Chapter 6 THE REPUBLICAN EXPERIMENT
Dec 16, 2015
Chapter 6
THE REPUBLICAN EXPERIMENT
The States: Experiments in Republicanism
• State constitutions served as experiments in republican government
• Lessons later applied to constructing central government
• Major break with England’s unwritten constitution
Natural Rights and the State Constitutions
• State constitutions guaranteed natural rights– Freedom of religion– Freedom of speech– Freedom of the press– Private property– Trial by jury
• Governors weakened• Elected legislatures given most power
Government under Articles of Confederation
• In charge of foreign and Native American relations, military, and disputes between states
Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation
• Articles of Confederation severely limited central government’s authority over states
• Each state had one vote• No executive or judicial branch• No taxing power– States taxed each other’s goods
• Amendments required unanimity• No national currency
Crises of Lack of Power
• Barbary pirates raided ships in Mediterranean• Unable to protect settlers from Indians• Shay’s Rebellion (1787)– Tax revolt of indebted veterans– Symbolized breakdown in law and order as
perceived by propertied classes
• Strengthened support for new central government
Northwest Ordinance: The Confederation’s Major Achievement• Land Ordinance– Orderly division of land into sections and
townships– One section set aside to finance school system– Banned slavery in NW territory
• Provided for eventual statehood of new lands
Northwest Territory
Land Ordinance of 1785
The Nationalist Critique
• Restoration of trade with Britain caused trade deficit and hard currency shortage
• Congress unable to address trade, inflation, and debt
Strengthening Federal Authority
• Dissatisfaction with Articles of Confederation• May 1786—Annapolis Convention agreed to
meet again, revise Articles
Independence Hall