Chapter 9-The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776-1790 Flashcards
The Americans were blessed with…
a vast and fertile land
By 1783, the Americans had…
won their freedom
The Americans had inherited from their colonial experience…
a proud legacy of self-rule
No law of nature guaranteed that the thirteen would…
be able to expand their democratic ideals
The new Republic passed a major test when
power was peacefully transferred from the conservative Federalists to the more liberal Jeffersonians in the election of 1800
The American Revolution was not a…
revolution in the sense of a radical or total change
The American Revolution did not suddenly and violently overturn…
the entire social and political framework
Some isolated communities were unaware that…
the American Revolution was even going on
With the exodus of Loyalists, the emergence of a…
new Patriot elite was allowed to emerge
Even though the wording of the Declaration of Independence says “All men are created equal,” most states ____ property-holding requirements for voting.
reduced
The American Revolution was
an example of accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution
Continental army officers attempting to form the Society of the Cincinnati
reflected the Revolutionary War generation’s spirit of equality
The struggle for divorce between religion and government, in the post-revolutionary period, proved fiercest in
Virginia
One factor in the fight for the separation of church and state was the Anglican Church was…
re-formed into the Protestant Episcopal Church
One factor in the fight for the separation of church and state was Thomas Jefferson…
joined the effort
One factor in the fight for the separation of church and state was reformers in Virginia secured…
the passage of that state’s Statute for Religious Freedom
One factor in the fight for the separation of church and state was there was resistance to completely disentangling the church from…
civic affairs in come parts of New England
The world’s first antislavery society was founded by
Quakers in Philadelphia
The Continental Congress in ____ called for the complete abolition of the slave trade, a summons to which most of the states responded positively.
1774
The status of blacks during the American Revolution
Several northern states abolished slavery or provided for gradual emancipation
A few Virginia masters freed their slaves
No states south of Pennsylvania outlawed slavery
Some states passed laws that permit blacks to marry and own land
Early signs of the abolitionist movement can be seen in the
emancipation of some slaves
The Founders failed to eliminate slavery because
a fight over slavery might destroy national unity
As a result of the Revolution’s emphasis on equality, all of the following achieved
the reduction of property qualification for voting by most states
the growth of trade organizations for artisans and laborers
the establishment of the world’s first antislavery society
abolishing medieval inheritance laws
Women’s roles after the Revolution
They continued to do traditional women’s work
The new ideology of republican motherhood elevated them as special keepers of the nation’s conscience
They gained access to educational opportunities
State constitutions, like New Jersey’s, briefly gave women the right to vote
Adopted almost a decade before the federal constitution, the ____ constitution remains the longest-lived in the world.
Massachusetts
As written documents, the state constitutions functioned in all of the following ways
to represent a fundamental law superior to ordinary legislation
as contracts that defined the powers of government
to guarantee individual liberties, sometimes through a bill of rights
to transform the colonies into becoming new states
As a means of ensuring that legislators stay in touch with the mood of the people, state constitutions
required the annual election of legislatures
As a result of the Revolution, many state capitals were relocated westward
to get them away from the haughty eastern seaports
One reason that the United States avoided the frightful excesses of the French Revolution is that
cheap land was easily available and America had few landed aristocrats
It was highly significant to the course of future events that
economic democracy preceded political democracy in the United States
The economic status of the average American at the end of the Revolutionary War was
probably worse than before the war
The Revolutionary spawned all of the following economic conditions
speculation and profiteering
extensive borrowing by state governments that left the buried in debt
runaway deflation
the opening of new foreign markets
Immediately after the Revolution, the new American nation’s greatest strength lay in its
excellent political leadership
The Second Continental Congress of Revolutionary days
was little more than a conference of ambassadors with very limited power
The Articles of Confederation were finally approved when
all states claiming western lands surrendered them to the national government
The major issue that delayed ratification of the Articles of Confederatoin concerned
western lands
The Articles of Confederation left Congress unable to
enforce a tax-collection program
A major strength Articles of Confederation was its
presentation of the ideal of a united nation
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
established a procedure for governing the Old Northwest territory
One of the most farsighted provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
prohibited slavery in the Old Northwest
The Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for all of the following
money from land sales should be used to pay off the national debt
the land should be surveyed before its sale
the territory should be divided into townships six miles square
the sixteenth section should be sold to support education
Britain
occupied a chain of trading forts in the Old Northwest
France
demanded repayment of wartime loans
Spain
controlled important trade routes from the interior of North America
Barbary Coast
threatened American commerce in the Mediterranean
After thee Revolutionary War, both Britain and Spain
prevented America from exercising effective control over about half of its total territory
Shay’s Rebellion was provoked by
foreclosures on mortgages of debt-strapped backcountry farmers
Shay’s Rebellion convinced many Americans of the need for
a stronger central government
Under the Articles of Confederation, the relationship between the thirteen states
convinced many that a stronger central government was needed
The debate between the supporters and critics of the Articles of Confederation centered on how to
reconcile states’ rights with strong national government
The issue that finally touched off the movement toward the Constitutional Convention was
control of commerce
By the time the Constitution was adopted in 1789
prosperity was beginning to return
The Constitutional Convention was called to
revise the Articles of Confederation
All of the following Revolutionary leaders were present at the Constitutional Convention
Benjamin Franklin
James Madison
George Washington
Alexander Hamilton
The delegate whose contributions to the Philadelphia Convention were so notable that he had been called the “Father of the Constitution” was
James Madison
The delegates at the Constitutional Convention were concerned mainly with
protecting American from its weaknesses abroad and its excesses at home
Most of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention could best be labeled
ordinary citizens
The fifty-five delegates to the Constitutional Convention shared all of the following qualities
they were well-to-do members of the professional class
they were young
they were more interested in strengthening the young Republic and tapping Revolutionary idealism
they wanted a firm, dignified and respected government
Motives of the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia include all of the following
preserve the union
forestall anarchy
ensure the security of life and property
curb unrestrained democracy
The large-state plan, put forward in the Constitutional Conventional Convention
based representation in the House and Senate on population
The Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention worked out an acceptable scheme for
apportioning congressional representation
Under the Constitution, the president of the United States was to be elected by a majority vote of the
Electoral College
The idea that all tax measures should start in the House was made to appease
the big states with the most people
The Constitutional Convention addressed the North-South controversy over slavery through the
three-fifths compromise
The following is a compromise in the Constitution
Continuation of the foreign slave trade
By their actions, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention manifested their common beliefs in all of the following
government by the consent of the governed
checks and balances in government
the sanctity of private property
a stronger central government
The one branch of the government elected directly by the people is the
House of Representatives
The new Constitution established the idea that the only legitimate government was one based on
the consent of the governed
The ultimate guarantor of liberty and justice was
the virtue of the people
The delegates at the Constitutional Convention stipulated that the new Constitution be ratified by
state conventions
The antifederalist camp included all of the following groups
states’ rights supporters
backcountry dwellers
paper money advocates
debtors
Probably the most alarming characteristic of the new Constitution to those who opposed it was the
absence of a bill of rights
Among other views, The Federalists, written during the ratification debate, argued that it was
possible to extend a republican form of government over a large territory
Antifederalists believe that the sovereignty of the people resided in which branch of the central government?
legislative
The federalists believe that the sovereignty of the people resided in which branch of the central government?
executive
legislative
judicial
One of the enduring paradoxes of American history is that
both radicals and conservative have championed the heritage of democratic revolution
During the Revolutionary War, many states
eliminated inheritance laws like primogeniture
reduced property requirements for voting
disestablished the Anglican Church
Most, if not all, of the new state constitutions
were written documents
required the annual election of state legislators
granted the state legislatures more power than governors
created weak executive and judicial branches
The Revolutionary War
stimulated American manufacturing
produced runaway inflation in many states
saw America remain a nation of farmers
The disruptive forces that produced a shaky start toward union of the states immediately following the Revolutionary War included
the absence of the unifying element of a common cause
an economic depression in the colonies
Under the Articles of Confederation
a unicameral Congress was to be the chief agency of national government
there was no executive branch of national government
each state remained essentially sovereign
major legislation required a two-thirds vote to pass Congress
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress
was specifically designed to be weak
had no power to regulate commerce
had not tax-collecting authority
Most of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were
relatively well-to-do
appointed by state legislatures
experienced at writing constitutions
lawyers
Major goals of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention included
preservation of the Union
creation of a stronger national government
restricting democracy in several states
