Lecture Notes: The Revolution Within

Background: Chapter 5 Recap

• Focus on the American Revolution and events leading up to it
  • End of the Seven Years' War left Britain in debt
  • Taxation of colonies, including the Stamp Act of 1765
  • Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the start of the Revolution
• Independence achieved with the Treaty of Paris

Chapter 6 Overview

• Focuses on societal changes during the same period as the American Revolution
• Explores the idea of the American Revolution as multiple revolutions
  • National independence
  • Fight for ideals and societal changes
• Key question: Liberty for whom?

Key Themes in Chapter 6

Social Changes and Liberty

• Liberty and its definition debated
  • Born with liberty vs. financial stake in society
• Property qualifications for voting questioned

The Revolution in Pennsylvania

• Pre-war elite opposed independence, fearing rule by the "rabble"
• Post-independence changes:
  • Pennsylvania's liberal state constitution
  • No property qualifications for voting
  • Established low-fee schools
  • Protections for freedom of speech, writing, and religion

State Constitutions and Voting Rights

• States required to be republics
• John Adams’ "Thoughts on Government"
  • Recommends a balanced two-house system
• Varying state approaches to voting rights
  • Northern states democratized voting by eliminating property qualifications
  • Southern states maintained property qualifications

Church and State

• Post-revolution, more religious freedom
  • Anti-Catholic sentiment weakened due to French alliance
• Founders' views on religion
  • Many were deists rather than strictly Christian
  • Separation of church and state supported

Slavery and Liberty

• Loyalists and their post-war displacement
• Slavery existed in all colonies, central to Southern economy
• Founders owned slaves; negotiation of ideals and reality
• Slavery seen as enabling economic and social freedom for whites

Efforts Toward Emancipation

• Enslaved people used revolutionary rhetoric for freedom
• Some gained freedom by escaping to the British
• Voluntary emancipation in Northern states was slow

Free Black Communities

• Growth from fewer than 10,000 free blacks in 1776 to 200,000 by 1810
• Voting rights limited to taxpaying or property-owning free black men in most states

Women in the Revolution

• Abigail Adams and her advocacy
• Women took active roles, e.g., Deborah Sampson and Hannah Snell
• Republican motherhood: women’s role to educate future citizens
• Coverture laws limited women’s legal freedom

Looking Ahead to Chapter 7

• Focus on national government formation
• Addressing the rights and structure of the new nation