The Confederation And The Constitution, 1776-1790
Chapter 9
The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776–1790
CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: The American Revolution was not a radical transformation like the French or Russian revolutions, but it did produce political innovations and some social change in the direction of greater equality and democracy.
Theme: Compromise on a number of important issues was required in order to create the new federal Constitution. Adopting the new document required great political skill and involved changing the ratification process defined in the Articles of Confederation, writing persuasively in support of the stronger central government, and promising to add amendments to protect individual liberty and states' rights.
Theme: The federal Constitution represented a moderately conservative reaction against the …show more content…
Analysis Questions
1. Which of the social changes brought about by the Revolution was the most significant?
Quote: “The people assembled in arms…return for answer that, however unjustifiable the measure may be which the people have adopted in recourse to arms, various circumstances have induced them thereto.…That virtue which truly characterizes the citizens of a republican government hath hitherto marked our plans with a degree of innocence, and we wish and trust it will still be the case.” Daniel Shays (1747–1825) (Reply to Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s demand for surrender, 1787)
2. Was the United States in a crisis under the Articles of Confederation, or was the “crisis” exaggerated by the Federalists to justify their movement?
3. Why was the United States so uniformly held in contempt by European governments after the Revolution?
4. What would have happened to the Constitutional Convention if Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry all
The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776–1790
CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: The American Revolution was not a radical transformation like the French or Russian revolutions, but it did produce political innovations and some social change in the direction of greater equality and democracy.
Theme: Compromise on a number of important issues was required in order to create the new federal Constitution. Adopting the new document required great political skill and involved changing the ratification process defined in the Articles of Confederation, writing persuasively in support of the stronger central government, and promising to add amendments to protect individual liberty and states' rights.
Theme: The federal Constitution represented a moderately conservative reaction against the …show more content…
Analysis Questions
1. Which of the social changes brought about by the Revolution was the most significant?
Quote: “The people assembled in arms…return for answer that, however unjustifiable the measure may be which the people have adopted in recourse to arms, various circumstances have induced them thereto.…That virtue which truly characterizes the citizens of a republican government hath hitherto marked our plans with a degree of innocence, and we wish and trust it will still be the case.” Daniel Shays (1747–1825) (Reply to Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s demand for surrender, 1787)
2. Was the United States in a crisis under the Articles of Confederation, or was the “crisis” exaggerated by the Federalists to justify their movement?
3. Why was the United States so uniformly held in contempt by European governments after the Revolution?
4. What would have happened to the Constitutional Convention if Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry all