Effects of the American Revolution
Post War Conditions in the Newly Created United States
Jan 3, 2009
Perhaps the greatest effect of the American Revolution was the acknowledgment by Great Britain that the former colonies were now independent. The Dutch had been the first to recognize an independent United States [1] followed by France. By signing the 1783 treaty ending the war, Britain accepted independence as well as officially declared and agreed upon boundaries of the new nation. But the end of war also changed life in the colonies dramatically and it would take several years to assess and rectify the problems that followed independence.
Post Revolution Government
Government in the former colonies may be separated by the various state governments and a national confederation that Kelly and Harbison refer to as a “league of friendship.” [2] This national body, known as the Articles of Confederation, would prove incapable of solving post war national problems. With the exception of Rhode Island and Connecticut, the other states began the task of drafting state constitutions, a tradition rooted in both pre war colonial charters and the “compact” notion of government.
The vote, however, was limited to propertied males and strict property qualifications existed for office-holders. In Maryland, for example, the property value requirement for governors was 5,000 Pounds Sterling while upper chamber (Senators) members required 1,000. Religious liberty was part of most state constitutional guarantees and state stipends to churches ceased.
Trade, Commerce, and the Frontier in Post War America
Due to the limitations of the Articles of Confederation, the central Congress was hampered in efforts to negotiate commercial treaties. Because the United States was no longer part of the complex British mercantile system, key exports were lost. This included rice, indigo, and tobacco. In Southern states, the loss of once profitable commodities forced planters to convert to cotton production, made even more lucrative through the invention of the cotton gin in 1793.
The new government was also unable to address the presence of British, Spanish, and Native Americans on the frontier. In several cases, British soldiers still maintained garrisons within territorial boundaries, frequently supporting Native Americans that harassed frontier settlements. The British government justified this position on the grounds that, per the 1783 treaty, the United States had not made good on its promise to compensate the losses of Tories that had fled during the war.
The war had also produced enormous national debt with millions owed to the French and Dutch governments. In London, financiers pressed pre war debts relative to the complex system of credit extensions and debentures. Finally, individual states maintained heavy debt loads while individuals that had invested in war bonds despaired of seeing those sums redeemed.
States developed their own currencies, rejected by European factors and merchants in favor of gold and silver, thus depriving the new nation of the financial stability built upon hard money. Additionally, inter-state trade rivalries existed that featured retaliatory measures. New York, for example, as an entry port for imports, assessed tariff duties on goods entering New Jersey or Connecticut. It is also worth noting that Britain closed the West Indies to United States trade.
Social Unrest and Rural Violence in New England
New England was particularly hard hit by post war economic changes. The fisheries industry was in ruins and agricultural prices decreased to the point where many farmers stood to lose their homes and farms in foreclosure proceedings. Led by Daniel Shays, these farmers in 1786 mounted a “rebellion” of sorts aimed at closing down the courts. Eventually dissolved by a militia army paid for by Boston merchants, the rebellion forced national leaders to act.
The effects of the Revolution were, for the most part, negative, albeit the experiment in democracy had begun. The Constitution was the “effect” of these turbulent years and, taken in that perspective, can be said to be the longer term effect of the Revolution. The new nation was “free” and given the opportunity to fashion a system that provided expanded freedom.
Sources:
Oliver Dickerson, The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951)
Alfred H. Kelly and Winfred A. Harbison, The American Constitution: Its Origins and Development (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1976) p. 97
Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States
[1] See Barbara Tuchman, The First Salute (New York: Ballantine Books, 1988)
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