US 1 Chapter 6 Foner

Essential Q: Was the Revolution truly revolutionary?

meanings of democracy

1. whole population voted(defined by aristotle) - but fear of mob rule

2. !!**after the rev, meant greater equality (for mostly white men): THIS WAS THE REVOLUTIONARY DEFINITON

3. the condition of primitive societies

how did the revolution affect who participated in political discussions

artisans and small farmers began to discuss politics, not just the elites (like the lower-class pro-independence political groupings that came to power in PA w/ leaders like Thomas Paine and Benjamin Rush)

what were the notable clauses of the PA constitution? what states adopted the first form of government as well?

1. unicameral legislature (believed in a single body of interests of the people - georgia and vermont were the only other states that also adopted this.

2. no governor (fear of executive power from b4)

3. eliminated property requirements for voting and officeholding

What did most americans agree the system of government should be? and what did this system mean? How often did elections occur?

all states adopted constitutions supporting a Republic: a government where the power is with the people (to vote, consent of the governed).

In every state except South Carolina, elections were annually

what did John adams think governments should be formatted as? Which states adopted this format & to what extent?

he wanted a balanced government(with 3 branches), including:

1. bicameral(two-house) legislature, with one house for the poor and one house for the rich } would help represent both

2. a governor and strong judiciary to prevent infringements of rights between the two houses

All states adopted bicameral legislature except PA, Georgia, and Vermont.

Only Massachusetts, John Adams’ home state, gave the government an effective veto over laws passed by legislature (fear)

Which area of states where the least democratic, and how?/give examples

southern states were the least democratic.

• legislative houses were dominated by gentry

• governor was elected by the legislature instead of the people (VA and SC)

• property voting requirements were mostly maintained (VA and SC), while Maryland had very high property reqs for voting and officeholding - the governor needed 5000 pounds (the british money, not weight)

What were some states with unique voting requirements? (think: vermont (mention PA), NJ, and the MA constitution rewind)

1. vermont had NO property voting requirements and NO poll taxes(fees for voters) to vote. even though PA had no property voting req, they still had to pay poll taxes.

2. NJ allowed women (and blacks) to vote since their 1776 constitution said all “inhabitants” that met requirements could vote

• the requirements were being worth 50 pounds of proclamation money and having an estate

• in 1807 they specified “men” and “white” for voters :(

3. 1778 MA constitution was rejected because it retained voting property requirements —> new one in 1780 was accepted after is expanded voting rights

what was the revolutionary war’s effect religion? mention changing outlook towards catholics(and why) + the outlook on freedom of religion + the overall trend of religion

anti catholicism weakened; more cooperation with catholics

1. very important french alliance(french were catholics) in the amrev

2. Quebecians(catholics) joined patriot soldiers to fight against the british when the patriots invaded canada

People began to believe religious freedom was exercising a person’s right of conscience

religion lwk flourished since disestablishment of churches increased more churches popping up

what were the conditions/degree of religious toleration like b4 amrev(specific), and how did the outlook change (general)

pretty bad

every state besides PA and RI had:

1. a central church that received public funding

2. religious voting restrictions (jews, catholics, (dissenting protestants))

during/after amrev, freedom of religion become considered by some as a part of the right to exercise conscience (like tJeff)

generally more religious freedom

what was the religion of the Founding fathers and what did they think about religion/religious toleration.

many founding fathers were deists - believed god created the universe then stepped back to let it operate according to scientific principles

founding fathers believed in religious toleration/the need for religion to keep the people virtuous to maintain the republic.

what did thomas jefferson (VA)think about religion (jefferson bible, wall of separation, the VA bill - name it!)

• he was deist, believed in religious toleration - christican republicanism

1. wrote Jefferson Bible: the bible but took away jesus’ divine powers

2. wanted the separation of church and state (along with other deists

3. wrote the Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom - passed by house of Burgesses in 1786 after considerable amounts of controversy (he was really proud of this epitaph)

   1. eliminated religious voting and officeholding requirements ( still didn’t let jews vote i think, since only NY did that)

   2. stopped gov financial church support

4. believed religious restrictions were tyranny on the “mind of man”

how did states change their laws related to religion? (hint: think about what jefferson wanted). think good and bad

1. most disestablished their churches (stopped using taxes to fund them)

2. many states promoted “free exercise of religion”

3. MA still kept its established congregationalist church and mad attendance mandatory

• gave freedom of individual worship though

every state still prevented jews from voting, except New York

how was the US’s rep affected by increased religious freedom(mention james madison)

more religious freedom helped the US’s rep as a beacon of liberty

• James Madison considered US as an “asylum to the persecuted”

what were some of the negative and positive effects of the revolution on churches

Neg: clashes between christian liberty (the serving god stuff) and american freedom

• Young Moravians in NC challenged arranged marriage

Pos:

new religious denominations emerged and flourished —> 1,300 in US today

what were things the founders did to help raise good & educated citizens that would vote and participate in the public sphere? mention: christian republicanism + one other thing (what did Tjeff say about education)

1. Chritistian republicanims: idea (supported by most founders) that religious values were important for the country because it instilled moral qualities in its citizens —> virtuous citizens were needed to uphold/be the basis of the republic

2. founders encouraged establishment of free state-supported public schools

   1. Tjeff: “no nation could expect to be ignorant and free” - i love this guy’s quotes bro

what happened to the amount of indentured servants after the american revolution and why, and what effect did that have on the North and South relationship?

• indentured servitude basically disappeared because of more available wage workers, indentured servants completing their terms, and idea of LIBERTY/thinking it was unfair to keep indent. servants, and ISs running away during the amrev(because of LIBERTY)

  • 1784 a group of New Yorkers let free a new shipload of ISs because of LIEBRTYY

• created more of a divide between north and south states since north relied on free labor, while south still relied on slavery

what is “free labor” in terms of the north after the american revolution

After the decline of indentured servants, the northern states used mostly free labor - the people could work for wages

when americans wanted equality after the amrev, what did they mean? (opportunity vs condition)

they wanted equality of opportunity , not necessarily equality of condition

what did jefferson believe about how government should help promote freedom, and what did he do about it? (economics)

he, and many others, thought lack of economic resources = lack of freedom

• he wrote laws in VA that abolished entail: forbidding the division of land upon a person’s death beyond family (heirs couldn’t break up and sell a plot of land, had to stay intact)

• also abolished primogeniture: the practice of passing all of a family’s land to the eldest son

Note: jeff also prop0sed to award 50 acres of land to every grown person who didn’t already have it (to continue enhancing the liberty of the gov’s subjects) BUT AT THE COST OF THE NATIVE AMREICANS… we just can’t have it all

what was the amrev’s effect on prices, and how did people protest 

RAPID inflation 1776-1779

• wartime disruption of agriculture and trade, some people hoarding supplies, rapid printing of money by congress the war

Crowds seized food and other goods and sold them at a price they deemed ok

merchants were accused of holding scarce goods off the market

what did the US gov try to do to curtail inflation during/after the Amrev (and why), and what was the effect? what conflict did this represent?

Congress in 1779 tried to enforce price and wage controls: prices were super high! (PA had a 45% price increase in a month)

DIDN’T WORK - met with opposition by merchants and advocates of a free market

explain the term free market and Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations

free market: the idea that argued economies are driven by self-interests and would operate ideally without government interference under their own sets of natural laws like supply and demand

• supported by the wealth of nations(1776) - adam smith : publishes in england —> US

what were the two competing views about the economy after the American revolution, and which won

1. the traditional view of protecting the interests of the community/promote the public good : government regulation of economy

2. free market advocates* for economic freedom

*free market wins out: after 1779, government effort to regulate prirces stop, but conflict between these two continue

who were loyalists(how much of the population did they make up, what were their reasons

loyalists: those that retained their allegiance to the British crown

• around 20-25% of the american population

Reasons(bolded areas are the states where loyalists were most common):

• many tenants and slaves of large plantations, hoped to gain land 

  • Tenants in NY of the Livingstons/patriot familties

  • southern(carolinas and gerogia) backcountry farmers (resented domination of wealthy planters)

• wealthy men whose livelihoods depended on working relationships with Britain (merchants, Anglican ministers, imperial officials, and lawyers)

• people who were afraid of anarchy after gaining independence ( I think PA)

what injustices did Loyalists face during/after the Amrev

• Loyalist-run newspapers were shut down

• property:

  • in PA quakers and other pacifists were arrested and lost property (for refusing to fight)

  • property of wealthy loyalists were seized and sold

• colonists forced to take congress-approved oaths of allegiance to the new nation

  • refusal meant loss of voting rights and exile

explain the quote “The flames of discord are sprouting from the seeds of liberty”

written by a british onlooker, referring to the hypocritical actions of the patriots against the loyalists in the colonies