Section #3 - Turning Point Events
1781-1787 New Government
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| New Government 1781-1787 | |
| 1783 | The Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War. America’s landmass doubles with the British cession of 458,000 square miles, east of the Allegheny range to the Mississippi River. A total of seven states will be created over time: four Slave (Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) and three Free (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois). Causal Theme: Manifest Destiny, Territorial Constitutions Learn More: Read Chapter 6 in Prelude |
| 1784 | Slavery fades away in the North. By 1784, slavery is no longer profitable in the North, and it ends in 6 of 8 states. New Jersey follows suit in 1804, but New York still has a slave population until 1829. After Kentucky is admitted in 1792 as a slave state, the designations stand at 7 Free and 8 Slave States (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and technically New York). Causal Theme: Sectional Economics, Slavery Expansion Learn More: Read Chapter 10 in Prelude |
| 1784 | Prince Hall gains formal approval from the Masonry for African Lodge #459. After his owner grants his freedom, Prince Hall speaks out on behalf of ending slavery, educating Black children, and allowing freedmen to serve in the military. During the Revolutionary War he seeks admittance into a Freemason Lodge, but is denied. He perseveres, and in 1776 gains recognition for African Grand Lodge #1, comprising 14 Blacks and with himself as Worshipful Master. Before his death in 1807, Hall opens more sites, including the African Grand Lodge #458, to earn his title as the “father of African Masonry.” Causal Theme: Black Experience, Racism Learn More: Read Chapter 11 in Prelude |
| 1785 | The New York Manumission Society is founded. The goal of “gradual emancipation by lawful ways and means” forms the basis for the Society. Its first president is diplomat and future Supreme Court Chief John Jay who ironically is a slave owner on his own. He is joined by other prominent figures including Alexander Hamilton, Robert Troup and Robert Livingston. Outside support comes from other Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin and Richard Rush. In 1799 the Society gains legislative approval for the Gradual Emancipation Act stating that: any child born of a slave within this State, after the fourth day of July next, shall be deemed & adjudged to be born free. Causal Theme: Abolition Learn More: Read Chapter 2 in Prelude |
| 1785 | Thomas Jefferson stereotypes the Black race in his Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson owns some 600 enslaved persons during his lifetime and regularly auctions them off to cover his often mounting debts. His daily interactions at Monticello lead to this conclusion: I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind…This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Causal Theme: Racism, Black Experience Learn More: Read Chapter 10 in Prelude |
| 1787 | Ministers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones form the Free African Society in Philadelphia. This mutual aid society, founded before the Constitutional Convention, is set up to support the assimilation of Blacks into society. Over time it leads the way to the formation of Black churches. Causal Theme: Black Experience, Abolition Learn More: Read Chapter 11 in Prelude |
| 1787 | At the 1787 Constitutional Convention the Southern states threaten a walk-out. Once it’s decided that the allocation of seats in the Legislature will be based on each state’s population, the South demands that their African captives be included in the count. Northern opposition to this almost puts an end to the talk of Union. Causal Theme: Voting Power Learn More: Read Chapter 9 in Prelude |
| 1787 | An allocation compromise satisfies the South while reducing Blacks to 3/5th of a full human. Scottish immigrant James Wilson is one of only six men who sign both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and later serves on the Supreme Court. But at Philadelphia his resolution solves Southern demands for more seats in the House, but at the expense of officially declaring Black as forever an inferior race. Causal Theme: Voting Power, Racism, Black Experience Learn More: Read Chapter 9 in Prelude |
| 1787 | The Northwest Ordinance draws the first boundary line dividing Free vs. Slave States. With slavery already vanishing in the North, Massachusetts delegate Nathan Dane advances Article VI which defines a geographical boundary along the Ohio River where: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes… Provided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. Causal Theme: Legal Verdicts, Territorial Constitutions, Slavery Expansion Learn More: Read Chapter 9 in Prelude |
| 1787 | The U.S. Senate and the Electoral College give smaller states more power in Congress. Smaller states like New Hampshire and Delaware are concerned that their votes in Congress and in the election of presidents will be overwhelmed by votes from larger states like New York and Virginia. To address this issue, Massachusetts delegate, Nathaniel Gorham, proposes the creation of a second legislative branch, the Senate, with each state having two seats. Meanwhile a Committee of Eleven offers an Electoral College approach to determining future president, further handing marginally more power to the smaller states. Causal Theme: Voting Power, Legal Verdicts Learn More: Read Chapter 9 in Prelude |
| 1787 | James Madison agrees to craft a Bill of Rights for citizens and for the sovereign states. The Bill isn’t fully ratified until 1783, but its Ten Amendments identify such crucial guarantees as: freedom of religion, speech, assembly and the press; eminent domain; the right to bear arms, to trial by jury, legal representation, protection against unlawful search and seizure, self-incrimination, and double jeopardy. Of critical importance to those who fear concentration of power in a central government (or even the emergence of a king), is Madison’s 10th Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Causal Theme: Legal Verdicts, Nullification Learn More: Read Chapter 13 in Prelude |