republican ideology
civic virtue, republican motherhood
civic virtue
democracy depended on the unselfish commitment of each citizen to the public good; part of republican ideology
disestablishment
Anglican church was disestablished everywhere (even after it changed its name to Protestant Episcopal Church)
common good
the good of the community; reached by civic virtue
Society of the Cincinnati
an exclusive hereditary order formed by the Continental Army officers; their lordly pretensions were ridiculed by most Americans
state constitutions (as "laboratories of democracy")
Continental Congress called upon states in 1776 to make their own constitutions; sovereignty of states rested on authority of people; Massachusetts special (had special committee to write it and then submitted to people for ratification, could only be cha
Articles of Confederation- successes and failures
failures- no international credit, states refused to pay taxes, interstate disputes, federal government couldn't regulate commerce, Shay's Rebellion; successes- no monarchy, outlined general powers of central government (making treaties and establishing a
western lands question
why not turn the whole western area over to the central government?; states without western lands had fought equally as hard for American Independence and states with western lands could use them to pay off debt
Lard Ordinance of 1785
the acreage of the Old Northwest was sold adn the proceeds went to pay off national debt; area was to be surveyed before sale and settlement; divided into townships six miles square, split into thirty-six sections; sixteenth section set aside to be sold f
Northwest Ordinance
governance of western lands; two evolutionary territorial stages, during which the area was subordinate to federal government; when a territoy had sixty thousand inhabitants, it could be admitted by Congress as a state, with all the privileges of the thir
Shay's Rebellion
uprising in Massachusetts in 1786; impoverished backcountry farmers, many veterans of Revolutionary War, were losing farms through mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquincies; led by Captain Daniel Shays (veteran of Revolution) they demanded that the stat
New Jersey (small-state) plan
equal representation in a unicameral Congress by states, regardless of size and population
Virginia (large-state) plan
representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress hsould be based on population
Great Compromise
larger states were conceded representation by population in the House of Representatives and the smaller states were appeased by equal representation in the Senate
three-fifths compromise
as a compromise between total representation and none at all, it was decided that a slave might count as "three-fifths of a person
bundle of compromises
compromises reached before ratifying the Constitution; the Great Compromise, the "three-fifths compromise", Electoral college or popular vote for presidential election, three branches of government with checks and balances
conservative and progressive (democratic) elements of Constitution
conservative- demanded sound money and the protection of private property, favored a stronger government with three branches and with checks among them, feared manood-suffrage democracy; democratic- the only legitimate government was one based on the cons
Constitution of the United States
the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states
Federalists
lead by George Washington and Benjamin Franklin; had power and influence; primarily lived on seaboard and were richer, more educated, and better organized than Anti-Federalists; controlled the press
Anti-Federalists
lead by Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee; states-rights devotees, backcountry dwellers, and one-horse famers (poorest classes); thought of Constitution as a plot by the upper crust to steal poer back from the common folk
ratification process
the ratification of the Constitution required only nine of the thirteen states (not unanimity, like the Articles of Confederation)
The Federalist (Federalist Papers)
written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison; a masterly series of articles for the New York newspapers (commentary on the Consitution; most famous is Madison's No. 10 (refuted the idea that it was impossible to extend a republican form of g
separation of powers
the division of power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government
Constitutional Convention
Beginning on May 25, 1787, the convention recommended by the Annapolis Convention was held in Philadelphia. All of the states except Rhode Island sent delegates, and George Washington served as president of the convention. The convention lasted 16 weeks,
Bill of Rights
a statement of fundamental rights and privileges (especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution)
James Madison
dubbed "the Father of the Constitution"; one of the writers of the Federalist Papers
Alexander Hamilton
New Yorker that saved the convention at Annapolis from failure by engineering the adoption of his report (called upon Congress to summon a convention in Philadelphia the next year); favored a much stronger central government than in the Constitution, but
John Jay
one of the writers of the Federalist Papers
Richard Henry Lee
one of the leading Anti-Federalists
George Washington
unanimously elected chairman of the Constitutional Convention; one of the leading Federalists
republican motherhood
selfless devotion of a mother to her family was often cited as the very lmodel of proper republican behavior; elevated women to a newly prestigious role as the special keepers of the nation's conscience