Key Concept 3.2 - The American Revolution's democratic and republican ideals inspired new experiments with different forms of government.
- How did Enlightenment ideas influence the American Revolution?
- How was power distributed?
- How were American traditions established?
How did Enlightenment ideas influence the American Revolution?
Enlightenment ideas were instrumental towards building support against British imperialism. The natural rights of man by John Locke had inspired the patriots to believe that they deserved the right to actual representation over virtual representation. Another example of this was the American abandonment of the primogeniture in Britain. Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence both also expressed the idea that people deserve the right to impact their government and praised the republican form of governments. These Enlightenment ideas gave birth to America's ideals calling for more equality and celebration of personal achievement.
As these ideas float around American society, people called for increased rights in the new governments. In Pennsylvania, they passed the Gradual Abolition Act and continued their religious tolerance. Furthermore, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had made the new states in the Ohio territory slave free. In the Constitution, they had stayed away from abolishing slavery outright, but had created a clause which banned the the Atlantic Slave trade by 1808. Also in the Constitution was the addition of the Bill of Rights to guarantee people basic rights.
For women, Enlightenment ideas had held them responsible for raising a responsible citizens for the nation. This is called "Republican Motherhood," and while not able to hold property or have voting rights, this new culture around women was a big step up for women in politics. Some outspoken women, like Abigail Adams, pushed for women's suffrage but it was unsuccessful. However, women gained a bit more presence in American politics with this advancement.
From America's strong expression of Enlightenment ideas and creation of a Republican government, ideas like the Declaration of Independence influenced other Atlantic Revolutions, namely the French Revolution under Napoleon Bonaparte, the Haitian Revolution under Toussaint L'Overture, and many smaller led campaigns in South America.
How was power distributed?
Before the Constitution, America had created a loose linkage of State Constitutions known as the Articles of Confederation. Under these State constitutions, there was a large focus on the legislative branch to avoid a single person with more power. With little centralized power, the fear of the maSses compelled them to require land ownership for voting. However, the Articles of Confederation faced many difficulties without centralized power. Due to autonomous states, there were currencies unique to each state, lack of ability to trade between states due to tariffs to repay war debts, and lack of power to negotiate foreign relations like dealing with Natives, the Spanish control over Mississippi River, and the trade with Britain. All of these crumbled in wake of Shays' Rebellion, which showed that America needs a stronger centralized government.
When called into the Constitutional Convention, there were many problems to be resolved. To make sure the government didn't become over powered, they hinged on Federalism, a separation of powers between States and National governments. They had also broken up three branches of separate powers, the Judicial branch, Legislative branch, and the Executive branch, all of which have checks and balances to other branches to guarantee no abuse of power. However, legislative representation was largely contested. If it is based on population, wouldn't the small states be silenced? If it was equal representation, wouldn't the populations of larger states feel less valued? To solve this, the Connecticut Compromise was created to create a bicameral legislative body, one by population and one with equal representation. To balance the powers of the masses, the House of Representatives had direct elections while the Senate had elections by state legislative bodies. Another problem was whether African American slaves would count towards the House of Representatives. Southern plantation owners wanted them to count to raise the representation of their state while Northern states did not want it due to the lesser amounts of slaves there. So, they created the 3/5 compromise to settle it.
In trying to ratify the new Constitution, many people were reluctant, believing that there was too much centralized power and a lack of personal rights. Federalists advocated for the ratification, such as Hamilton and Madison, and Anti-Federalists opposed the ratification. The Federalists guaranteed the Bill of Rights and created the Federalist papers to swing the opinions. From this, the Constitution was ratified.
How were American traditions established?
In the early presidencies of Washington and Adams, the power of the executive branch was clarified. American traditions emerged such as the two term presidency, creation of the Executive branch Cabinet, and the Bank of the United States. Furthermore, Washington's Farewell Address had set the American tradition of staying away from foreign alliances.
Another massive American tradition was the emergence of party politics. Early on, the Federalist party emerged against the Democratic Republicans. Federalists favored a stronger centralized government, trade with Britain, loose interpretation of the elastic clause as seen with the Bank, which was not explicitly stated in the constitution. Democratic Republicans favored a weaker centralized government, as can be seen by the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions to nullify the Alien and Sedition acts, supported the French as they saw it as an extension of the American revolution, and had a strict interpretation of the elastic clause.
Slavery was also starting to emerge as a long-term American tension. The North had growing sentiments against slavery while the South had increasingly supported the institution.
New American art forms emerged, most prominently in the architecture of Jefferson's home, Monticello, and the construction of D.C.