FONER CHAPTER 6
Discussion of Freedoms
What changes occurred due to the Revolution? (Impact)
To what degree was the Revolution a radical one? (In what ways…)
Social Political Economic IntellectualTo what degree do state government
reflect the ideals of the revolution?
Essential Questions:
Freedom - Economic
“free labor” replaces indenture & apprenticeship (not republican)
Greater contrast – slavery & freedom Emphasis on equality (of opportunity) Land = access to opportunity and freedom Smith- The Wealth of Nations – “invisible
hand” – capitalist base of USTwo visions of economic freedom – public
welfare or individual rights (and best way to achieve)
Freedom - Religious
Separation of church and state Free exercise – both idea in First AmendmentReligion still seen as needed for public
morality & virtue – Christianity favored Religious pluralism and diversity becomes the
pattern
Freedom - Indians
Loss of BOP ability, loss of land, loss of independence and culture
Freedom came to mean protection of land, culture and independence
In NW Ordinance – land not taken w/o consent – but ……
No citizenship Nations and treaty system = method to take
land Assimilation goal – Five Civilized tribes Battle of Fallen Timbers; Treaty of Greenville
1795
Freedom – African Americans
Ideas of universal rights – freedoms – D of I Freedom petitions – Quok Walker case Free black communities Gradual emancipation - neonatal
emancipation Some states gave right to political
participation “citizens of color” Constitution – “other persons” (later Dred
Scott Case)
Freedom – Loyalists
Represented all classes – 20-25% - revealed class tensions
Feared anarchy and disorderLand confiscated – not compensated postwar
(elites generally purchased) 100,000-110,000 left Pattern – freedom of expression –
speech/press limited during crisis period ( new internal enemies)
Republican Principles: Political
Innovations/ChangesIncreased role for legislature;
decreased power of executive Written constitutions w/ Bill of Rights Separation of powersDecreased property qualifications to
voteMore balanced representation of the
backcountry in legislaturesAmending process
Republican Principles: Social Innovations/Changes
No aristocracy – merit, egalitarianism Separation of church and stateAnti-slavery movement begins – Quok
Walker caseWomen’s education and literacy;
some legal rights – “Republican Motherhood”
Sense of opportunity economically Sense of right to political
participationFirst labor organizations and major
strikes - class
Limitations: African Americans – tension
between liberty and equality Property critical – gain status, wealth Propertyless = dangerous; thus free
propertyless blacks = danger to white liberty
Limitations on importation of slaves both N and S
By 1800 gradual or immediate abolition of slavery in the N
Slavery no longer national institution – becomes southern institution –”peculiar”
Intensified sectional developments and differences