The National Period: 1783-1789

The most radical idea to come out of the American Revolution was the idea of republican government. To be called a republican in 1780 was something like being called an anarchist in later times, or a political extremist in today's world. That idea of republican government—government by the people—profoundly changed the relationship between men and women and their government. Some of those changes were subtle, but over the years their force was felt. Perhaps most important was the idea of virtue: where it resided in the political structure and how it cold be cultivated.

In a state run by an aristocracy, a monarchy such as England's, for example, the virtue—the goodness or quality or character—of the state is determined by the ruling class. The ordinary people have no real civic responsibility except to obey the laws. In a republic, from the Latin res publica, the people are responsible for the virtue of the state. The qualities that make virtuous citizens and therefore a virtuous state—decency, honesty, consideration of others, respect for law and order—are qualities that are first learned at home, generally at the mother's knee. So in a very subtle way the role of motherhood, the job of raising of virtuous citizens, became a public good. The concept was known as “republican motherhood,” and although women were still treated as second class citizens for decades, when they began to make their case for full equality, the could and did point to seeds sown during the revolution.

• (See the writings of Mercy Otis Warren, Abigail Adams and other notable women of that era.)

Other significant changes that came into focus during and after the Revolution included such things as a new and more highly developed sense of equality, the idea that people should be judged by their worth rather than by their birthright, that being highly born is not a requisite for achievement or recognition. Those ideas developed slowly and unevenly, but the revolution made such radical thinking possible. Some of those changes in attitude were translated into new laws and practices, such as:

• More equitable representation among all regions of the states.
• Less restrictive voting qualifications—the elimination of property of religious qualifications for voting, for example.
• More liberal laws of inheritance.
• Greater religious freedom—the separation of church and state.

The young American nation also had the extraordinary luxury of having about six years between the end of the fighting in America and the next outbreak of violence—the French Revolution—to find a new way to govern itself. If the French Revolution with all its turmoil had started earlier, or if the Americans had taken longer in getting around to writing their Constitution, things would certainly have turned out differently, quite possibly for the worse. Few nations have had such a broad and untrammeled opportunity to form a government under so little pressure.

Once the British system of government was rejected, the states, operating under the inefficient Articles of Confederation, saw themselves as independent republics, so that American government under the Articles was, in effect, a “United Nations of North America,” rather than the “United States” as a single nation. For years the country was referred to in the plural: “The United States are ... .” Americans were in no hurry to create a powerful national government—only after several years of experiment did they begin to realize that thirteen “sovereign and independent republics” could not function as a nation without a strong central authority.

Summary of Political Issues in the Federal Period

The Articles of Confederation were finally ratified 1781: Maryland was slow to ratify, and unanimous consent was required. Under its provisions Congress had managed to win the revolutionary War, but with difficulty and inefficiency. John Adams, for example, had served on over 80 committees. Wartime problems had been huge, although much was accomplished. But the Confederation was cumbersomeand inefficient. The colonies had never really gotten along very well, and now the states were jealous of federal power and of each other. Government under Articles had less power than Parliament: there was no executive, and no courts were provided for. Government was operated by scores of committees. (Definition of a camel: a horse that was put together by a committee.)

In the 1780s, many Americans feared their revolution could still fail if not grounded in a virtuous republican government, but ordinary folk, influenced by evangelicalism, expected God-given progress founded on “goodness and not wealth.” They expected the revolution to bring them greater liberty, a voice in government, and an end to special privilege. Others, fearing liberty led to democratic excesses, emphasized the need for order. At issue was the debate over liberty vs. order.

Thus Republicanism was as radical for its time as Marxism was later, although the concept had its origins in Greece and Rome. The concept spread throughout Europe in the 18^th century. These ideas came together in revolutionary Americans to form “one of the most coherent and powerful ideologies the world has ever seen.” Republicanism was a socail as well as political construct, and the simplicity and plainness of American life were now seen as virtues. The evils of the Old World were seen as rooted in too much government, but in order for government to be minimized, the citizens had to be virtuous, patriotic, and willing to give to the mother country.

Property ownership was seen as requisite to participation in republican government because people needed to have a stake and be independent. Jefferson saw dependency as an evil—“it begets subservience and venality”—so he proposed that Virginia give 50 acres of land to every citizen who didn’t own that much. Because it was widely believed that the early state constitutions were flawed experiments in republican government, some Americans began to argue that a stronger central government was necessary. Massachusetts set an important precedent by drafting its constitution in a special convention called for that purpose. In all states, more of “the People's men” appeared in government. At the heart of the American experiment was the idea of equality. Ability, not birth, was what mattered. The new American aristocracy would be based on merit, not birth—“stern and disinterested heroes.” The theory of a born aristocracy was contradicted by “the surging individualism of American life.”

As the need for a stronger central government became more apparent after 1783, the United States could easily have become a monarchy, with George Washington as George I of America. The American states first became independent republics, and the feeling was that viable republics were of necessity small.

THE STATES: THE LESSONS OF REPUBLICANISM

[See Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution]

The State Constitutions provided the practice arena for the writing of the United States Constitution. (They can all be viewed at Yale's Avalon Project.) When the war was over, and even before it ended, Constitution writing was going on all over in special conventions, a Massachusetts invention. As John Adams put it, how glorious it was to be able to participate in the making of a government—few in history have had such an opportunity. Americans were aware that the entire world was watching, with more than a little skepticism about whether this experiment in republican goverment could work.

The new state constitutions emphasized fundamental freedoms such as freedom of religion, speech, and the press. The office of Governor was generally weakened, and the elected assemblies were given the most power. Massachusetts developed a procedure for constitution making that all the other states eventually adopted. A constitution had to be written by a convention specially elected for that purpose and ratified by a referendum of the people.

Because it was widely believed that the early state constitutions were flawed experiments in republican government, some Americans began to argue that a stronger central government was necessary. Because they had been used to living under written charters as colonists, Americans wanted written constitutions that would clearly define the rights of the people and the limits of government power. Their attitude reflected the American distrust of power, an American characteristic which continues to this day. While they incorporated parts of the British system into their new governments, being wise enough not to throw out the baby with the bath water, they still created radical new forms.

A NATIONAL CULTURE

The Cultural Declaration of Independence: By 1789 poems, plays, music, art celebrated the Revolution and all things American. Noah Webster worked to produce the first American Dictionary—the American language began to depart from English. American Art stressed patriotic themes—portraits of Washington and other revolutionary dignitaries abounded and artists begen to develop new styles. A fledgling American literary movement began with plays like The Contrast, whose characters represented American virtues and corrupt old European ideas. American literature did not become highly evolved—that would have to wait for the Romantic Age under Emerson, Hawthorne, Whitman, others—but the seeds were sown.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Diplomatic Humiliation

Congress commanded so little, and had so little power over the states and therefore over foreign policy, that other nations either ignored the young United States or ran roughshod over their interests with little fear of retaliation. The British ignored certain provisions of the Paris agreement and kept troops on American soil long after the peace treaty. When Spain closed the port of New Orleans to American commerce in 1784, Congress sent John Jay to Madrid to achieve terms to open the Mississippi to Americans. Instead, Jay signed an agreement that ignored the problem of the Mississippi in exchange for commercial advantages benefiting the Northeast (the Jay-Gardoqui Treaty). Congress rejected the treaty, and the issue smoldered for ten more years. Congress also claimed lands in the west still occupied by the British and Spaniards but could not forcefully challenge those nations for control of the land. The American armed forces, except for state militias, over which Congress had little control, were for all practical purposes disbanded after the war. (The U.S. Army numbered less than 100 men in 1784.) For good or ill, foreign affairs would come to dominate American public life and politics between 1790 and 1815—as Europe became steeped in the wars of the French Revolution and Empire. But even in the immediate postwar years, American carried little weight in the world despite having won the Rrevolutionary War.

Problems with Great Britain and Spain

• Boundaries: The British refused to abandon forts in Northwest
• The Royal Navy remains in American Waters, a threat to American independence of action.
• The issue of unpaid debts persisted, though some thought they should be renounced. (George Mason: “What were we fighting for?”)
• The Port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River were closed to Americans, being territory of Spain restored to her by the Treaties of 1783. (Jay-Gardoqui Treaty defeated.)
• The Spanish and British were also suspected of riling up the Indians against settlers in the west.
• The Confederation Government lacked power and authority and was unable to pass a treaty with Spain over the Florida boundary, etc.

COMMERCIAL ISSUES: FOREIGN TRADE

After the Revolution the American balance of trade was very negative, which led to a bad recession from 1784-1786. As Americans had been unable to trade with Great Britain during the war but still had an appetite for British goods, British imports to U.S. expanded after the war, so money and wealth was leaving the country. The young country also had a critical shortage of money, a situation exacerbated by the fact that cash was flowing overseas. Furthermore Congress had no taxing authority and massive war debts, including promised pensions for soldiers, etc., remained unpaid. It was clear that a strong central authority was needed to regulate trade—the Confederation government couldn't get a tariff bill through because of jealousy among the states. On the bright side—and there was not much there—mew ports were now open and American ships could go anywhere they pleased, but without, of course, the protection of the Royal Navy. The vessel Empress of China sailed to the Far East in 1784-85, opening uptrade withthat part of the world for Americans.

The Free Trade Issue—The Down side:

• America was now excluded from British imperial ports;
• Americans no longer benefited from British Mercantilism;
• Foreign nations were reluctant to enter trade agreements with U.S. in fear of retaliation;
• High duties were charged on imports to England, which now hit U.S. traders hard;
• British Orders in Council of 1783 barred certain goods as well as American ships from Caribbean trade; hit Northern states especially hard; shipbuilding interests were hurt.

The American Economy: "Anarchy and Confusion"

The financial problems of the new United States were huge. The United States treasury, such as it was, was empty. the national government and many other states had huge debts, and in order to have some currency so that business might be conducted, the wartime practice of issuing paper money continued, and the result was rampant inflation. American paper was practically worthless, and state paper money was worth even less, if that was possible. (In Rhode Island legal tender paper was created, and it had so little value that people refused to accept it as payment for anything.)

With no power to tax Congress could do little to ease the situation. Nationalists like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wanted Congress to have a taxing authority but their efforts came to naught, as the states were jealous of federal power to tax, having just fought a war that had initiated in large part over unwanted taxation. In 1781 Robert Morris tried to set up a Bank of North America feeling that that “the debt will bind us together.” He was given near dictatorial powers but he resigned in frustration in 1784, having been unable to stabilize the economy.

The situation even held potential danger for the government itself, as war veterans threatened to march on Congress. Before leaving Newburgh General George Washington had thwarted one such movement but the seeds of discontent among the former soldiers and officers remained apparent. To make matters even more confusing, economic jealousy existed among the new states. Various tariffs were applied to goods that moved between the states, and state laws came into conflict with the treaty made with Great Britain in 1783.

During this time the national debt rose from $11 million to $28 million, which included foreign debt. Those debts were never brought under control during the Confederation period—it was not until Alexander Hamilton reformed American finances under the Constitutional government that America's economic house began to be put in order.

In January 1787 Daniel Shays led a rebellion of Massachusetts farmers who are frustrated because they were unable to pay their debts and mortgages were being foreclosed. the Depression had sent truck prices down, making matters even worse. they took an arsenal in Springfield and threatened to assault the Massachusetts Legislature. Americans from George Washington to Abigail Adams were horrified by the prospect; Washington declared at liberty gone mad, and the situation reminded many that mob rule was sometimes seen as a natural outgrowth of too much democracy. Thomas Jefferson was less bothered by the uprising complaining that a little violence was necessary for the good health of liberty, but it was obvious that the federal government could not respond to the needs of the people.

Rights of Women: "Republican Motherhood" (see above)

• Women had made important contributions to the Revolution, including fighting. Deborah Sampson served as a man from 1781-1783. Others did much to support the American armies—making bandages, etc. Martha Washington did much to assist soldiers at Valley Forge, etc.
• Women also demanded natural right of equality and contributed to the creation of a new society by raising children in households where the republican values of freedom and equality were daily practiced.
• Women were more assertive in divorcing undesirable mates and in opening their own businesses, but were still denied their political and legal rights.
• Although women made some gains in education and law, society still defined them exclusively as homemakers, wives, and mothers.
• Abigail Adams had said “Remember the Ladies”—or they would foment their own revolution, which they eventually did. But even in the republican fervor of the post-revolutionary period, women got few new rights.

Slavery and the Promise of Liberty

The American Revolution did not abolish slavery, although in some states the innate contradiction between the institution and the Declaration were apparent. During the Revolution, many African-Americans fought for freedom in their own way—some on the British side, some on the American. Slavery was gradually abolished, but mostly where it was economically unimportant. At this stage of its history slavery was not seen as morally defensible; even Southerners questioned the morality of slavery, and no one defended it as a “positive good.” That would come later.

Slavery was an important issue during the Revolutionary War. Governor Dinsmore of Virginia had promised freedom to all slaves who would fight against the American rebels. As a result the British army emancipated many slaves—about 20,000 escaped to the British, including some of Jefferson’s.

During the revolutionary period provisions for emancipation incorporated into most northern state constitutions. Even outsiders were struck by the contrast between American cries for freedom and its practice of slavery. Samuel Johnson asked, "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty from the drivers of Negroes?" Some Americanswere equally outraged by the practice. As Abigail Adams put it, "It always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have."

Meanwhile, slavery was dying elsewhere in thew world. In England a slave owner could not exercise his property rights over a slave. In America, excuses were found not to use blacks to fight for independence. And yet, in the words of one historian, “For all its broken promises, the Revolution contained the roots of the black liberation movement.” For Blacks had been at Lexington, had crossed the Delaware with Washington over the Delaware, and many had been recognized at Bunker Hill and during the surrender of the British at Saratoga. In fact, British soldiers mocked American army because it contained so many blacks. All the same, in the South the sight of a black man with a gun evoked fear. The time for full emancipation was not yet at hand.

The Northwest Ordinance.

Creation of the U.S. Constitution

Return to History 121 Part 2

Updated May 20, 2005