Problems in American Democracy by Thames Williamson

Chapter 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Word Count: 2812 | Released on: 29/11/2017

it. But the spirit which animated the Revolution was local, rather than national. The colonial protests which in 1776 reached their climax in the Declaration of Independe

e union. The Revolution emphasized local and state interests rather than intercolonial co?peration, and however much the colonists appreciated local democracy in 1776

ts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed a league, chiefly for the purpose of mutual de

al army, the control of public lands, legislation affecting the general welfare, and the levying of taxes for intercolonial projects. In America Fra

in the Stamp Act Congress, for the purpose of drawing up

oncerned itself chiefly with a declaration of rights and grievances. The second (1775-1781) assumed revolutiona

ome of the states ratified them, they were not put into actual operation until March 1, 1781. By the terms of the Articles the states yielded some of their powers, the central government being given the right to declare war, borrow and coin money, establish post

uthority was concentrated in a one-chambered congress, in which each state was represented by not fewer than two and not more than seven members. The delegates were subject to re

governments, and these it could not coerce. Thus the Congress could declare war, and make requisitions upon the states for troops, but it could not enlist a single soldier. It could make laws, but had no power to enforce them. It could make treaties with foreign governments, but could not oblige the states to respect tho

ies of its citizens as it saw fit In many cases the states engaged in trade wars, that is, they levied heavy duties upon the commerce of one another, or even refused to allow their citizens to buy goods from, or sell goods to, persons in neighboring states. Matters calling for unity of

ng two years of the war, and then declined rapidly in power and influence. The defects of the Articles could not be remedied, for am

passed laws impairing the obligation of contracts. In a movement known as Shay's Rebellion (1786-1787), a portion of the debtor class of Massachusetts attempted to prevent the collection of debts. Paper money depreciated so greatly that in many

an statesmen scoffed at the American government. France denied the existence of a general government in America. In England our diplomatic representatives suffered numerous humiliations. They were told,

portant reasons why the states failed to d

maintained in spite of their protests. The Dominion of New England, which, prior to the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, had been the nearest approach to union, was recalled with anger and in fear. This plan, forced upon the Americans in 1686 by the king, united

lding and commerce, rather than in agriculture. There was an aristocratic group, but most of the people belonged to the middle class, and were simple and even severe in their tastes. In the middle colonies, on the other hand, most of the people were small farmer

go by rail from New York to San Francisco and back again. There were no railroads in those days, no telephones, no telegraph, and practically no postal service. Life was primarily rural, even on the seacoast. Most interests centered about the local community, or at farthest, about the colony or state. In many sections there was little exchange of products or o

ument, that there must be one great American nation rather than thirteen or more unrelated republics. Six years of practical experience with the Articles of Confederation taught the absolute necessity of a strong central government. The weaknesses of the Confederation governme

r Old World homes most of the settlers had occupied somewhat the same social position, and had been used to somewhat the same economic conditions. This common background constituted, in their New World homes, a unifying for

with a common destiny. The soldiers of various sections had rubbed elbows with one another during the French and Indian wars, and during the Revolution. This had served to encourage a feeling of comradeship between the inhabitants of different communities. The population of the country was doubling every twenty years, and

and manufacturing was everywhere calling for a closer co?peration between various sections of the country. The Annapolis Convention of 1786, indeed, was called for the purpose of promoting commercial co?peration a

still narrowly restricted. The adoption of the Constitution was due primarily to negative forces; the full development of the positive forces, upon which the ultimate integrity of the union rests, was to be delayed for almost a century. The states technically abandoned state sovereignty when they accepted the Constitution of 1787, but not until the

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stitutional convention of 1787

that in 1787 American democracy