Give Me Liberty - Eric Foner Chapter 7 Summary PDF

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General outline from chapter 7 of Give Me Liberty! by Eric Foner...

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June and July of 1788, civic leaders organized colorful pageants to celebrate the ratification of the Constitution ○ Rich and poor participated ○ Important role of artisans⎯secured place in public sphere United States would be “an empire of liberty” bound by ideals of Declaration of Independence ○ Exceeded size of Great Britain, Spain, and France combined ○ Physical isolation from Old World ○ Broad distribution of property and literacy Some negative aspects ○ Areas west of Appalachians remained in Indian hands ○ British retained military posts ○ Extremely rural (29/30 lived in areas with less than 8,000 inhabitants)

1. The Articles of Confederation ● First frame of government for the United States; in effect from 1781 to 1788, it provided for a weak central authority and was soon replaced by the Constitution ○ Balance need for national coordination of the War of Independence with fear of centralized power (danger to liberty) ○ More of a treaty for mutual defense (“firm league of friendship”) ○ States retained individual “sovereignty, freedom, and independence” ● National government ○ One-house congress ■ 1 vote per states (regardless of population) ■ No president to enforce laws ■ No judiciary to interpret laws ■ Major decision required approval of nine states ○ Only powers granted to national government were those essential to independence ■ Declare war ■ Conduct foreign affairs ■ Make treaties ○ Had no financial resources ■ Could coin money ■ Lacked power to tax or regulate commerce ■ Revenue came from individual state contributions ○ Amending Articles required unanimous consent of states ○ Established national control over land west of 13 states

Originally, VA, Connecticut, Carolinas claimed a lot of western land ● Ceded claims in the name of national unity 2. Congress and the West ● Congress’ position was that Indians, by aiding the British, forfeited their right to land between states and Mississippi River ○ No distinction was made among tribes that sided with British, patriots, or were neutral ○ Indians surrendered their land at peace conferences at demand of state representatives ● Confederation gov’t was conflicted on what to do with western land ○ Some believed economic health required farmers to have land ○ Some believed land sales as a potential revenue source 3. Settlers and the West ● Large population movement from settled parts of original states to frontier areas (upstate NY and across Appalachian Mountains to Kentucky and Tennessee) ○ To settlers, the right to to western lands was an essential element of American freedom ■ Did not care about Indian land titles ■ Urged government to set a low price on public land or give it away ■ Occupied land they did not own ○ Leaders ■ Feared flow of population across mountains would provoke conflicts with Indians ■ Saw frontier settlers as disorderly and lacking respect for authority 4. The Land Ordinances ● : a law drafted by Thomas Jefferson that regulated land ownership and defined the terms by which western land would be marketed and settled ○ Established stages of self-government for the West ○ First, Congress would govern a territory ○ Then, territory would be admitted to the Union as a full state ○ Congress rejected a clause that would have banned slavery in the west by a single vote ● : a law that regulated land sales in the Old Northwest (north of Ohio River). The land surveyed was divided into 640-acre plots and sold at $1 per acre ○ One section would be set aside to provide funds for public education in each township ○ Settlers violated rules by moving westward before surveys were completed ● Minimum price ($640) put land out of financial reach of most settlers ○ Ended up buying smaller parcels from speculators and land companies ○ 1787, Congress sold large tracts to private groups ○ Settlers pressed for reduction in land price (until Homestead Act of 1862) ■

: law that created the Northwest Territory (north of Ohio River and West of PA), established conditions for self-government and statehood, included a Bill of rights, and permanently prohibited slavery ○ Area north of Ohio River and east of Mississippi River to be divided into 3-5 states ○ : the idea, expressed by Jefferson, that the United States would not rule its new territories as colonies, but rather would eventually admit them as full member states ○ Indian land would not be taken without consent ■ Assumed treaties, purchase, or voluntary removal would occur ○ Slavery prohibited ■ Owners still bought slaves saying they voluntarily signed long-term labor contracts 5. The Confederation’s Weaknesses ● Worsening economic problems (government and citizens) ○ To finance War, Congress borrowed large sums of money ■ Sold interest-bearing bonds ■ Paid soldiers and suppliers in notes to be redeemed in the future ■ Unable to pay either due to lack of secure revenue ○ American ships barred from trading with the West Indies b/c no longer in British empire ○ Imported goods took over market ■ Undercut business of many craftsmen ■ Lowered wages ■ Drained money ● 1784, Empress of China set sail for Canton ○ First ship carrying American flag ○ Carried furs, wine, Spanish silver dollars, American ginseng ○ Returned with silk, tea, Chinese porcelain (aka “China”) ○ Investors turned huge profit ○ Still couldn’t compensate for losing West Indies and trading market ● States adopted their own economic policies (b/c Congress couldn’t act) ○ Some imposed tariff duties (taxes) on imported goods ○ States printed large sums of paper money ■ Increased currency circulation ■ Individuals could pay their debts ○ Others enacted laws postponing debt collection ■ Creditors considered this an attack on their property rights 6. Shay’s Rebellion ● : Attempt by MA farmer Daniel Shays and 1,200 compatriots, seeking debt relief through issuance of paper currency and lower taxes, to prevent courts from seizing property from indebted farmers ●

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Indebted farmers closed courts to prevent seizures of their land for failure to pay taxes ■ Called themselves “regulators” Modeled tactics on the crowd activities of the 1760s and 1770s Governor James Bowdoin dispatched an army ■ Rebels dispersed in January 1787 with more than 1,000 arrested Persuaded influential group that national government must be strengthened so it could ■ Develop uniform economic policies ■ Protect property owners from infringements on their rights

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Private liberty (secure property rights) could be endangered by public liberty (unchecked power in the hands of the people) Nationalists of the 1780s Nationalists ○ Supporters of stronger national government ■ Included James Madison and Alexander Hamilton ○ Critics of the Articles ○ Army officers, members of Congress accustomed to working with individuals from different states, diplomats Economic interest desired a stronger national government ○ Bondholders: could not be paid while Congress lacked revenue ○ Urban artisans: seeked tariff protection from foreign imports ○ Merchants: desired access to British markets ○ All who feared the states were interfering with property rights September 1786, delegates from 6 states met at Annapolis, ML ○ Considered how to better regulate interstate and international commerce ○ Proposed another meeting in Philly to amend Articles ■ May 1787, all but RI assembled⎼decided to scrap Articles and draft Constitution ■

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: meeting in Philadelphia, May 25-September 17, 1787, of representatives from 12 colonies (except RI) to revise the existing Articles of Confederation; the convention soon resolved to produce an entirely new constitution ○ George Washington, George Mason, and Benjamin Franklin (Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, serving as diplomats in Europe, did not take part) ○ 1/10 of 1% of Americans attended college ■ More than half the delegates had college educations 1. The Structure of Government ● New Constitution ●

Legislature, an executive, and a national judiciary Congress would have power to raise money without relying on states States could not infringe on rights of property Government would represent the people ● : Virginia’s delegation to the Constitutional Convention’s plan for a strong central government and a two-house legislature apportioned by population ○ Presented by James Madison ● Smaller states, fearing the populous VA, MA and PA would dominate new government rallied behind the ○ Single house Congress in which each state casts one vote ● : a two-house Congress consisting of a Senate in which each state had two members, and a House of Representatives apportioned according to population ○ Senators chosen by state legislatures for six-year terms ■ Protected from sudden shifts in public opinion ○ Representatives were to be elected every two years by the people 2. The Limits of Democracy ● House of Representatives represented an expansion of democracy ● Constitution did not impose property or religious qualifications for voting ○ States set voting rules ● New structure of government was less than democratic; delegates: ○ Sought to shield national government from alarming popular enthusiasms ○ Wanted to ensure the right kind of man held office ■ Assumed Senate would be composed of each state’s most distinguished citizens ■ HoR was small⎼assumed only prominent individuals could win elections ● Delegates did not provide for direct election of either federal judges or the president ○ Supreme court members appointed by president for life terms ○ President chosen by electoral college or HoR ■ Electors would be well-educated individuals better qualified than ordinary voters ● Delegates devised system of indirect election b/c they did not trust ordinary voters to choose ○ Each elector casts votes for two candidates for president ○ Second-place becomes vice president ○ If no candidate received majority ■ President would be chosen out of top 3 by HoR, with each state casting one vote ■ Senate would elect vice president 3. The Division and Separation of Powers ● Constitution is sparse and only provides the briefest outline of new government structure ○ Embodies two basic political principles ○ ○ ○ ○

: a system of government in which power is divided between the central government and the states ○ Constitution significantly strengthened national authority ○ : enforce law and command military ○ : levy taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce, declare war, deal with foreign nations and Indians, and promote the “general welfare” ○ barred from issuing paper money, impairing contracts, interfering with interstate commerce, levying their own import or export duties ■ Left to states: education and law enforcement ● : a systematic balance to prevent any one branch of the national government dominating the other two ○ enacts laws, but president can veto, and a two-thirds majority is required to pass legislation over his objection ○ are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate ■ To ensure independence, judges serve for life ○ can be impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate for “high crimes and misdemeanors” 4. The Debate over Slavery ● The words “slave” and “slavery” do not appear in the original Constitution ○ Delegates feared they would “contaminate the glorious fabric of American liberty” ● Constitution contained protections for slavery ○ Prohibited Congress from abolishing importation of slaves for 20 years ○ Required states to return fugitive slaves to their owners ○ : ⅗ of the slave population would be counted in determining each state’s representation in the HoR and its electoral votes for president ● SC’s delegates had powerful impact on Constitution regarding slavery ○ Originated fugitive slave cause and the electoral college ○ Insisted on strict limits on Congress’ power to levy taxes, fearing taxes on slavery ○ Threatened disunion if Atlantic slave trade was prohibited immediately 5. Slavery in the Constitution ● Constitution’s slavery clauses were compromises ○ Clause allowed commerce, condemned by civilized society, to continue until 1808 ○ January 1, 1808⎼Congress prohibited further importation of slaves ■ During the 20 years, 170,000 Africans were brought ● Replace slaves who escaped with Britain ● Provide labor for the expansion of slavery to fertile land away from coast ● accorded slave laws “ ”: condition of bondage remained attached to a person even if they escaped to a state where slavery had been abolished ○ Did not say who was responsible for capturing fugutive slaves ○ Did not say what judicial procedures would be used to return them to bondage ●

Constitution gave national government no power to interfere with slavery in the states 3/5ths clause gave South far greater power in national affairs than the size of its free pop. warranted ○ Enhanced number of southern voters in HoR and electoral college ○ 12 of the first 16 elections (1788-1848) put southern slave holders in White House ● Threat to slavery: new govenrment might take steps to arm and liberate slaves 6. The Final Document ● Governor Morris put finishing touches on final draft of Constitution ○ “We the people of the United States” ○ Purposes of Constitution: “establish justice”, promote “the general welfare”, and “secure the blessings of liberty” ● 39/45 delegates signed document despite its imperfections at the urging of Ben Franklin ● Constitution created a new framework for American development ○ National economic market ○ National political institutions ○ Reduced powers of states ○ Sought to place limits on popular democracy ● ●

1. The Federalist ● Each state held an election for delegates to a ratifying convention ○ Public battle ensued, producing hundreds of pamphlets and newspapers articles ■ : collection of 85 essays that appeared in the New York press in 1787-1788 in support of the Constitution; written by Alexander Hamlton, James Madison, and John Jay and published under the pseudonym “Publius” ● Hamilton and Madison: Rather than posing danger to Ameircans’ liberties, Constitution protected them ○ Checks and balances and division of power made political tyranny almost impossible 2. “Extend the Sphere” ● Madison’s Federalist essays nos. 10 and 51 ○ Essential dilemma of republic:

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Problem of balancing democracy and protection of property rights would grow ■ Economic development would inevitably increase poor population

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Balance of power and

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In a nation the size of the US, so many distinct interests (economic, regional, political) would arise that no single one would ever be able to take over government and oppress the rest

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3. The Anti-Federalists ● : opponents of the Constitution who saw it as a limitation on individual and states' rights; their demands led to the addition of a Bill of Rights to the document ○ Insisted constitution shifted balance between liberty and power in favor of power ○ Revolutionary heroes: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry ○ Small farmers: supported state debtor relief measures (federalists disapproved) ○ Others: denounced Constitution’s protection of slavery ○ Others: warned powers of Congress were so broad that abolition was possible ● Predicted that new government would fall under sway of merchants, creditors, and others hostile to interests of ordinary Americans ○ Self-government flourished in small communities (rulers & ruled could interact regularly) ○ “Wellborn” would dominate “common people” ● Anti-Federalist watchword: “liberty” ○ Happiness arises from “freedom of institutions” and “limited nature of government” ○ Lack of a : first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791 to guarantee individual rights against infringement by the federal government ■ Trial by jury, freedom of speech and the press ● Madison won support for Constitution by promising the 1st Congress would enact a Bill of Rights ○ Mid-1788, the required nine states ratified Constitution (RI and NC voted against) 4. The Bill of Rights ● Madison believed a Bill of Rights was “redundant or pointless” ○ “Parchment barriers” to abuse of authority would prove least effect when most needed ● Every new state constitution had some kind of declaration of citizens’ rights, so Constitution should also have one ○ 1st Amendment: no legislation regarding religion or infringing on freedom of speech, press or right of assembly ○ 2nd Amendment: right to “keep and bear arms” and a well-regulated militia ○ 9th Amendment: rights not specifically mentioned were “retained by the people” ○ 10th Amendment: powers not left to national government or prohibited to the states continued to reside with the states

Others: prohibited arrests without warrant and testifying against self; reaffirmed right to trial by jury The constitution recognized religious freedom ○ Purely secular doc⎼no reference to God and no religious tests for federal officeholders ○ First Amendment marks complete departure from British and colonial precedent Bill of Rights reinforced idea that concentrated national power posed greatest threat to freedom ○

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1. Who Belongs? The Constitution and American Citizenship ● The creation of the United States required creating “Americans”, those who considered themselves members of the new nation ● The word “citizen” appears several times in the Constitution, but no definition is given ○ “Comity” clause: prohibits states from discriminating between the “privileges and immunities” of their own citizens and those of other states ● Constitution does not require president to be a “natural born citizen” ○ Suggests citizenship derives from birth in the U.S., or from a “naturalization” process ● Debates on who was or was not an American citizen ○ Whites, male and female: assumed to be citizens ○ Slaves and Indian: not citizens ○ Free blacks ■ South: severe restrictions and not citizens ■ North: had basic rights, citizens in some ● Principle of “birthright citizenship” affirmed after Civil War during the Reconstruction Era 2. National Identity ● Constitution identifies 3 populations living in the United States ○ Indians⎼treated as members of independent tribes and not part of the American body politic ○ “Other persons”⎼slaves ○ “The People”⎼only ⅓ were entitled to American freedom ● “Civic nationalism”: community open to all those devoted to its political institutions and values ● “Ethnic nationalism”: community of descent based on shared ethnic heritage, language, and culture ● American nationality was a combination of both 3. Indians in the New Nation ● The government hoped to encourage the westward expansion, implying one of three things ○ 1. The removal of the Indian population to lands even farther west ○ 2. Their total disappearance

3. Their incorporation into white “civilization” with the intent that they may one day become part of American society ● Most white Ameircans deemed Indians to be savages unfit for citizenship ○ Indian tribes had no representation ○ Untaxed Indians not counted in determining each state’s number of congressmen ○ Treaties used to transfer land from Indians to federal government or the states ■ Often agreed to by a small portion of tribe, but whole tribe was forced to accept ● : 1795 treaty under which 12 Indian tribes ceded most of Ohio and Indiana to the federal government, and which also established the “annuity” system ○ Little Turtle of Miami Confederacy defeated Americans in Ohio Valley (costliest defeat) ○ 1794, 3,000 Americans defeated Little Turtle’s forces⎼led directly to treaty ○ : system of yearly payments to Native American tribes by which the federal government justified and institutionalized its interference in Indian tribal affairs ● Some believed Indians were not inferior but just living at a less advanced pace ○ To assimilate them, Congress authorized President Washington to ■ Give agricultural tools and livestock to Indian men ■ Give spinning wheels and looms to Indian women ■ Adoptions of gender norms would be sign of Indians becoming “civilized” ■ Many Indians rejected this⎼freedom meant retaining tribal autonomy & identity 4. Blacks and the Republic ● Stat...