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Of the People
Chapter 7:
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
Common Threads
>> Which political theories did the American colonists
use to justify their revolution, and how did they
adapt those theories over the course of the next
decades in the light of their experiences?
>> What does Britain’s failure to defeat the colonies
tell us about the limits of empire?
>> How did the doctrine of equality take on a life of its
own?
>> To what extent has the conflict between the
Federalists and the Antifederalists continued to
shape American history?
>> In which ways was the American Revolution
democratic? Not democratic?
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• Overview
– The War Begins
– Winning the Revolution
– The Challenge of the Revolution
– A New Policy in the West
– Creating a New National Government
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• The War Begins
– The First Battles
– Congress Takes the Lead
– Military Ardor
– Declaring Independence
– Creating a National Government
– Creating State Governments
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• Winning the Revolution
– Competing Strategies
– The British on the Offensive: 1776
– A Slow War: 1777–1781
– Securing a Place in the World
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• The Challenge of the Revolution
– The Departure of the Loyalists
– The Challenge of the Economy
– Contesting the New Economy
– Can Women Be Citizens?
– The Challenge of Slavery
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• A New Policy in the West
– The Indians’ Revolution
– The End of the Middle Ground
– Settling the West
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• Creating a New National Government
– A Crippled Congress
– Writing a New Constitution
– Ratifying the Constitution: Politics
– Ratifying the Constitution: Ideas
– Postscript: The Legacy of the Revolution
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• Conclusion
AMERICAN PORTRAIT
James Madison Helps Make a Nation
• “James Madison committed himself to the principles of
liberty and order, and he devoted his life to establishing a
government that would ensure both. Perhaps more than
any other leader at the time, Madison understood how
difficult reconciling these two principles would be.”
– What fundamental human rights did Madison recognize?
– What were Madison’s assumptions about human nature as it
relates to order?
– What problems did Madison see in designing a government that
guaranteed both liberty and order?
The War Begins
“Despite… signs of impending conflict, no one anticipated
eight years of warfare that would make the colonies a
single nation under a centralized government.”
– The First Battles
• Concord and Lexington, 19 April 1775
– Congress Takes the Lead
• What were range of attitudes—radical to conservative—among the
delegates of the 2nd Continental Congress with regard to war
against Britain?
– What events pushed moderate delegates to adopt the radical position?
– Military Ardor
• The Continental Army and the Quebec campaign Summer 1775
The War Begins
– Declaring Independence
• What pivotal role did Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (January
1776) on the Declaration in July?
• Why did Thomas Jefferson insist, years later, that there was nothing
original about the Declaration?
– What was original about it?
– Creating a National Government
• “Although both the public and the state governments acted as if
Congress were a legitimate national government, it actually had no
more authority over the states than they were willing to give it, and it
had none whatsoever over the people.”
• Articles of Confederation
– Creating State Governments
• “In 1776, all attention was focused on state governments, where the
new ideas about liberty, equality, and government were put into
practice.”
Winning the Revolution
• The British entered the war with clear advantages in
population, wealth, and power, but with a flawed premise
about how the war could be won.
– Competing Strategies
• In what ways did both the British and the Americans misplace their
faith in assuming their own side would win a quick and decisive
victory?
– What were the consequences of these overly confident assumptions?
– What were the respective advantages and disadvantages of the
Americans and the British?
– The British on the Offensive: 1776
• British advance: New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia
• Washington’s surprise victories: Trenton and Princeton
– What was “small” and what was “large” about these two victories?
Winning the Revolution
• “The war ultimately became a struggle for the support of
this unpoliticized, local-minded population.”
– A Slow War: 1777–1781
• How did the Battle of Saratoga (Oct. 1777) upset British strategy?
– What major political victory did this battle secure for the Americans?
• What were the qualities of warfare when it reached South Carolina?
– Why did British strategy fail here?
• The end of war: Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781
– Securing a Place in the World
• Treaty of Paris, 1783
– British and American gains
– Allies’ losses
The Challenge of the Revolution
“Radicals and moderates had compromised to
begin and win the Revolution, yet there were
significant disagreements between them that
resurfaced once the fighting ended.”
– The Departure of the Loyalists
• Why did the departure of the Loyalists enhance the
democratizing tendencies of the Revolution?
– The Challenge of the Economy
• “After the war, opportunities for profit and prosperity for some
increased, while a postwar deflation pushed others to the
brink of misery.”
– Contesting the New Economy
• In what ways was Shays’ Rebellion (1786-78) symptomatic of
widespread economic discord in the United States?
The Challenge of the Revolution
– Can Women Be Citizens?
• How did women contribute to the American Revolution?
– How did this contribution alter attitudes about a woman’s
“place” in America?
– The Challenge of Slavery
• What opportunities did African American slaves seize in
Revolutionary America?
• What were the opposing trends in African American freedom
that emerged in the aftermath of war in northern versus
southern states?
A New Policy in the West
• The new nation faced a major challenge in the
West….There was at the time no useful model
that would enable new territories and their
citizens to become equal members of an
expanding, democratic nation.”
– The Indians’ Revolution
• Most frontier Indians sided with the British during the war.
– What was the consequence of this allegiance in the war’s
aftermath?
– The End of the Middle Ground
– Settling the West
• What were the competing white interests—settlers,
speculators, state and federal officials—in Indian lands after
the war?
Creating a New National
Government
“This split between moderate nationalists and
radical localists culminated in the battle over the
Constitution….”
– A Crippled Congress
• What problems did nationalists see with the federal
government as authorized by the Articles of Confederation?
– Writing a New Constitution
• Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787
– Who participated in the Convention?
– How was it conducted?
• Why was the issue of representation so difficult to resolve?
– How was it resolved?
Creating a New National
Government
– Ratifying the Constitution: Politics
• What odds did the Federalists face in gaining the ratification
of the Constitution?
• What political tactics did they employ to achieve ratification?
– Ratifying the Constitution: Ideas
• What were the respective profiles of the Federalists and the
Antifederalists?
– Accordingly, why did the Federalists supported the Constitution,
and the Antifederalists oppose it?
– What were their respective fears vis-à-vis the Constitution?
– Postscript: The Legacy of the Revolution
Creating a New Nation
1775–1788
• Revisiting the Common Threads
>> Which political theories did the American colonists use to
justify their revolution, and how did they adapt those
theories over the course of the next decades in the light of
their experiences?
>> What does Britain’s failure to defeat the colonies tell us
about the limits of empire?
>> How did the doctrine of equality take on a life of its own?
>> To what extent has the conflict between the Federalists
and the Antifederalists continued to shape American
history?
>> In which ways was the American Revolution democratic?
Not democratic?