled opposing interests of small/big states, slave/free states, federal, state governments, patrician leadership/ popular sovereignty.
  • Sketch not a blueprint, left much for re-interpretation.
51
Q
  1. Give examples of criticisms of the Constitution.
A
  • Electoral college curbed direct democracy.
  • Senators weren’t directly elected, and their 6 year terms allowed some immunity from pressure.
  • Representatives covered large areas and had twice longer terms than state assemblymen.
  • Created problems that continued until Civil War.
52
Q
  1. What was necessary for the ratification of the Constitution?
A

Ratification by 9 of 13 states.

53
Q
  1. What advantages did the Federalists have in the ratification process over the Anti-federalists?
A

Their name aligned with the morals of the revolution and left anti-federalists in a negative role.

54
Q

1b. Who did the majority of the work in drafting the Articles?

A

John Dickinson

55
Q

31b. Describe the causes and events of Shay’s rebellion.

A
  • Massachusetts would not issue paper money and demanded debts in specie, Many farmers lost their land and some were imprisoned.
  • Mobs began to form and by Autumn 1786, several hundred armed men were led by Daniel Shays toward a federal arsenal.
  • The rebellion was easily put down by 1000 militia men
56
Q

45b. Who favoured the Virginia plan? Who favoured the New Jersey plan?

A

Birth of the USA (6 decks)

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