Creating Republican Governments, 1776–1790

Republicanism as Political and Social Philosophy

  • Rejection of Monarchy and Democracy: Revolutionary leaders replaced dynastic succession with a republic based on Roman Republic principles; conservative Whigs rejected direct democracy, equating majority rule with anarchy and the destruction of property rights.

  • Civic Virtue and Property Requirements: Republican survival was viewed as dependent on civic virtue and an educated citizenry; property ownership was deemed necessary for political rights to ensure decision-makers had a stake in society.

  • Cultural Archetypes: George Washington served as the prime model of civic virtue by relinquishing military command to return to Mount Vernon, emulating the Roman patrician Cincinnatus.

  • The Society of the Cincinnati: Founded in 1783 for Continental Army and French officers and headed by George Washington, this hereditary organization preserved elite military fellowship under the motto Omnia relinquit servare rempublicam.

  • Moral Frameworks: In the 1780s, Benjamin Franklin defined thirteen virtues (Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquillity, Chastity, and Humility) to cultivate personal character and maintain republican virtue.

Revolutionary Contradictions: Gender, Race, and Religion

  • Coverture and Legal Status: Married women remained under the legal doctrine of coverture (feme covert), possessing no independent economic or legal standing and remaining unable to buy, sell, or manage property without spousal consent.

  • Female Authors and Republican Motherhood: Authors such as Mercy Otis Warren and Judith Sargent Murray advocated for educational equity and economic independence; the concept of republican motherhood tasked women with instilling essential civic virtues in children.

  • Contradictions of Slavery: Over 36,000 individuals remained enslaved in the North in 1800, with emancipation occurring gradually (such as New York phasing out slavery through the late 1820s); Thomas Jefferson maintained racist views in Notes on the State of Virginia, advocating eventual emancipation paired with the removal of Black people.

  • Early Abolitionist Societies: Dr. Benjamin Rush and Philadelphia Quakers organized the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1775, followed by the formation of the New York Manumission Society in 1785.

  • Native American Dispossession: The 1783 Treaty of Paris excluded Native tribes, prompting Mohawk leader Joseph Brant to form the Western Confederacy; the Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) concluded with the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which ceded Ohio territory to the United States.

  • Religious Liberty: The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786) ended state support for the Church of England; Pennsylvania ended its New Testament test oath in 1790; Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire continued tax-supported Protestant Congregational worship.

State Constitutions and the Articles of Confederation

  • State Constitutional Variations: Guided by Montesquieu's separation of powers and John Adams's Thoughts on Government, states balanced executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Pennsylvania (1776) instituted a democratic unicameral legislature without property voting tests; South Carolina (1778) and Maryland (1776) imposed severe wealth requirements (£5,000 to £10,000) for high offices.

  • Structural Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation: Approved by Congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781, the Articles created a unicameral Congress without an executive, a national judiciary, or independent taxing authority; passing legislation required approval from nine states, and amendments required unanimous consent.

  • Land Ordinances of the 1780s: Established systematic territorial governance and public auctions at a minimum price of one dollar per acre:

    • Ordinance of 1784: Established that western territories would enter the union as states equal to the original thirteen.

    • Ordinance of 1785: Mandated dividing public land into rectangular townships of six square miles, each containing thirty-six plots of 640 acres.

    • Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Formed the Northwest Territory, prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River, and set population thresholds for territorial self-governance (5,000 adult free male settlers) and statehood (60,000 inhabitants).

  • Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787): Indebted farmers and Continental Army veterans led by Captain Daniel Shays shut down Massachusetts county courts to block foreclosures; Governor James Bowdoin deployed a privately funded militia of 4,400 men to suppress the uprising, crystallizing national fears of instability and driving calls to revise the Articles.

The Constitutional Convention and Federal Structure

  • Convention Logistics: Following the failed five-state Annapolis Convention in 1786, fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia in May 1787 to draft an entirely new system of government.

  • Debates over Representation:

    • Virginia Plan: Madison's proposal for a bicameral legislature with representation based on population, granting dominant control to populous states.

    • New Jersey Plan: William Paterson's proposal for a unicameral legislature giving each state an equal vote, supplemented by federal powers to collect import duties and regulate commerce.

    • Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise): Roger Sherman's plan for a bicameral Congress featuring proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation (two senators per state chosen by state legislatures) in the Senate.

  • Slavery Compromises:

    • Three-Fifths Compromise: Counted three out of every five enslaved persons toward congressional apportionment and direct taxation.

    • Slave Trade Clause: Barred Congress from outlawing the importation of enslaved persons prior to the year 1808.

  • Democratic Checks: Guarded against direct majority rule by establishing an indirect Electoral College to select the president and relying on state legislatures to appoint federal senators.

The Ratification Contest

  • Federalist and Anti-Federalist Divisions: Federalists supported a strong national union; Anti-Federalists opposed the concentration of central authority, the omission of a bill of rights, and the perceived dominance of an elite class over state interests.

  • The Federalist Papers: Essays authored by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison; Federalist No. 10 argued that a large commercial republic was uniquely equipped to control the violence of faction and protect minority rights against majoritarian tyranny.

  • Narrow State Approvals: Ratification passed narrowly in key state conventions, including Massachusetts (187 to 168), Virginia (89 to 79), New York (30 to 27), and Rhode Island (34 to 32).

Historical Exchanges and Debates

  • Abigail Adams and John Adams on Legal Status (1776):

    • Abigail Adams: "I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestor. Do not put such unlimited power in the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could."

    • John Adams: "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh… Depend on it, We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems."

  • Melancton Smith and Alexander Hamilton at the New York Ratifying Convention (1788):

    • Melancton Smith: Objected to the Constitution's representation structure, arguing that it was too small to represent ordinary citizens and that broader popular participation was essential.

    • Alexander Hamilton: Rebuffed Smith's argument by arguing that pure democracies throughout history were "spectacles of turbulence and contention" whose character was "tyranny" and whose deliberations presented "an ungovernable mob, not only incapable of deliberation, but prepared for every enormity."