1 Visions of America, A History of the United States

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A Virtuous RepublicCreating a Workable Government, 1783–1789

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1 Visions of America, A History of the United States

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A Virtuous Republic

I. Republicanism and the Politics of Virtue

II. Life under the Articles of Confederation

III. The Movement for Constitutional Reform

IV. The Great Debate

CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783–1789

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Republicanism and the Politics of Virtue

A. George Washington: The American Cincinnatus

B. The Politics of Virtue: Views from the States

C. Democracy Triumphant?

D. Debtors versus Creditors

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George Washington: The American Cincinnatus

Why did Americans believe Washington was the modern Cincinnatus?

What was the Newburgh conspiracy?

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How did change in furniture design reflect the influence of republican ideas?

Why was education so important to the Founders of the American Republic?

The Politics of Virtue: Views from the States

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How did republican ideas change notions about women’s roles?

Images as HistoryWOMEN’S ROLES: TRADITION AND CHANGE

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13 Visions of America, A History of the United States

Images as HistoryWOMEN’S ROLES: TRADITION AND CHANGE

The text that accompanied this image advised: “Keep within Compass and You shall be sure to avoid many troubles which others endure.”

The woman stepping outside the compass (at bottom) faces arrest and imprisonment.

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Images as HistoryWOMEN’S ROLES: TRADITION AND CHANGE

The large building at the top is The College of Rhode Island (today's Brown University).

The central text reads: "Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee."

The central image is the Rhode Island State House.

Democracy Triumphant?

Why did many supporters of republicanism fear democracy?

Why did William Smith’s portrait cast him as a country gentleman rather than an urban merchant?

How did the composition of the state legislatures change after the American Revolution?

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Life under the Articles of Confederation

A. No Taxation without Representation

B. Diplomacy: Frustration and Stalemate

C. Settling the Old Northwest

D. Shays’s Rebellion

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Life under the Articles of Confederation

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail to give the Confederation Congress the power to tax?

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Life under the Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation – America’s first constitutional government in effect from 1781–1788

– Created a weak decentralized form of government that lacked the power to tax and compel state obedience to treaties it negotiated

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No Taxation without Representation

Diplomacy: Frustration and Stalemate

What diplomatic frustrations hampered the new American nation?

What was the theory of conquest, and how did it influence diplomatic relations with Native American peoples?

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Diplomacy: Frustration and Stalemate

Old Northwest – The region of the new nation bordering on the Great Lakes

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Settling the Old Northwest

What republican features distinguish the Northwest Ordinance?

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Settling the Old Northwest

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – One of several laws adopted by the Confederation Congress designed to provide a plan for the orderly settlement of the Northwest Territory (the area north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania)

– Provided a plan for self-governance– Prohibited slavery from the Northwest

Territory

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Shays’s Rebellion

What was Shays’s Rebellion?

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Shays’s Rebellion

Shays’s Rebellion – Uprising in western Massachusetts in which farmers organized themselves as local militia units and closed down courts to prevent their farms from being seized by creditors

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The Movement for Constitutional Reform

A. The Road to Philadelphia

B. Large States versus Small States

C. Conflict over Slavery

D. Filling out the Constitutional Design

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The Road to Philadelphia

Large States versus Small States

What were the main features of the Virginia Plan?

Why did small states oppose the Virginia Plan?

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Large States versus Small States

Virginia Plan – A plan framed by James Madison and introduced in the Constitution Convention by Edmund Randolph that called on delegations to abandon the government of the Articles and create a new, strong national government

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Large States versus Small States

New Jersey Plan – Proposal made by William Patterson of New Jersey as an alternative to the more nationalistic Virginia Plan that would have retained the principle of state equality in the legislature embodied in the Articles of Confederation

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Large States versus Small States

Great Compromise – Compromise plan proposed by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut that called for equal representation of each state in the upper house and a lower house based on population

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Conflict over Slavery

How did the conflict over slavery shape the debates of the Constitutional Convention?

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Filling out the Constitutional Design

How did the electoral college strengthen the powers of the states and further the ideals of republicanism?

What were the most important differences between the federal Constitution and the typical state constitutions of this period?

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The Great Debate

A. Federalists versus Anti-Federalists

B. Ratification

C. The Creation of a Loyal Opposition

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Federalists versus Anti-Federalists

Why did Federalist and Anti-Federalist authors adopt names such as Publius and Brutus?

How does The Looking Glass for 1787 portray the Anti-Federalists?

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Federalists versus Anti-Federalists

Federalists – The name adopted by the supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger centralized government

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Federalists versus Anti-Federalists

Anti-Federalists – The name applied to opponents of the Constitution who insisted that they, not their opponents, were the true supporters of the ideal of federalism

– Opposed weakening the power of the states– Feared that the Constitution yielded too much

power to the new central government

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45 Visions of America, A History of the United States

The Anti-Federalist Brutus defended the traditional idea that a free republic could survive only in a small area in which the people shared the same values, culture, and history.

Why did Brutus and Publius differ about the relationship between size and republicanism?

As Publius, James Madison argued that by increasing the number of factions and expanding the size of the republic, it would be less likely for any one faction to further its agenda and dominate politics.

Competing VisionsBRUTUS AND PUBLIUS DEBATE THE NATURE OF REPUBLICANISM

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Ratification

Why did urban artisans support the Constitution?

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Choices and Consequences

• By the time New York’s ratification convention met, nine states had already ratified the Constitution, making it the new law of the land.

• If New York failed to ratify it would be excluded from the new nation surrounding it.

• Moderate Anti-Federalists, such as Melancton Smith, were key swing voters in the ratification convention.

TO RATIFY OR NOT

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Choices and Consequences

Choices Regarding Ratification

TO RATIFY OR NOT

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Support the Constitution with the promise that

the first Congress would amend it

Support the Constitution

provisionally until it was amended, but consider seceding from the Union if

amendments were not made

Block ratification

Choices and Consequences

Decision and Consequences• Melancton Smith chose to support the Constitution with the

promise of amendments.• New York ratified the Constitution and became the eleventh state

in the Union.• The decision put more pressure on Rhode Island and North

Carolina to ratify or become isolated.• The decision gave impetus to the move to amend the

Constitution after ratification, and the First Congress enacted the Bill of Rights.

TO RATIFY OR NOT

Why did New York Anti-Federalists compromise on the question of amendments?

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Choices and Consequences

Continuing Controversies

•Why did New York Anti-Federalists accept the Constitution and wait for amendments?

TO RATIFY OR NOT

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The Creation of a Loyal Opposition

Why was there no anti-Constitution movement after ratification?

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