chapter 9 Flashcards
the Continental army officers formed an exclusive hereditary order called the
society of cincinatti
virginia statue for religious freedom: created in 1786 by
Thomas Jefferson and his fellow reformers
Virginia statue for religious freedom stated that religion should not be imposed on
anybody and that each person decided his/ her own faith
the philadelphia quakers founded the first
anti-slavery society in 1775
the 1st continental congress called for the complete
abolition of the slave trade in 1774
several northern states went further and either completely abolished slavery or
provided the gradual emancipation of slaves
no states south of pennsylvania
abolished slavery
civic virtue: the idea that democracy depended on the unselfish
commitment of each citizen to the public good
republican motherhood: the idea that the mother was selflessly
devoted to her family;
republican motherhood was described as the model of a
proper republican mother
in 1776, the 2nd continental congress called the
colonies to draft new constitutions
massachusetts called a special convention to draft its
constitution and then submitted the final draft to the people
as written documents, the state constitutions were intended to represent a
fundamental law, superior to the short-lived impulses of ordinary legislation
in the revolutionary era, the capitals of New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were all
moved westward
economic democracy preceded
political democracy
after gaining its independence, the United States had limited
trade with Britain, so it had to start making more products “in-house”
the post-war economy was not very good, and many
americans were poorer after the war
shortly before declaring independence in 1776, the second continental congress appointed a committee to
draft a constitution for the nation→Articles of Confederation
Articles were adopted by Congress in 1777 and it convinced France that America had a
genuine government
the Articles of Confederation wasn’t ratified by all 18 colonies until
1781
the 13 colonies were joined together for joint action in dealing with common problems such as
foreign affairs
land ordinance of 1785: stated that the acreage of the Old Northwest should be sold and the proceeds should be
used to help pay off the national debt
northwest ordinance of 1787: a uniform national land policy; created the Northwest Territories and gave the land to the
government, the land could then be purchased by individuals
northwest ordinance (continued): when a territory had 60,000 people, it might be admitted by Congress as a
state, with all the privileges of the 13 other states
britain declined to make any commercial treaty with the colonies or to
repeal its navigation laws
lord sheffield argued in his pamphlet that britain could win back
america’s trade without repealing the navigation laws
the british remained in the americas where they maintained their
fur trade with the indians
the american states did not honor the treaty of peace in regard to
debts and loyalists
the british primarily stayed because they wanted to keep the indians on their side in case
the americans decided to attack canada
spain was openly
unfriendly to the americans
spain closed off the mississippi river to
commerce in 1784
shay’s rebellion: impoverished back-country farmers, who were losing their farms, attempted to enforce their demands of
cheap paper money, lighter taxes, and a suspension of property takeovers
shays’s rebellion was crushed but it led to changes in
laws
in 1786, virginia called for a convention at annapolis to deal with the issue of
interstate commerce
alexander hamilton saved the convention from collapsing since delegates from
only 5 states showed up
hamilton called congress to meet in philadelphia the next year to fix the
entire fabric of the articles of confederation
alexander hamilton was an advocate of a
strong central gov
on may 35, 1787 55 delegates from every state except for rhode island were sent to philadelphia to discuss
how the government should operate
george washington was elected as the
leader of the constitutional convention
the delegates hoped to preserve revolutionary ideals and make it into a
strong political structure
virginia plan was the first suggested framework of
the constitution
virginia plan stated that state’s representation in congress should be based upon
state’s population
new jersey plan centered on equal representation in
congress without regards to state’s size or population
new constitution called for the end of the slave trade by the end of
1807
all new state constitutions except georgia’s forbade
overseas slave trade
constitution grew out of common law in which it is unnecessary to be
specific about every detail
members of the constitutional convention agreed
economically and politically
anti-federalists were led by samuel adams,
patrick henry, and richard henry lee
anti-feds mostly consisted of the
poorest classes
federalists led by
washington and ranklin
overall, the federalists were wealthier, more
educated and better organized than anti-feds and controlled press
4 laggard states:
virginia, new york, north carolina, rhode island
rhode island and nc were the last states to ratify the constitution, and they did so only after
the government had been in operation for a few months
4 states didn’t want to ratify, but they couldn’t
safely exist as the only states who didnt
founders believed that every branch effectively
represented the people
