Hi guys, it's me Professor Daniel, your favorite history professor, and I'm back here with yet another great lesson. So today's lecture goes over chapter six in your textbook, which is titled The Revolution Within. So before we go into chapter six, I'll give you a little background on what we studied in chapter five.
So chapter five was all about the American Revolution and really a lot of the events that led up to the American Revolution. So the chapter began with the end of the Seven Years'War, which left Britain in enormous debt. So in order to try to solve some of this problem, they decide to tax the colonies directly to try to get them to help in sharing the cost of war.
So in order to try to alleviate some of this debt, they decide to tax the colonies directly. And one of these first taxes was the Stamp Act. of 1765 which required that all printed materials made in the colonies carry a stamp from authorities and things will go on like that will end up culminating with the battles of lexington and concord where the british will be marching to conquer to try to seize a weapons cache that they have in concord and that's officially the beginning of the american revolution now if you are a student of schoolhouse rock like i was the battles of lexington and concord um were also known as the shots heard around the world and it's the beginning of the revolution so if you are into schoolhouse rock i might just have to put it on your learning platform just to do it because i miss schoolhouse rock it was the best so i digress so the end of chapter five ends with the treaty of paris where americans officially have independence great britain is off of the mainland continent. And so we go into chapter six.
So chapter six largely takes place in the same time period as the American Revolution. What makes this chapter different, however, is that it really breaks down what's happening in the society. Now, this is really important because a lot of the times when we study history, we tend to look at history as if it's just a culmination of very large events.
But really what makes these events huge, what makes these events these or what makes these events so interesting is that it's not necessarily the big things, the little things. And so in chapter six, we'll be learning about what's going on at the societal level. What are ordinary people doing? Also, chapter six will really uncover this idea of the American Revolution as several revolutions. It's not just one revolution for independence because, again, not everyone wants independence.
So, yes, it is a fight for national independence, but it also is this culmination of this centuries-long fight between these imperial European empires. So that's another thing that the revolution is. So the revolution is also a fight for ideals.
So once... Or now that we have independence, what kind of nation will this new America be, right? And so these are the things that we'll be studying in this chapter. The rallying cry during the American Revolution and even after the American Revolution is liberty.
But the big question this chapter will be liberty for whom? Who is entitled to this liberty? And what is liberty? Is liberty something that we're- born with, as many colonists or as we can now call them, Americans will say.
A lot of people believe that everyone is born free. Everyone is born with liberty. However, others will believe that once you have a financial stake in society, that that's when you're able to experience true liberty. Americans after the revolution will begin to challenge the social order.
America, while... America doesn't have hereditary secession. It does have qualifications that make full liberty possible. So, for example, property qualifications for voting.
Are states going to still have these? So these are the things that we'll be studying here in chapter six. So as we continue, we'll start with talking about the revolution in Pennsylvania because in Pennsylvania, I really like using this example because Pennsylvania is different from other states.
So the pre-war elite in Pennsylvania actually opposed the idea of American independence. They believed that if America got independence and if they severed ties with Great Britain, they believed that society would be ruled by what they called back then, and as your book referred to them, as the rabble. And so they didn't want that. They believed that if we severed ties with Great Britain, that you would have the rabble come in and that it would lead to attacks on property. And so they weren't necessarily for independence.
They opposed independence. A lot of your pre-war elite in Pennsylvania were actually what your book refers to as loyalists. They favored having close ties with the mother country being Great Britain. However, after or really prior to independence, especially after Thomas Paine's common sense, we get a rise of this new pro-independence faction.
across cities in Pennsylvania, such as Philadelphia, for example. So with this new pro-independence faction, they'll be made up of artisans and a lot of members of the lower class. After independence, the state of Pennsylvania will draft a new state constitution.
And this constitution is going to be, I'll say, one of the more... one of the, not the most, but one of the more liberal constitutions that states will draw up. So for example, in Pennsylvania, they will have a one house legislature where the representatives of the legislature are elected annually by tax paying men over the age of 21. So in Pennsylvania, they won't have a property qualification for voting.
They'll say that if you are a male taxpayer over the age of 21. then you are able to vote. So in Pennsylvania, they get rid of property qualifications for voting and something that's pretty interesting, especially for the 18th century in America, they also establish low fee schools in every county of Pennsylvania. The constitution also had some pretty good protections such as freedom of speech.
freedom of writing. So I would say that is similar to what we would call freedom of the press, as well as freedom of religion. So Pennsylvania will be quite different, but not every state will have a constitution that will be as liberal as Pennsylvania's. In fact, every state will adopt new constitutions and all of those constitutions will ensure that these governments must be republics, meaning that authority rests on the consent of the governed, okay?
So no monarchies here. Everything must be a republic, meaning that the authority in that area rests on the consent of the people, i.e. the governed. In 1776, John Adams... It's a book called Thoughts on Government.
And in Thoughts on Government, he gives people, I would say, an idea of how to form these new state governments. So in Chapter 6, we're mostly talking about state governments. When we go to Chapter 7, we'll be talking about the national government.
But right now, we're really talking about colony by colony, or as they're known now after independence, state by state. In Thoughts on Government, written in 1776 by John Adams, he believes that these constitutions should create balanced governments, meaning that there should be a two-house system. So he wanted a two-house system because he believed that the structure of government should reflect society's divisions.
So meaning that there should be an upper house where the wealthy would be represented and a lower house where the ordinary people. would be represented. So chapter six is all about these forming new state constitutions, but a really highly contentious issue will be who gets the right to vote.
That will be an issue with just about every state. Now the revolution will definitely expand suffrage for white men. It will expand the right to vote because many states will do away with property qualifications.
for voting, which will allow a larger number of the population to be able to vote. However, a lot of elites will push back against this because elites thought that men who did not own property had no socioeconomic stake in the society. And because they had no social or economic stake, they felt that they shouldn't really necessarily have a say in how... these processes in the government should operate.
A lot of states, however, as I said, will do away with property qualifications for voting. So a lot of northern states will have a lot of democratization in their voting. Now, the least amount of democratization in voting will occur in the south.
A lot of the landed gentry, meaning the portion of society that has a lot of land and a lot of these people, because they have lots of land, will also have a lot of human property being slaves. In the South, a lot of these elites will maintain power. However, in a lot of Northern states, such as Vermont, they will do away with a lot of these property qualifications. So I use Vermont as an example because Vermont is, I would say, one of the only, if not the only state in the union that will completely sever the property qualification as well as the financial qualification for voting. So in Pennsylvania, you had to pay taxes to be able to vote.
In Vermont, however, you didn't have to own property or pay in order to be able to vote. So in states in the north, You see them do away. Most states in the North will do away with property qualifications.
In the South, not so much. Now, another thing that will change after the revolution is this whole idea of church and state. We'll get an idea of separation of church and state and we'll get another level, I would say, of religious freedom after the revolution. So, for example, after the revolution, Catholic Americans will...
enjoy a little, I will say less anti-Catholicism. So the War of Independence will really weaken this deeply held tradition of anti-Catholicism in the nation or in this new nation. Part of that is because really our victory in the War of Independence was totally dependent upon imperial rivalries, meaning that we get help or we got a lot of help from France France and Britain were rivals, but France is a Catholic nation.
So because France provides so much help to us, really beginning in 1778 officially with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, France gives us so much that a lot of this anti-Catholicism will kind of, I'll say it will lessen, it will weaken because of the help that France gives us. Now, one big question that I think a lot of students have. and a lot of... and a lot of people don't know is what was the founders take on religion? Where did they stand on religion?
A lot of us tend to think or a lot of us have been told that the founders were incredibly Christian and they wanted this to be a Christian nation. While there is some truth to that, there is also a lot of untruth to that. So some of the founders were Christian. But also a lot of the founders, such as Thomas Jefferson, were deists.
Deists. D-E-I-S-T. So I was in chapter four, if I'm not mistaken. So if you need an update on what deism is, please go back to chapter four.
But a lot of them were deists, where they do believe in a creator, a single creator of all things, but they don't necessarily believe that God and the devil interfere in every day. So a lot of the founders thought that this new nation really should shield itself against a lot of the drama that religious conflict could bring. A lot of them are trying to, especially since a lot of them are enlightenment thinkers, they're looking back at a lot of the religious drama that had really, really had a heavy impact in Europe. And they wanted to make sure that America didn't have those same types of religious conflicts. So because of that, they think that this new nation should really shield itself against drama brought by religion.
Now, while they believe that religion laid the foundation for public morality, they viewed religion with a bit of skepticism. So they believe that, yes, the Bible could be or could lay a societal foundation for public morality for how you should behave. But they also viewed religion with a lot of skepticism.
A lot of the founders believe that church and state should be relatively separate. They believed this idea, honestly, of separating or there being a separation between church and state will actually unite and bring together a lot of deists and evangelicals because evangelicals are wanting some form of religious protection. They don't want to be persecuted or judged because of how they choose to worship.
And so the separation of church and state is something that unlike today will actually or the idea of separating church and state will actually unite those who are religious and non-religious. They believe that by inserting religion into state that it could bring a lot of drama. Honestly. Now, every state except for New York continue to bar Jews from voting and holding public office.
So while when we talk about early America and we're talking about religious freedom, we're honestly talking about Christian religious freedom. Because if you are not Christian, you really don't have a right to worship freely. If you are Jewish, you're barred from voting and you're barred from holding public office. That means if you're Jewish, you don't really have full American liberty. And then again, we see this theme continue or we see this theme pop up again.
What is liberty and who is entitled to this liberty? When we talk about the founders and talk about deists, in this chapter, we'll talk about Thomas Jefferson quite a lot. So if you've ever had any questions about Thomas Jefferson, They'll probably be answered in this chapter. So Thomas Jefferson, what's really interesting is that he even had his own version of the Bible where Jesus, yes, is in the Bible, but he isn't divine and he doesn't perform any miracles.
But he uses the Bible as. moral foundation of how a society should conduct itself. So continuing a little bit with the founders and especially with Thomas Jefferson, we're going to go straight into what or who is Thomas Jefferson and what are his thoughts on religious liberty. So interestingly enough, in 1786, so a little background on Thomas Jefferson period. So you Thomas Jefferson is a founding father.
He is the author of the Declaration of Independence. It is he who will famously write in the preamble that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, while he writes these things, Thomas Jefferson is also a slave owner.
He will own more than 100 slaves. And as a matter of fact, one of these enslaved women or young women, I'll say, is Sally Hemings. So Thomas Jefferson will carry on this years-long relationship with Sally Hemings and he will father a number of children. Back in the 90s when this information broke by historian Annette Gordon-Reed, it was met with a lot of contention. A lot of people didn't want to believe that Thomas Jefferson was a slave.
fathered children by his enslaved property, Sally Hemings. But after DNA tests were done, it's funny, the Hemings relatives who were still alive and Jefferson's descendants are actually biologically related. But I digress. Jefferson and religious liberty.
I could go on and on about Thomas Jefferson. So anyways, Thomas Jefferson. In 1786, he writes, a bill called the Bill for Establishing Religious Liberty.
And in 1786, it is adopted by the Virginia House of Burgesses. So in this Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, it's actually quite liberal, especially for the time period. We have to remember that we're still in the 18th century.
And so to have a lot of these ideas of religious freedom, it's actually pretty Pretty insane. It's pretty awesome for him to have these ideas way back in the 18th century. So one of the things that the bill for establishing religious freedoms does is one, it eliminates religious qualifications for voting and office holding.
Now, while this wasn't something that was in every colony, in a number of colonies, you had to be a member of the church or a member of the congregational church in the community to be able to vote. or hold office. However, Jefferson believes that you shouldn't have any religious qualifications for voting.
Furthermore, it also ended government financial support for churches and it barred the state from forcing people to adopt any sort of religious outlook. So if you were to move to a colony and they were Anglican and they wanted to force you to convert to Anglican, Jefferson in this bill for religious freedom in Virginia, it does away with that. He believes that the state should not force people to adopt any sort of religious belief or convert. Now, while we talk about liberty, we've talked about religious liberty, we have talked about voting and the liberty that comes with suffrage, there are limits to this liberty. And that's the big thing.
That is the irony is that while we spend or while we've spent really the majority of several chapters talking about liberty, we're also having to negotiate the limits to this liberty. So one, when we're talking about liberty and we're talking about colonial America, especially post-independence, we have to get rid of this idea that America is united all at once and that after Britain leaves that we instantaneously become a united nation. That's false. A lot of Americans, early Americans, colonial Americans, will retain an allegiance to Great Britain. And they, because of this, will experience independence as a loss of liberty.
Now, a lot of your loyalists, they would be most found in the North. So in states such as New York. or some of the middle colonies like Pennsylvania.
And of course, even in the South, for people especially who were angered by Dunmore's 1775 proclamation that encouraged slaves to escape to fight for the British. Once this will go down, a lot of Southerners, especially in the Carolinas and in Georgia, will be anti-independence because for them, you have the British who are, you know, You have the British who are encouraging a lot of their enslaved property to run away. So because of that, some of them will be more closely allied with the British. The number of loyalists in America is actually or America post-war America is actually pretty large.
After the war about 60,000 loyalists were banished from America or voluntarily immigrated from America. A lot of them will go to Canada, some will go to the West Indies, others will go to Nova Scotia, but a lot of loyalists will leave. While we're talking about liberty though and talking about Dunmore's proclamation, what happened to Blacks who fought for the British? Do they escape?
And while we're talking about liberty and the right to vote, how are we going to deal with slavery in the states? That becomes an issue, especially since it's seen honestly as oxymoronic. It's seen as something. these things that can't go together. You're talking about liberty, but you own slaves.
So you actively participate in the removal of liberty from others. In fact, Samuel Johnson writes in 1775, how is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes? That's a question that was asked in 1775 and it's a question that can still be asked today in 2020. How is it that we hear about liberty from those who own slaves? Now slavery existed in nearly every colony and formed the basis of the economy from the state of Maryland southward. So as I've said before while the northern colonies had slavery and now we can call them states While the northern states had slavery, it was never as central to their economy.
However, in the South, slavery really helps a lot of these colonies to even develop. In South Carolina, for example, the population grows incredibly slowly until they're able to discover rights. In Carolina, they instituted the head right system.
So if you pay your own way... You get 50 acres of land. And if you have slaves, you automatically have a plantation.
In fact, it is slavery that makes South Carolina hierarchical, right? It's really slavery that makes South Carolina hierarchical because it develops this or creates this higher level or this upper caste, right, of wealthy planters. 40% of Virginia's population after... the war for independence is enslaved.
And those population totals or enslaved population totals will increase the further you go south. If you remember from a few chapters back, we recall that South Carolina was the first mainland colony to achieve a black majority. South Carolina has a black majority.
Now, Many of the founding fathers actually owned slaves. So a question that I often get from students is, how do you negotiate this? How do we negotiate these two truths that you have these people who are fighting for liberty? And in fact, liberty is their rallying cry. However, they actively participate in removing the freedom and the liberties from other people.
Many of the founding fathers owned slaves. Again, Thomas Jefferson had a plantation, a large plantation, and owned more than 100 slaves. Sally Hemings was actually his wife's half-sister. She, once Jefferson and his wife marry, Sally Hemings comes with his wife. It is his wife's sister.
They have the same father. And he begins having children with her. I think she has her first child at around the age of 16. Now, owning slaves, the way that it is negotiated, even back in the 18th century, is that a lot of people believe that owning slaves makes freedom possible for whites. I'll repeat that.
They believe that owning slaves makes freedom possible for whites. Now, how- does owning slaves, how does that make freedom possible for this segment of the population? One, slaves produce crops are very, very marketable. And so they make say economic freedom.
Owning slaves makes economic freedom possible for whites. It also makes a level of social freedom possible for whites. So a question in your last exam talked about or stated how was slavery put into the law?
And a lot of you guys answered this question so well by giving examples of laws even in the 1700s that relegated a Black's age to second-class citizenship to ensure that even the richest, freest Black man is still on a lower rung of society than your poorest white man. A lot of you also talked about how slavery was hereditary and how the law made slavery hereditary. So we really start talking about, or we see how slavery is ingrained in the law, even in the 17th century. The first Africans come to America or arrive in America in 1619. So as soon as they arrive, the laws begin to change pretty rapidly to reflect their position in society.
So slavery not only makes economic freedom possible, but it makes social freedom possible to ensure that even if you are poor and white, you are still at a higher position in society than any black person enslaved or free. Now, after the revolution, a lot of these enslaved people will again, will begin to adopt the language of the revolution for their own purposes. Since you guys are talking about liberty, why not have real, true liberty and free these enslaved people? Now, in New England, beginning in the 1700s, we get, I'll say, a phenomenon. Not really, I wouldn't.
nothing magical about it but we get this phenomenon where you have people or enslaved people who begin to petition for their freedom they will have these arguments of liberty to the new england courts and the new england legislatures uh that will are in these petitions they will be uh arguing for their freedom now remember in the 1700s most of these enslaved people are only one to two generations removed from freedom meaning that They know what freedom is. They've experienced freedom. A number of these people were still in the 1700s have just been imported to America.
So they're petitioning for freedom because they know what freedom is. They're not removed too far removed from freedom. And so a number of enslaved people will gain freedom by petitioning for their freedom. However, not many people will gain freedom this way. Other enslaved Africans will gain freedom by escaping to the British.
So in 1775, the Earl of Dunmore issues a proclamation that said that if any enslaved Black person left and joined the British army to fight for freedom, that they would be given their freedom. And so a number of enslaved Africans will escape to fight for their freedom. In fact, about 30 of Thomas Jefferson's slaves will run away to fight for the British. Numerous signers of the Declaration of Independence will lose slaves in this very way. Because as they're writing for liberty, they have property that is searching for liberty.
And so they search for this liberty really by any means necessary. And so a lot of enslaved Africans will run away and will gain freedom. as a result of escaping from the British.
In fact, more than 15,000 Black men, women, and children will leave the nation with the British. Now, some will end up in England, others will end up in Nova Scotia, and still some others will end up in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, which was formed for formerly enslaved Africans. However, many will be re-enslaved in the West Indies Some will...
Yeah, like I said, sorry about that, will be re-enslaved in the West Indies. In 1827, Britain will actually make payments to some Americans because you have a lot of Americans who have lost their enslaved property because they ran away with the British. So some end up in England, others are in Nova Scotia, others in Sierra Leone. And so in 1827, Britain will actually make payments to about 1,100 Americans for their loss of property.
Other enslaved Africans at this time will gain independence through voluntary emancipation. So this is a phenomenon that will happen mostly in the North. So in the North, between 1777 and 1804, nearly every state north of Maryland will take steps to gradually emancipate their slaves.
But it will be a really slow process. So, for example... Um, many slave owners will write into their contracts that any children born of slave mothers will be free after they've worked a certain amount of time.
So that age could be, you would be free upon like your 21st birthday, but it could even be as late as your 28th birthday. Now, why do you think they would wait so long to free the children of these enslaved mothers? Why do you think you would say, yes, you can be free, but you have.
until you're 21 or 22, all the way up to 28. Well, that's because when they're in their early 20s, they're in their prime working years. So you still want, that's the way, or I would say that is the way that a lot of these slave owners are still able to get some type of financial security from their investment. So they work them for, or during their best working years, and they're still able to get that financial investment, and then they gradually emancipate.
However, again, it's... super slow. As a matter of fact, in New York City, between 1783 and 1800, only 76 voluntary emancipations will occur.
So voluntary emancipations, again, yes, they occur, but A, it's very, very slow. And B, it will occur mostly in the north, in states that are north of Maryland, where slavery is not necessarily central to their economy. Now, yes, Did they have slavery in the North?
Absolutely. But it was a different type of slavery. It was not based on the plantation. And so in the North, we will see a lot of gradual emancipations all the way, or not a lot, but we'll see a few gradual emancipations all the way up to about 1804. And that is really how you see or get to see this dividing line between a Northern or a North and a South.
Meaning the North is free and the South is enslaved. Okay. Now, another group that we, my goodness, if I can get, okay, together.
All right. So how about free Black people? Were there free Black people at this time?
Yes. So there were free Black communities. In 1776, which is around the year that the revolution begins, there are fewer than 10 thousand free blacks in the United States. However, by 1810, that number will swell to about 200,000 free blacks in the United States. Now, while there are free blacks in the United States, the overwhelming majority of black people in the United States during this time will be enslaved.
In 1790, there are about 700,000. enslaved blacks in the United States. However, there are communities of free blacks and by 1810, there will be about 200,000 free blacks in the United States. Most will live in Maryland and Virginia.
And black men actually who could meet the tax paying or the property qualification for voting were able to vote except In Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. So free black men who met the tax paying and property qualifications are all. or property qualifications for voting could vote, except in, again, these deep southern states, such as Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. Now, after we're talking about liberty, another group that we have to talk about are women. During this chapter, I love that your book begins with talking about Abigail Adams.
What's really interesting, I would say, one of the reasons why your book really mentions Abigail Adams is because one Abigail Adams has a very interesting relationship with John Adams they sent they uh seem to have a relationship that is built on mutual respect and friendship now while Abigail Adams knew that she could not vote because women were not women I would say at this time the political sphere is not seen as a place for women one thing that she will uh really, I would say, tell her husband is that make sure you look out for the ladies. She does say that in a number of her letters, make sure you look out for the ladies. And she does say that, you know, be careful of yourself because all men will become tyrants if they could.
So in a lot of while, you know, during the Revolutionary War, while John Adams is in France, while he is negotiating treaties, it's really his correspondence with his wife. Abigail Adams that helps him to stay abreast of everything that's going on. He really trusts her.
Now, Abigail Adams will play a role in the American Revolution, but women will play other roles in the American Revolution. In fact, women are quite revolutionary during the American Revolution. Many women will take inactive roles.
and will form something, form organizations like the Ladies Association, which was formed by Esther Reed and Benjamin Franklin's daughter, Sarah Franklin Bach. In these ladies associations, they would raise funds to help American soldiers. But during the Revolutionary War, women, other women will actually take a far more active role in America's fight for independence. I give two examples, Deborah Sampson and Hannah Snell.
Both of these women would disguise themselves as men and both of these women enlisted in the Continental Army. Now, Deborah Sampson participated in a number of battles and even had to extract a bullet from her own leg because she was afraid to go to the doctor because she didn't want her secret to be discovered. She didn't want her to be identified as a female. Similarly, Hannah Snell will join the British army and disguise herself as a man. However, during the fight for independence, her commanding officer will discover her secret that she is a woman, but he will hide the secret.
And as a result, she will actually be honorably discharged at the end of the war. So women will take a revolutionary role. in, I'll say, the American Revolution. However, for women at this time, a woman's relationship to larger society was largely negotiated through her relationship with her husband.
So women aren't able to experience, I would say, true or full liberty. Women are not able to vote. Women...
Again, a lot of the times, once you are married, it's your husband who conducts business for you because you lose your separate legal identity. So during the 18th century, gender was often a boundary to experiencing full freedom. The, I would, what would I call this?
The principle, I guess you could say, or the practice of coverture is still intact. Coverture is... This practice where the husband holds full authority over his wife.
And that was intact. It remained intact even after the War of Independence or War for Independence. Even though so many aspects of American society are changing, women, a lot of things stay the same. For women, her place was seen as being in the home and to be a mother. The role of...
the woman at this time was to be a good wife and a good mother. And there's a term for this. It's called Republican motherhood. That is something that was encouraged. Women really played an indispensable role during this time.
It was thought that women played an indispensable role in society because it was the goal or I would say the role of the woman to teach the children and to teach future citizens on how to be good citizens. Um. Republic Brotherhood will actually also encourage the expansion of educational opportunities for women because the thought is how can you train up good citizens if you don't have good education?
How can you teach the coming generation if you don't have any education yourself? And so the idea is that women needed education to be able to teach their sons and daughters about liberty and about the government and about how being... or about how to be good citizens, right? So John Adams will actually say the foundation of national morality must be laid in private families and by a lot of these women, right? So during this time, there will be a push for women to gain education, but it's not a push for women to gain education because it's something, because of gender equality.
It has- Very little to do with women should be educated because they deserve to be educated. No, it's more or less women need to be educated because it is the role of the woman to take care of the home and to raise the children. And in order to be able to teach them to be good citizens and in order to teach them about liberty and about the government, they have to be educated.
But again, coverture is still in place. So men. hold legal authority over their wives.
And interestingly enough, the phrase to have and to hold, not only was that in wedding vows, it was also in deeds for home sales and for property sales. So it helped understand the marriage contract a little better in that to have and to hold and all of these things are in both marriage contracts and property ownership contracts. So in chapter seven, this chapter really focused more on the what's going on state by state, really focuses on what's going on in the communities.
Chapter seven will have more of a focus on what's going on nationally and how are we going to form this national government. Each state have the freedom of creating their own republic and their own constitution that gave their own citizens different rights. And as we could see in Pennsylvania, while they did away with the property qualification for voting, you still had to pay taxes.
However, in Vermont, they did away with both property and our property ownership and the taxpaying qualification for voting. In chapter seven, as we move forward, we'll talk about what's going to happen to the nation as a whole. What do we do? How do we write this new state constitution? And what rights should be in there?
So I will see you guys next week with another lesson. All right. See you guys later.