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Chapter 7: Forging a National Republic, 1776-1789

Chapter Summary

After the Revolutionary War, the Americans began shaping their society to the ideals and principles of the Revolution itself. These ideals were intellectual notions, not tangible realities. They provided a visionary basis for a more nearly perfect society, but they did not automatically make such a society a reality. Therefore, the ideals had to be defined, and such definitions are born out of the frame of reference-the perceptions and prejudices-of a people existing at a particular historical time and place. In Chapter 7, we focus on the theme of ideal versus reality and examine the defining and shaping process that occurred in postrevolutionary American society.

The first section, "Creating a Virtuous Republic," presents the ideal of building a republican society and the reality of disagreement over how to define republicanism; the ideal of a "virtuous" republic and the reality of disagreement over what virtue means; the ideal of literature, painting, and architecture instilling virtue and the reality that some perceive those arts as luxuries to be avoided. Then, after dealing with educational reform, we turn to the role of women in postrevolutionary America and the interaction of the ideal of equality with the reality of sexism. From this interaction there emerged a perception that denied women a legitimate power-sharing role and stressed the differences between men and women. According to this view, men and women contributed to a republican society equally but in different ways. Moreover, it was through this perception that Americans were able "to resolve the conflict between the two most influential strands of republican thought." (See page 187 in the textbook.)

The theme of ideal versus reality recurs in the next section, "Emancipation and the Growth of Racism." Concurrent with the abolition of slavery and the dramatic growth of the free black population in the North, economic, political, and societal realities were imposed on the revolutionary ideal of equality. Consequently, a "coherent racist theory" developed in the United States, with race replacing enslavement as the determinant of the status of blacks.

In designing republican governments, the ideal called for written constitutions designed to prevent tyranny by properly distributing and limiting governmental power. At first it seemed that the ideal could be achieved by concentrating power in the hands of the legislature, but this led to the reality of weak political units. From this reality new ideas emerged, such as the concept of a balance of power among three coequal branches of government.

In the Confederation Congress, the ideal of weak central government was juxtaposed against the reality of monetary and diplomatic problems. The interaction of the two produced political impotence against which even the one "accomplishment" of the Congress, the Northwest Ordinances, must be judged.

This impotence, further emphasized symbolically by Shays's Rebellion, led to the Constitutional Convention and the writing of the Constitution. A new realism, evident in the debates among the delegates and in the compromises they reached, was present at this convention. But idealism was not dead. The delegates retained the ideal of the sovereignty of the people and embodied that ideal in the opening words of the document they wrote: "We the people of the United States." They also accepted new ideals that had emerged from experience, and these became the "key to the Constitution." However, a new realism tempered these ideals, and that, too, is apparent in the first sentence of the Constitution: "in order to form a more perfect union." This phrase suggests the delegates' realization that they had not created the perfect society-a realism also seen in the ratification debates.

Learning Objectives

1. Examine the varieties of republicanism that emerged in the new American republic.
2. Examine the impact of revolutionary ideology on :
   
   1. literature and the fine arts.
   2. educational practice.
   3. gender roles and the family.
   4. African Americans.
   5. the development of racist theory.
3. Discuss the growth of the free African American population and the reaction of black Americans to life in a racist society.
4. Examine the evolution of constitutional theories of government at the state level during the republic's early years.
5. Discuss the problems faced by the Confederation Congress, and assess its handling of those problems.
6. Examine the forces that led to the calling of the Constitutional Convention.
7. Discuss the characteristics of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, and examine the role played by James Madison.
8. Discuss the major disagreements that emerged in the drafting of the Constitution, and indicate how those disagreements were resolved.
9. Explain the basic provisions and the underlying principles of the Constitution of the United States.
10. Discuss the debate over ratification of the Constitution, and explain why the Federalist forces prevailed.

Chapter Outline

Introduction

Americans sought to establish a republic based on the concepts of a representative government and a virtuous citizenry. Problems existed, however, because people understood the fragility of republics and they realized many problems needed resolution to ensure the survival of the nation.

1. Creating a Virtuous Republic
   
   1. Varieties of Republicanism
   2. Educational Reform
   3. Judith Sargent Murray and Women's Education
   4. Abigail Adams: "Remember the Ladies"
   5. Women's Role in the Republic
2. The First Emancipation and the Growth of Racism
   
   1. Emancipation and Manumission
   2. Growth of Free Black Population
   3. Migration to Northern Cities
   4. Development of Racist Theory
   5. A Republic for White Men Only
3. Designing Republican Governments
   
   1. Drafting of State Constitutions
   2. Limits on State Government
   3. Rewriting the State Constitutions
   4. Articles of Confederation
   5. Trials of the Confederation
4. Order and Disorder in the West
   
   1. Relations with the Indians
   2. Ordinances of 1784 and 1785
   3. Northwest Ordinance
   4. War in the Old Northwest
5. From Crisis to the Constitution
   
   1. Economic Change
   2. Annapolis Convention
   3. Shays's Rebellion
   4. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
   5. James Madison: Father of the Constitution
   6. Virginia and New Jersey Plans
6. The Debates
   
   1. Houses of Congress
   2. Slavery and Representation
   3. Role of presidency
   4. Separation of Powers
7. Opposition and Ratification
   
   1. Federalists
   2. Antifederalists
   3. Importance of a Bill of Rights
   4. Ratification of the Constitution
   5. Celebrating Ratification

Your notes should include these terms:

1. the Carlisle riots
2. Federalists
3. Antifederalists
4. self-sacrificing ("Adamsian") republicanism
5. economic ("Hamiltonian") republicanism
6. egalitarian ("Painean") republicanism
7. The Power of Sympathy
8. The Contrast
9. Life of Washington
10. Gilbert Stuart, Charles Wilson Peale, and John Trumbull
11. the Society of the Cincinnati
12. public elementary schools
13. Judith Sargent Murray
14. Abigail Adams
15. revolutionary ideology vs. slavery
16. growth of the free black population
17. the Brown Fellowship Society
18. the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church
19. postrevolutionary racist theory
20. Benjamin Banneker
21. postrevolutionary state constitutions
22. the Articles of Confederation
23. Articles 4 and 5 of the 1783 Treaty of Paris
24. the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Hopewell
25. the Northwest Ordinances
26. Little Turtle
27. the Battle of Fallen Timbers
28. the Treaty of Greenville
29. the Annapolis Convention
30. Shays' Rebellion
31. the Constitutional Convention
32. James Madison
33. "Vices of the Political System of the United States"
34. the principle of checks and balances
35. the Virginia Plan
36. the New Jersey Plan
37. the three-fifths compromise
38. the Constitution's slave-trade clause and fugitive-slave clause
39. the electoral college
40. the separation of powers
41. Federalists
42. Antifederalists
43. Letters of a Federal Farmer
44. The Federalist

Class Activities

1. Have students make oral presentations on the three variations of republicanism described in the textbook.
2. Assign students the task of analyzing the thirteen state constitutions, and declarations of rights, in force in 1789. Conduct a roundtable discussion on the similarities and differences among the states. Examine the federal Constitution in light of the state documents.
3. Assign groups of students to examine the major compromises found in the Constitution. Let each group lead a discussion on the different issues involved, how delegates resolved those differences, and, to the best of their knowledge, what effect those compromises had on the young republic.

Discussion Questions

1. What did Americans mean by a "virtuous republic"? What precedence for this concept existed in colonial America? Are there any inherent problems or contradictions in the concept? How did Americans go about establishing the virtuous republic? Did they achieve their goals?
2. How did republicanism affect minorities in America? What role did women play in republican society? Children? African Americans? How did the majority, that is, white males, reconcile any paradoxes between republican ideology and social realities?
3. How did the Articles of Confederation reflect the colonial experience in America? Did the Confederation achieve any positive results? What and how? Discuss the shortcomings of the Articles.
4. What specific problems led the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia? What economic issues did the Confederation fail to resolve? What diplomatic concerns? Are there other domestic problems that the Confederation could not redress?
5. Does the Constitution advance any group over the interests of others? What interests does the Constitution protect? Are there any interests the Constitution ignores? Does the document have any flaws? If so, what? If so, how has it survived for so long?