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UT Arlington HIST 1311 - 06lecture6_7

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Lecture 6: Competing Visions of a Virtuous Republic, 1776-1800I. What Kind of Republic? A. Competing Notions of Republicanism 1. Some, like Thomas Paine, declared that republicanism was a moral code of behavior as well as a system of government. a. When citizens became selfish or corrupt, republicans succumbed to tyranny. b. The history of the Roman Republic and of England reinforced this view. 2. Others emphasized the importance of individual self-interest as thebasis of a republic's strength. a. Economist Adam Smith's emphasis on self-interest was cited. B. Creating Republican Governments: The State Constitutions 1. There was also disagreement on who "the people" were. a. Pennsylvania eliminated property requirements and gave the vote to all white males. b. Maryland kept property qualifications for voting and even higher property requirements to serve in office. 2. Disagreement also existed on how much power elected officials should have. a. Pennsylvania gave ALL power to them by having a unicameral legislature and no governor. b. Maryland kept a governor and a two-house legislature, one higher than the other. 3. The other states fell between these two extremes of democracy (Pennsylvania and the more conservative Maryland). a. New Jersey gave the vote between 1776 and 1807 to women with property. 4. A new set of constitutions beginning in the 1780s expanded the powers of state governments and restricted voting and officeholding to property holders. a. On the other hand, checks and balances and bills of rights restricted the powers of state governments. C. The Articles of Confederation 1. Establishing a national government took six years. a. John Dickinson drafted a proposed constitution in 1775. b. Congress revised his draft in 1775 - 1776 by reducing the powers of the national government. c. The states took up the proposal in 1777 but could not come to agreement until 1781. 2. Features of the Confederation government: a. It consisted of only a unicameral legislature, in which each state had one vote. b. It could not tax or regulate trade. 1c. Slaves were to be counted in full for tax purposes (i.e., as people rather than as property). 3. Quarrels over control of the Northwest Territory delayed ratification of the new government until 1781. a. Maryland refused to ratify by arguing that the lands there should belong to the government. b. Virginia and the other states holding land claims finally renounced them in order to achieve ratification. II. Challenges to the Confederation A. Depression and Financial Crisis 1. A postwar depression affected the entire country. a. The economic downturn affected all classes. b. England barred American products and limited American ships in its Caribbean colonies. c. The value of paper money plunged. 2. Robert Morris proposed a tariff on imported goods to pay off foreign loans taken by the government. a. The states, particularly Rhode Island, refused. B. The Northwest Ordinances 1. To raise money, the government decided to sell land in the Northwest Territory. a. The Ordinance of 1784 mandated creation of five new states in the region. b. The Ordinance of 1785 set up the system for selling the land to private individuals. c. The Ordinance of 1787 prescribed the number of people required for statehood and banned slavery in the region. C. Diplomatic Problems 1. Trouble flared with the British. a. In the Northwest Territory, they refused to vacate their forts, and they armed the region's Native Americans. b. Ambassador John Adams could not win trade concessions from them. 2. Spain barred Americans from the Mississippi River. a. Negotiator John Jay was unable to win access. 3. Barbary pirates seized American ships and crews. D. A Farmers' Revolt 1. The farmers of western Massachusetts were deeply affected by the postwar economic depression. a. Farmers protested rents, land prices, heavy taxes, debts,high judicial fees, and the failure of central governments to provide protection from Indian attacks or frontier bandits. 2b. The state legislature refused to pass stay laws to give them temporary relief.c. to print more paper money. d. The legislature also raised taxes. 2. Western farmers closed local debtors' courts and freed imprisoned debtors. a. The state government broke their movement (Shays' Rebellion) by using military force. E. The Revolt of the "Better Sort" 1. Critics of the Articles of Confederation government believed that the United States faced a grave crisis. a. They cited the weak government, the quality of Congress's members, diplomatic problems, and Shays' Rebellion. b. The critics were often members of the elite. 2. Leading Virginians convened a meeting at Annapolis to discuss trade problems and other conflicts among the states. a. Their real purpose: to lay the groundwork for creation of a stronger national government. b. The delegates convinced Congress to call a convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to discuss trade between the states andgovernmental reform. III. Creating a New Government A. Revise or Replace? 1. The delegates at Philadelphia first had to choose between revision and rejection of the Articles of Confederation. 2. The Virginia Plan called for rejecting the Articles and for creating a stronger government. a. It provided for three branches of government, each checking and balancing the other. 3. The delegates differed over representation in Congress. a. Large states favored the Virginia Plan: 1) two houses; 2)the number of members based on a state's population. b. Small states favored the New Jersey Plan: 1) unicameral; 2) each state has the same number of members. c. The Great Compromise provided for: 1) a two-house legislature; 2) membership in the lower based on a state's population; 3) membership in the upper equal for each state. d. How to elect members of Congress was also settled by compromise: 1) upper house to be elected by state legislatures; 2) the lower by each state's eligible voters. 3e. The Three-Fifths Compromise settled the conflict over how to count slaves and allowed the slave trade to last twenty more years. B. Drafting an Acceptable Document 1. The concept of checks and balances guided the assignment of powers to the president and Congress. 2. The Electoral College compromise solved the controversy over participation by ordinary voters in electing the president. IV. Resolving the Conflict of Vision A. The Ratification Controversy 1. To win ratification, supporters' tactics included: a. Calling


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