Vision for a Nation: Power Struggle Between Federalists and Republicans
For twelve years, control of the new government remains firmly in the hands of the Federalists, but gaining strength in the 1790s is a group that favors a more modest central government. Both points of view are represent..
Vision for a Nation: Ratification Strategy
It is one thing to get Convention delegates to agree on the Constitution; it's quite another matter to get states and opponents to go along with it. Perhaps the most revolutionary move of the Convention is the adoption o..
Vision for a Nation: States Consider Constitutional Ratification
On September 17, 1787 thirty-nine delegates sign their names to the Constitution of the United States. All but one of the states hold ratifying conventions in which more than 1200 people examine the details and the princ..
Vision for a Nation: Testing the Design of the Constitution
The first election under the Constitution is scheduled for the early months of 1789. The newly-elected Congress, says historian Bernard Bailyn, is a "creative force in our constitutional life" for two reasons: the Bill o..
Voices of Reform: Abolitionist Movement, The
The first major abolitionist voice in the United States is William Lloyd Garrison who begins publishing The Liberator in 1831. He gathers around him a society of men and women, white and black, who advocate the immediate..
Voices of Reform: Political Dimensions of Anti-Slavery Movement
The moral argument against slavery weakens as it becomes more political, primarily because most Northerners do not want to destroy the Union. The most ardent abolitionist support is found in the Northeast among legislato..
Voices of Reform: Romanticism and the Transcendentalist Movement
America in the mid-19th century is caught in a whirlwind of change. The country's expansion and growth excite artists and writers caught up in the spirit of romanticism, a cultural and artistic movement that immigrated f..
Voices of Reform: Temperance Movement, The
One of the most influential reform movements of the era is the crusade against drunkenness. Among the working class, people sign pledges not to drink alcohol. Some social elites push temperance as a kind of social contro..
Voices of Reform: Utopian Communities
Several utopian communities emerge in the 1840s organized by reformers in response to slavery and the capitalistic economic system that is becoming a dominant force in the United States. Some of these communities like th..
Voices of Reform: Women's Efforts to Gain Equal Rights
The response to early feminist efforts ranges from silence to outrage. Some working-class and African American women express skepticism that this movement has anything to do with them. There are prominent exceptions like..