Constitution
1750s-1810s
“America guided by wisdom An allegorical representation of the United States depicting their independence and prosperity,” 1815. This print reflects the sense of triumph many white Americans felt following the War of 1812. Drawing from the visual language of Jeffersonian Republicans, we see America—represented as a woman in classical dress—surrounded by gods of wisdom, commerce, and agriculture on one side and a statue of George Washington emblazoned with the recent war’s victories on the other. The romantic sense of the United States as the heir to the ancient Roman republic, pride in military victory, and the glorification of domestic production contributed to the idea the young nation was about to enter an “era of good feelings.”
Contents
Constitution, 1750s-1810s:
Towards Independence
This iconic image of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere sparked fury in both Americans and the British by portraying the redcoats as brutal slaughterers and the onlookers as helpless victims. The events of March 5, 1770 did not actually play out as Revere pictured them, yet his intention was not simply to recount the affair. Revere created an effective propaganda piece that lent credence to those demanding that the British authoritarian rule be stopped. Paul Revere (engraver), “The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.,” 1770.
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The Bostonian Paying the Excise-Man, 1774 British propaganda print referring to the tarring and feathering a of British tax collector. The men also poured hot tea down his throat. Note the noose hanging on the Liberty Tree and the Stamp Act posted upside-down.
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Paul Revere, Landing of the Troops, c. 1770
Teapots such as this were made for sale to the American market soon after the 1766 repeal of the hated Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The Stamp Act required American colonists to pay a tax on all printed materials—from documents to playing cards.
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Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses (1851)
Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech against the Stamp Act of 1765 demanded "Give me liberty or give me death!" |
Review:
- What problems were brought about for Britain by its victory in the French and Indian War?
- What methods did colonists use to protest actions by Parliament between 1765 and 1775?
The War of Independence
J. Barrow, “The British Lion engaging Four Powers,” 1782. The British lion faces a spaniel (Spain), a rooster (France), a rattlesnake (America), and a pug dog (Netherlands). Though the caption predicts Britain’s success, it illustrates that Britain faced challenges –and therefore drains on their military and treasury—from more than just the American rebels.
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John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress. It does not represent a real ceremony; the characters portrayed were never in the same room at the same time.
“The Battle of Lexington,” Published by John H. Daniels & Son, c. 1903
American soldiers came from a variety of backgrounds and had numerous reasons for fighting with the American army. Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger, a French sub-lieutenant at the Battle of Yorktown, painted this watercolor soon after that battle and chose to depict four men in men military dress: an African American soldier from the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, a man in the homespun of the militia, another wearing the common “hunting shirt” of the frontier, and the French soldier on the end. Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger, “American soldiers at the siege of Yorktown,” 1781
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Lord Cornwallis’s surrender signaled the victory of the American revolutionaries over what they considered to be the despotic rule of Britain. This moment would live on in American memory as a pivotal one in the nation’s origin story, prompting the United States government to commission artist John Trumbull to create this painting of the event in 1817. John Trumbull, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 1820
Review:
- What were the results of the fighting at Lexington and Concord?
- What did Jefferson mean, and not mean, by the phrase “all men are created equal”?
- Why did many colonists not support independence?
- Why was the Battle of Saratoga a turning point of the War of Independence?
- How did civilians support the war effort in the colonies?
- How did France help the colonies during the American Revolution?
The Articles of Confederation
Another John Trumbull piece commissioned for the Capitol in 1817, this painting depicts what would be remembered as the moment the new United States became a republic. On December 23, 1783, George Washington, widely considered the hero of the Revolution, resigned his position as the most powerful man in the former thirteen colonies. Giving up his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Army insured that civilian rule would define the new nation, and that a republic would be set in place rather than a dictatorship. John Trumbull, General George Washington Resigning His Commission, c. 1817-1824
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The Articles of Confederation Quizlet
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A debtor wrestles a tax collector by the courthouse at Springfield, Massachusetts. The inability of the government to restore order during Shays' Rebellion demonstrated the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
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Review:
- What challenges did the United States face when the American Revolution ended?
- Why did the new states prefer a republic rather than a democracy for their government?
- In what ways was the confederation too weak to handle the nation’s problems?
The United States Constitution
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled, argued, and finally agreed in this room, styled in the same manner as during the Convention. Photograph of the Assembly Room, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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James Madison was a central figure in the reconfiguration of the national government. Madison’s Virginia Plan was a guiding document in the formation of a new government under the Constitution. John Vanderlyn, Portrait of James Madison, 1816
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The United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution Quizlet
“The Federal Pillars,” from The Massachusetts Centinel, August 2, 1789. The Massachusetts Centinel ran a series of cartoons depicting the ratification of the Constitution. Each vertical pillar represents a state that has ratified the new government. In this cartoon, North Carolina’s pillar is being guided into place (it would vote for ratification in November 1789). Rhode Island’s pillar, however, is crumbling and shows the uncertainty of the vote there.
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Review:
- What issues and events led to the Constitutional Convention?
- In what ways did compromise play a critical role in the drafting of the Constitution?
- How were the various powers of government separated by the Constitution?
- What were the arguments for and against ratifying the Constitution?
- Why does the legislative branch of the government represent the people most directly?
- What powers does Congress have? What powers are denied to Congress?
- What is the main function of the executive branch?
- Who elects the president of the United States? How can the president be removed from office before the next election?
- How are Supreme Court justices appointed? What kinds of cases go before the Supreme Court?
- How many states must ratify an amendment for it to become part of the Constitution?
- How does Article 6 establish the supremacy of the Constitution?
- Does the First Amendment allow complete freedom of speech anytime, anywhere?
Washington
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Alexander Hamilton saw America’s future as a metropolitan, commercial, industrial society, in contrast to Thomas Jefferson’s nation of small farmers. While both men had the ear of President Washington, Hamilton’s vision proved most appealing and enduring. John Trumbull, Portrait of Alexander Hamilton, 1806
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Review:
- How did debate over the role of government lead to the formation of political parties?
Adams
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This image attacks Jefferson’s support of the French Revolution and religious freedom. The letter, “To Mazzei,” refers to a 1796 correspondence that criticized the Federalists and, by association, President Washington. Providential Detection, 1797.
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Review:
- How did foreign policy challenges affect political debate and shape American government?
Jefferson
The year 1800 brought about a host of changes in government, in particular the first successful and peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. But the year was important for another reason: the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (pictured here in 1800) was finally opened to be occupied by Congress, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the courts of the District of Columbia. William Russell Birch, A view of the Capitol of Washington before it was burnt down by the British, c. 1800
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Jefferson Administration Quizlet
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Review:
- What were the successes and failures of the Jefferson administrations?
Madison
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The Star-Spangled Banner flew over Fort McHenry during the battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. It is on exhibit at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Seeing the flag on the morning after the battle ended, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry".
First Lady Dolly Madison protests against British impressment of American sailors.
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Tenskwatawa, a Native American prophet and brother of Tecumseh, as painted by George Catlin, in 1831. Caitlin acknowledged the prophet’s spiritual power and painted him with a medicine stick.
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Madison Administration Quizlet
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As pictured in this 1812 political cartoon published in Philadelphia, Americans lambasted the British and their native allies for what they considered “savage” offenses during war, though Americans too were engaging in such heinous acts. William Charles, A scene on the frontiers as practiced by the “humane” British and their “worthy” allies, Philadelphia, 1812
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The artist shows Washington D.C. engulfed in flames as the British troops set fire to the city in 1813. “Capture of the City of Washington,” August 1814
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Review:
- Why did the United States go to war with Britain, and what was the outcome of the war?
Readings
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Primary Sources
- Oneida declaration of neutrality, 1775 - The Oneida nation, one of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), issued a formal declaration of neutrality on June 19, 1775 to the governor of Connecticut after the imperial crisis between Great Britain and their North American colonies erupted into violence. This declaration hints at the Oneida conceptions of their own sovereignty among the Six Nations confederacy, the independence of other Indian nations, and how the Oneida understand the conflict as a war “between two brothers.” Samuel Kirkland, a missionary living in Iroquois country, interpreted and transcribed the Oneida’s words and sent them to Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut.
- Thomas Paine calls for American independence, 1776 - Britons had long understood themselves as the freest people on earth, blessed with a limited monarchy and an enlightened parliament. Paine’s pamphlet offered a very different portrayal of the British government. His criticisms swept across the North American continent and generated widespread support for American independence.
- Declaration of Independence, 1776 - It is hard to overstate the significance of the Declaration of Independence. Designed as a measured justification for the severing of ties with Britain, the document has also functioned as a transformative piece of political philosophy. Most of the conflicts of American history from this point forward emerged from attempts to understand and implement what it means to believe “all men are created equal.”
- Abigail and John Adams converse on women’s rights, 1776 - The American Revolution invited a reconsideration of all social inequalities. Abigail Adams, in this letter to her husband John Adams, asked her husband to “remember the ladies” in any new laws he may create. In his reply, John Adams treated this sentiment as a joke, demonstrating the limits of revolutionary liberty.
- Women in South Carolina experience occupation, 1780 - The British faced the difficult task of fighting a war without pushing more colonists into the hands of the revolutionaries. As a result, the Revolutionary War included little direct attacks on civilians, but that does not mean that civilians did not suffer. The following account from Eliza Wilkinson describes the stress faced by non-combatants who had to face the British army.
- Boston King recalls fighting for the British and securing his freedom, 1798 - Boston King was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1760. He escaped to the British Army during their invasion of South Carolina in 1780. He served as a Loyalist in the British Army, and participated in several important battles. Although captured, and once again enslaved by the Americans, King was able to escape to the British again, who secured his freedom by sending him and other black Loyalists to Canada. Many black colonists sought freedom by joining with the British, with estimates as high as 5,000. King later became a missionary and one of the first black Canadian settlers of Sierra Leone in West Africa.
- George R. T. Hewes, A retrospect of the Boston Tea-party, 1834 - George R.T. Hewes wrote the following reminiscence of the Boston Tea Party almost 61 years after it occurred. It is likely that his memories included more than a few stories he picked up well after 1773. Nonetheless Hews provides a highly detailed account of this important event.
- Letter of Cato and petition by “the negroes who obtained freedom by the late act,” in Postscript to the Freeman’s Journal, September 21, 1781 - The elimination of slavery in northern states like Pennsylvania was slow and hard-fought. A bill passed in 1780 began the slow process of eroding slavery in the state, but a proposal just one year later would have erased that bill and furthered the distance between slavery and freedom. The action of black Philadelphians and others succeeded in defeating this measure. In this letter to the black newspaper, Philadelphia Freedom’s Journal, a formerly enslaved man uses the rhetoric of the American Revolution to attack American slavery.
- Hector St. Jean de Crèvecœur describes the American people, 1782 - Hector St. John de Crèvecœur was born in France, but relocated to the colony of New York and married a local woman named Mehitable Tippet. For a period of several years, de Crèvecœur wrote about the people he encountered in North America. The resulting work was widely successful in Europe. In this passage, Crèvecœur attempts to reflect on the difference between life in Europe and life in North America.
- Creek headman Alexander McGillivray (Hoboi-Hili-Miko) seeks to build an alliance with Spain, 1785 - Native peoples had long employed strategies of playing Europeans off against each other to maintain their independence and neutrality. As early as 1785, the Creek headman Alexander McGillivray (Hoboi-Hili-Miko) saw the threat the expansionist Americans placed on Native peoples and the inability of a weak United States government to restrain their citizens from encroaching on Native lands. McGillivray sought the aid and protection of the Spanish in order to maintain the supply of trade goods into Creek country and counter the Americans.
- James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785 - Before the American Revolution, Virginia supported local Anglican churches through taxes. After the American Revolution, Virginia had to decide what to do with this policy. Some founding fathers, including Patrick Henry, wanted to equally distribute tax dollars to all churches. In this document, James Madison explains why he did not want any government money to support religious causes in Virginia.
- A Confederation of Native peoples seek peace with the United States, 1786 - In 1786, half a year before the Constitutional Convention, a collection of Native American leaders gathered on the banks of the Detroit River to offer a unified message to the Congress of the United States. Despite this proposal, American surveyors, settlers, and others continued to cross the Ohio River.
- Mary Smith Cranch comments on politics, 1786-87 - In the aftermath of the Revolution, politics became a sport consumed by both men and women. In a series of letters sent to her sister, Mary Smith Cranch comments on a series of political events including the lack of support for diplomats, the circulation of paper or hard currency, legal reform, tariffs against imported tea tables, Shays rebellion, and the role of women in supporting the nation’s interests.
- Thomas Jefferson’s racism, 1788 - American racism spread during the first decades after the American Revolution. Racial prejudice existed for centuries, but the belief that African-descended peoples were inherently and permanently inferior to Anglo-descended peoples developed sometime around the late eighteenth century. Writings such as this piece from Thomas Jefferson fostered faulty scientific reasoning to justify laws that protected slavery and white supremacy.
- Black scientist Benjamin Banneker demonstrates black intelligence to Thomas Jefferson, 1791 - Benjamin Banneker, a free black American and largely self-taught astronomer and mathematician, wrote Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, on August 19, 1791. Banneker included this letter, as well as Jefferson’s short reply, in several of the first editions of his almanacs in part because he hoped it would dispel the widespread assumption that Jefferson perpetuated in his Notes on the State of Virginia that black people were incapable of intellectual achievement.
- Susannah Rowson, Charlotte Temple, 1794 - In Charlotte Temple, the first novel written in America, Susannah Rowson offered a cautionary tale of a woman deceived and then abandoned by a roguish man. Americans throughout the new nation read the book with rapt attention and many even traveled to New York City to visit the supposed grave of this fictional character.
- George Washington, “Farewell Address,” 1796 - George Washington used his final public address as president to warn against what he understood as the two greatest dangers to American prosperity: political parties and foreign wars. Washington urged the American people to avoid political partisanship and entanglements with European wars.
- Venture Smith, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture Smith, 1798 - Venture Smith’s autobiography is one of the earliest slave narratives to circulate in the Atlantic World. Slave narratives grew into the most important genre of antislavery literature and bore testimony to the injustices of the slave system. Smith was unusually lucky in that he was able to purchase his freedom, but his story nonetheless reveals the hardships faced by even the most fortunate enslaved men and women.
- Tecumseh Calls for pan-Indian resistance, 1810 - Like Pontiac before him, Tecumseh articulated a spiritual message of pan-Indian unity and resistance. In this document, he acknowledges his Shawnee heritage, but appeals to a larger community of “red men,” who he describes as “once a happy race, since made miserable by the white people.” This document reveals not only Tecumseh’s message of pan-Indian resistance, but it also shows that Anglo-American understandings of race had spread to Indians as well.
- Congress debates going to war, 1811 - Americans were not united in their support for the War of 1812. In these two documents we hear from members of congress as they debate whether or not America should go to war against Great Britain.
- Abigail Bailey escapes an abusive relationship, 1815 - Women in early America suffered from a lack of rights or means of defending themselves against domestic abuse. The case of Abigail Bailey is remarkable because she was able to successfully free herself and her children from an abusive husband and father.
Slideshows
Videos
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