RE - After the Revolution Lesson

After the Revolution

Northwest Ordinance

Almost right away there were opportunities and challenges relating to the settlement of the new territory gained in the Treaty of Paris (1783). The first U.S. governmental territory outside the original states was the Northwest Territory, which was created by the Northwest Ordinance. This law demonstrated to Americans that their national government intended to encourage westward expansion and that it would do so by organizing new states that would be equal members of the Union. The ordinance banned slavery in the Northwest Territory. This law made the Ohio River the boundary between free and slave regions between the 13 states and the Mississippi River. Additionally, the Northwest Ordinance mandated the establishment of public schools in the Northwest Territory.

Map of the Northwest Ordinance

 

Closer Look: Northwest Ordinance

Image Credit: Map from americanhistoryusa.com

Articles of Confederation and Shays' Rebellion

The Articles of Confederation were written during the American Revolution. It reflected Americans' fear of a powerful national government. As a result, it created a government that had no executive or judicial branch and lacked the power to tax, regulate commerce, or establish one national currency. The Articles gave individual states more power than the national government had. As a result, conflicts between the states threatened the existence of the nation.

The political weakness of the United States and its potential for collapse left it vulnerable to attack by foreign countries and convinced many influential Americans to support a Constitutional Convention. Political leaders were further motivated by Shays' Rebellion, which they felt set a precedent for mob rule.

Daniel Shays led more than a thousand farmers who, like him, were burdened with personal debts caused by economic problems stemming from the states' Revolutionary War debts. Shays and his men tried to seize a federal arsenal in Massachusetts in just one of many protests debt-ridden farmers made during this period. Without the power to tax, America's weak government could not repair the national economy.

Responding to Shays' Rebellion, George Washington supported the establishment of a stronger central government. In May 1787, he was elected president of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where he and the Founding Fathers created a federalist republic form of government for the United States.

The "Virtuous Republic" was a classical view of a model republic, an example of enlightenment thinking, had an idea of the ideal citizen [Cincinnatus], and referenced the "City on a hill" [John Winthrop]. It comprised 8 things: 1. Govt. gets its authority from the citizens. 2. A selfless, educated citizenry. 3. Elections should be frequent. 4. Govt. should guarantee individual rights and freedoms. 5. Govt.'s power should be limited [checks and balances]. 6. The need for a written Constitution. 7. "E Pluribus Unum." ["out of many, one"] 8. An important role for women - raise good, virtuous citizens. ["Republican Womanhood'].

 

View this presentation on the early years of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation with the times' struggle for unity and the settlement of western lands.

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