In the beginning of chapter 7 in Henretta, it talks about how the Patriots had to divide up poiltical power between themselves now that they had independence. It also mentions Abigail Adams, who many historians would consider to be the first American feminist. Abigail Adams demanded legal equal rights for married women. She is a very important figure because without her females might still be considered as inferior to men, and not be able to do certain things that we are able to do now such as vote.
This chapter also talks a lot about The Articles of Confederation, which was the first formalized state of government that the sates had. They were passed by government in November 1777, giving the confederation government much authority. Congress had to issue three ordinances that dealt with problems dealing with the lands north of the Phio River. The Ordinance of 1784, was Thomas Jefferson's idea, and it called for the division of the region into territories and the admission of a territory as a state as soon as its population equaled that of the smallest existing state. The Land Ordinance of 1785 required that the regions be surveyed before settlement. Jefferson also came up with the grid system here, which broke open land in the west into sections of 640 acres. This land was sold by the government for $1 per acre of land, however bacause paper money was not accepted, mainly speculators were able to buy and sell the land which ultimately made the righ get richer.
Lastly, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was issued to provide for the creation of the territories now known as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, ans Wisconsin. This ordinance prohibited slavery in those territories. It also guaranteed the right to a trial by jury, freedom of religion, and provided for public education.
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The Land Ordinence of 1785 was a great idea by Jefferson but like we talked about in the discussion there is no way that everyone could be happy with the property that they would be given. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was the starting point to Americas states. The Northwest Ordiance were territories known as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. After breaking off from Britian's rule America was still arguing amongst the colonies.This helped unify America into setting unified rules throughout.
Importance of the Articles of the Confederation: It was the first formalized state of government in the United States. It showed control of the western lands east of the Ohio River that were unclaimed territories at the time only settled by Indians and white squatters. The articles of the confederation also stated that the federal government has no power that the power lies within the states. The problem with the articles of confederation was that they did not have any money to relieve war debts, there was no military power, and there were too many unsatisfied Americans.
The Land ordinance of 1785 was a great way to prevent big states from gaining too much power. Thomas Jefferson created a grid system to divide the land, but it ended up causing a lot of problems for farmers and settlers and it also allowed high rollers to buy land and sell parts of it with interest allowing the rich to get richer and the poor to stay where they are. One thing that also was established was how there was going to be no slavery in this territory. This left many people concerned on why the south would agree to this which we eventually find out later was because they wanted slaves to be counted as 3/5 vote in congress to give them more electives in the house of representatives.
Naming the states of the NW Ordinance "states" instead of colonies may have been a way to try to psychologically motivate and change the colonies to want to be more united and to reassure them that they could stand on their own w/o GB. I'm curious to learn how Jefferson's grid system is ecologically ridiculous when water becomes a problem later on. Some land on a grid probably doesn't have as many natural resources, including water, as another "grid of land."
I agree that Abigail Adams was a very important figure in history, and think that she initiated the change in wanting more rights for women. And it's true, if someone else wouldn't have come along to and been assertive in asking for equal rights as men, then we possibly wouldn't be able to do things, such as vote, today.
For such a young country that was so far in debt, the United States was able to build itself up with people like Abigail Adams, John Adams, Ben Franklin, George Washington and others with strong opinions and inventive ideas.
Lastly, it's good that the NW ordinance didn't permit slavery in the 5 new states, because that would have led to more problems later that may have even led to a civil war sooner.
The 3/5 compromise was something I found extremely sad. It was horrible to allow slavery to begin with, but then to allow slave owners to count every 1 slave as 3/5 of a person is appauling. It is saddening to think that our country allowed such corrupt behavior to exist. I understand that slavery was acceptable for the time but it is still extremely important to remember situations like this in our nations history. Incidents like these help us understand that like humans, governments make mistakes but we are able to learn from them and move on!
The articles of confederation was an unsuccessful form of government because it gave all the power to the state governments. this made the federal government very weak because they had no power to tax so they could not collect money and had to rely on the state governments to give them money. They were not able to fund a military and had little money
The Land Ordinence's were a great idea that gave some structure to the way land was apportioned. Jefferson's influence in the foundings of America are vast and reach a lot further than the Declaration of Independence. The Articles of Confederation were obviously flawed but in retrospect, were an excellent building block for our Constitution. The compromise between federalism and anti-federalism seems to be the defining struggle of making up the Constitution.
Jefferson had a good idea with the Land Ordinance of 1785, but no one had surveyed the land. It was split up evenly, but some of the sections might not have even been able to have people live there. Plus indians and other people may have already been living there.
The Articles of Confederation turned out to be not so great also. They basically gave all the power of government to the states, making it seem like individual territories almost.
Ah, finally, a true since of government between our little use-to-be colonies. The A.O.C was just the right paper to start off this nation of greedy landgrubin' people. It was also the first true written document against slavery. This document was a bench mark in the worlds history of new government political ideologies the world has ever seen.
Thomas Jefferson's territory idea seemed like a good plan at first. I dont think I would have thought too much about it not working either since kansas is still divided up into a grid system and it seems to be fine. However, it definitely makes sense that selling the land for the same prices when the land is not the same worth would cause issues. Im surprised Thomas Jefferson and the others involved in making the ordinance did not consider water more.
I really liked reading about Abigal Adams. She was a very intelligent woman and did a lot for women during that time period. She did not get the right to vote but worked towards closer equlity. she influenced womens place in education and helped it become a more accepted and well-known thing.
The Articles of Confederation obviously had tons of flaws, but they were a good foundation for the Constitution. It seemed that with the Northwest Ordinance and the Constitution the old guys finally started to figure out what they were doing and how to run things.
Abigail Adams made a definite impact for women by relaying her thoughts on womens' rights onto her husband. I agree, it is very possible women could still be considered "inferior to men" if it hadn't been for her. The grid system was very important, but like we discussed Thursday, it was unfair to many, because some land was by water, while other was not. It would make a person an unhappy landowner if they weren't close to water. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was very important because it prohibited slavery in the new states, and introduced new rights / freedoms.
I think the land ordinence at first, sounded like a good idea at first, but later turned out to be not so good. Property differs in many different areas, and it is almost impossible to please everyone. The land gridding system enabled the already rich people to become more rich as wealthy people would buy many sections for cheap, and sell small sections to less wealthy people.
The articles of Confederation wasn't really a good idea because it gave to much power to the central government. The 3/5 comprimise was also a good idea.
Although the Articles of Confederation did give the powers of the three ordinances it did not give it the power to tax and it lacked military enforcement which led to the creation of the powerful bicameral government in the years after.
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