AMSCO 3.6 - 3.9

1. Impact on Social Groups

Women:
- Contributions: Ran family farms and businesses, boycotted British goods (Daughters of Liberty), supplied troops, and served as cooks, nurses, or active combatants (e.g., Mary McCauley / Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth; Deborah Sampson serving disguised as a male soldier for a year).
- Republican Motherhood: Post-war expectation that women should be educated to instill republican virtues and citizenship in their children at home; maintained second-class status without granting public political equality (e.g., Abigail Adams's plea to "remember the ladies" was rejected by John Adams).
Enslaved African Americans:
- Contradiction with Ideals: Slavery directly conflicted with revolutionary ideals. The Continental Congress abolished the slave trade, Northern states phased out slavery, and some Southern owners voluntarily freed enslaved individuals.
- Shift with Cotton Gin: The invention of the cotton gin in $1793$ dramatically increased demand for low-cost labor, prompting Southern slave owners by the $1830\text{s}$ to formulate religious and political justifications for lifelong slavery.
Native Americans:
- Post-War Reality: Most Native American tribes supported the British during the war. After independence, white American colonists viewed them primarily as obstacles to westward expansion rather than beneficiaries of liberty.

2. International Impact

Global Inspiration: The Declaration of Independence and revolutionary principles inspired global anti-monarchical and independence movements:
- French Revolution ( $1789-1799$ )
- United Irishmen Rebellion ( $1798$ )
- Haitian Revolution ( $1791-1804$ ) led by Toussaint L'Ouverture
- $19\text{th}$ -Century Latin American Revolutions

1. State Government Constitutions

Key Features: Ten former colonies created new state constitutions by $1777$ .
- Bill of Rights: Listed fundamental rights such as jury trial and religious freedom.
- Separation of Powers: Divided power across elected two-house legislatures, governors, and court systems to prevent tyranny.
- Voting & Office-Holding: Restricted voting rights to White male property owners, with higher property requirements for elected office.

2. Structure and Powers of the Confederation

Drafting & Ratification: Drafted by John Dickinson in $1776$ ; ratified in March $1781$ after states ceded claims to western lands.
Government Structure: Unicameral Congress with $1$ vote per state.
- Passing laws required $9$ of $13$ states.
- Amendments required unanimous consent ( $13$ of $13$ states).
- Lacked a separate executive branch or national court system.
Delegated Powers: Could wage war, sign treaties, send diplomats, and borrow money.
Major Weaknesses: Lacked authority to levy taxes or regulate interstate commerce.

3. Land Ordinances

Land Ordinance of $1785$ : Established a systematic method for surveying and selling western lands, reserving one square-mile section per $36\text{ square-mile}$ township for public education.
Northwest Ordinance of $1787$ : Defined procedures for admitting new states in the region between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, granted limited self-government, and prohibited slavery in the territory.

4. Weaknesses and Shays's Rebellion

Economic Instability: Financial depression, unpaid war debts, worthless paper currency, and state-level protective tariffs.
Foreign Policy Failure: Unable to prevent British military outposts on the frontier or enforce Loyalist property restoration required by the Treaty of Paris ( $1783$ ).
Shays's Rebellion ( $1786-1787$ ): Daniel Shays led an armed revolt of Massachusetts farmers against high taxes and debt courts; the national government's inability to intervene highlighted the urgent need for a stronger central government.

1. Origins and Delegates

Context: The Annapolis Convention ( $1786$ ) prompted a meeting in Philadelphia in $1787$ to revise the Articles; $55$ White, wealthy, educated male delegates decided to draft an entirely new government (Rhode Island declined to participate).
Key Figures: George Washington (chairperson), Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, and John Dickinson.

2. Major Compromises

Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan): Proposed by Roger Sherman; created a bicameral legislature:
- Senate: Equal representation ( $2$ members per state).
- House of Representatives: Representation based on state population.
Three-Fifths Compromise: Counted each enslaved individual as $\frac{3}{5}$ of a person for federal taxation and representation; permitted the slave trade to continue for at least $20\text{ years}$ until $1808$ .
Commercial Compromise: Authorized federal regulation of interstate and foreign trade and tariffs on foreign imports, while banning export taxes.
Presidency: Established $4\text{-year}$ executive terms and created the Electoral College system to prevent direct popular rule.

3. Ratification Debate

Federalists: Supported ratification; argued a central government was vital to preserve order (The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay).
Anti-Federalists: Opposed ratification; feared federal overreach and loss of states' rights without a Bill of Rights (led by George Mason and Patrick Henry).
Outcome: Federalists promised to add a Bill of Rights. Ratification was secured in June $1788$ when New Hampshire became the $9\text{th}$ state to approve; Rhode Island ratified last in $1790$ .

1. Core Principles

Federalism: Vertical division of authority between the national government (defense, foreign policy, interstate trade) and state governments (education, local elections, local affairs).
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances:
- Legislative Branch: Congress enacts laws, taxes, and government spending.
- Executive Branch: Led by the President; executes laws and holds veto power over legislation.
- Judicial Branch: Supreme Court and lower federal courts interpret laws and constitutional limits.

2. The Bill of Rights ( $1791$ )