now what do we do? establishing a government sasso us i

Now What Do We Do?Establishing A Government

SassoUS I

What Are We Looking At?

The Treaty of Paris provides us with all of the territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the MS River (excluding Canada & FL)

LOTS of territory to survey, control, and eventually populate

What problems do we face?

How can we go about accomplishing those goals?

Self Government

The concept has always been present on some level in America

As we struggled in war, we also struggled to develop a system to replace the British govt. model

It’s a struggle that will last nearly 15 years, but many important phases were addressed during the Revolution

What exactly are we trying to create?What should our govt. look like?

First Step: Forming State Govts

The formation/amending of state govts got underway around 1776

Most of these “constitutions” reflect a fear of executive power

There is also a great concern about govt. instability by giving the people too much power

It’s a pretty delicate balance to try and findOne thing that all parties agree on: the state and

national govts should be Republican (that doesn’t mean today’s political party)

This would mean all power would derive from the people, as opposed to a supreme authority (king)

Republican Govt

Success of a Republican govt. depends on the nature of its citizens

In theory, if the population consists of independent property owners with “civic virtue”, the govt. should be in good shape

If there are a few powerful aristocrats and a great mass of dependent workers, the govt. may be in trouble (potential for corruption)

Republican Govt

Equality is another part of the equationIn theory, talent and energy would determine role in

societyEquality of opportunity, not conditionInevitably, some will be more wealthy and powerful

than othersIt’s a nice concept, but America is never really like

thatWe already have a huge, dependent labor force

(slaves) with more to comeAmerica never really provides a full equality of

opportunity, nor will we

State Constitutions

11 of 13 states will produce new constitutions by 1780 (CT and RI will not)

Not necessarily smooth sailing, but completion is important 1st basic decision: Constitutions will be written down Seems simple enough, but a pretty big deal We feel that vagueness produces corruption; structure must

be recorded 2nd basic decision: executive power must be limited There is a concerted effort to separate branches of govt. 3rd basic decision: Not going the way of direct popular vote Most states will have an upper and lower legislative house The upper house typically represents a higher order of society

State Constitutions

Initially, state govts are not very effective

Pretty difficult to get tasks accomplished; there might be TOO MUCH democracy

Many states will quickly revise their recently completed work

MA becomes the model MA makes two major

changes◦ #1- Constitutional

Conventions ◦ #2- Strengthening the

executive position

State Constitutions

By this point, most states have moved to true religious freedom and a complete separation of church and state

While religion is no longer an overwhelming issue, slavery is becoming one

Many movements begin to spring up around the country looking to abolish the institution

TJ- “Slavery is like holding a wolf by the ears”

National Govt

National govt. is an entirely different set of issuesMost people believe that govt. at the national level

should be very weakThere is a tremendous fear of monarchyEach state should essentially be its own sovereign

nation Kind of like 13 little countries, instead of 1 big countryThe Articles of Confederation are developed out of

this concept, beginning in 1777Much of the credit for the Articles goes to John

Dickinson (PA)

The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation will serve as our first form of national govt.

Congress will remain the only institution of national authority There is NO EXECUTIVE BRANCH (meaning no steady President) There is NO SUPREME COURT (meaning no national court) Congress will be a unicameral legislature: one house system of

govt. Each state would get 1 vote in Congress 1 state = 1 vote (regardless of size or population) In order to pass any legislation, 9 out of 13 states would have to

agree In order to ratify or amend the Articles, 13 out of 13 states would

have to agree Nearly impossible to make changes to the document

National Power vs. State Power

National Govt State Govts

Create Army/NavyConduct WarsBorrow/Issue $Make Laws

CAN’T regulate tradeCAN’T taxCAN’T draft soldiers

TaxesTrade RegulationDrafting of soldiers

Problems, Problems, Problems…

Lots of disagreements with the legislative setupIt’s great for small states, but horrible for states with a

large populationSmallest states tend to vote in a bloc, and they

outnumber the heavily populated states (7-6)There are also a number of land issues that need to be

resolved before the Articles can be ratifiedThe western land claims of the larger states have to be

addressed before the smaller states will agree to the Articles

Eventually, the larger states will agree to give up all of their western claims to the national govt.


We would really like to stay out of European rivalries, but that’s nearly impossible

Our prosperity depends on tradeWe will ultimately have to develop some

kind of commercial treatiesBUT… we have serious issues with the

British, Spanish, and the Native Americans


Naturally, our relationship with England will be strained

Treaty of Paris will be violated by both England and America

Our goods will no longer receive a preferred position in British markets

They will also try to flood our markets with cheap goods

England will accept an American ambassador (John Adams), but they will refuse to send one in return; not sure if they should send 1 or 13

That’s a slap in the face England would like nothing more

than to see us fail


Spain is not very happy about the large amount of territory that America has acquired

US expansion could greatly threaten Spanish territory

We will have many border disputes

Spain will form alliances with several Native American tribes and encourage them to attack US settlers

Spain will also reject a Right of Deposit request in New Orleans, hampering Americans ability to trade in Western territories


France is not exactly pleased with us either

The American Revolution had hurt them financially; they would like to receive payment for their efforts

America is not in a position to pay France back, and many trade privileges sought by France did not materialize

France is starting to think they got the short end of the stick

They’re probably right


We also have to deal with the presence of the Barbary Pirates

North African pirates who patrol the Mediterranean and Atlantic

They will capture ships and crews of nations who refuse to pay tribute (bribes)

America used to be protected by the British navy and treasury

Those privileges no longer apply, and US ships will be constantly attacked


America has domestic issues as wellThe northeastern states dislike each otherContinually bicker over boundaries and tradeCongress can’t regulate trade, so states will pass

all sorts of unfair trade laws to take advantage of their neighbors

There is no longer a national currency, so each state creates it’s own money and rates of exchange

Kind of ridiculous, but there is nobody to stop them from doing it


Between 1780-1790, the Western population will increase from 2,000 to 100,000

Very tough to meet the needs of these people

Can’t move the British out of their forts

Can’t handle the Spanish No money to buy land or

settle with Native Americans No soldiers to protect them Situation out West can be

utterly lawless

now what do we do? establishing a government sasso us i

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