SUBORDINATE GROUPS IN COLONIAL ERA.   Term Paper ID:25803 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Overview of political, legal & social origins of power relations between elites (white propertied males) & weaker groups (blacks, women, poor) in colonial, Revolutionary & Constitutional periods.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Overview of political, legal & social origins of power relations between elites (white propertied males) & weaker groups (blacks, women, poor) in colonial, Revolutionary & Constitutional periods. Paper Introduction: POWER OF SUBORDINATE PEOPLE IN COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY AND CONSTITUTIONAL ERAS This research paper discusses the power of subordinate people over their lives and society during the colonial period and the changes in that power which were brought about by the changes in governance during the Revolutionary War and Constitutional eras. For most people in the colonies, life was hard during the colonial period which lasted almost as long as the life of the Republic since its founding in 1787. The great mass of people had little control over their lives or society, but substantial autonomy was enjoyed by the colonies and their legislatures from their colonial overlords which was a function of distances and different conditions in the harsh wilderness. A burgeoning middle class characterized all but the plantation Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. remained firmly incontrol" (49-5 & 59). In one sense, all the settlers other than thecolonial officials sent over from England were 'subordinate groups.'However, they did not so regard themselves until after the French andIndian War which ended in 1763. Common law marriages were recognized and illegitimate children ofsuch marriages could be legitimized in many jurisdictions. This, whencoupled with the passage of the Bill of Rights, provided the underpinningfor an open society and one in which middle class prosperity and economicopportunity could flourish. While all the northern states eventually followedsuit, slavery became a critical mainstay of the economy and socialstructure of the pre-Civil War South by the end of the 18th century. The Magic Mirror: Law in American History. Still, Hall says theywere not as strict as in England, where many more crimes were consideredcapital offenses. In the Ordinanceestablishing the Northwest Territory in 1787, Congress declared that noslaves would be admissible, beginning a sectional debate over the extensionof slavery beyond the original thirteen colonies which would be ended onlyby the Civil War (Northwest 256). In it, one of thecomplaints of its principal author, Thomas Jefferson, is that George III"has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the mercilessIndian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguisheddestruction of all ages, sexes and conditions" (Boyd 431). The Constitutional era brought about strong centralauthority, greater respect for propertied interests and conflict betweenthe Eastern commercial and manufacturing interests and those of smallfarmers and backwoodsmen. Hall points out that equity courts in colonial times sometimessustained the separate estates of married women, that widows had greaterrights in the colonies than in England and that propertied women could votein some colonial elections, but did not by custom hold office. The Constitution is silent on whether its rights apply only to men.In its submission to Congress, Virginia's proposed amendments to theConstitution which provided the textual basis for the Bill of Rightsreferred only to men, as in "every freeman has a right to be secure fromall unreasonable searches and seizure of his person" (Elliott 185). The Constitution itself did not mention the question of slavery.However, it provided several elements of compromise. Another subordinate class were lawbreakers, criminals or, as theywere known in the old days, the dangerous classes. For most people in the colonies,life was hard during the colonial period which lasted almost as long as thelife of the Republic since its founding in 1787. The rigors of theocracy, characteristic of earlyPuritan New England, gave way as the tradition of religious dissent inneighboring states such as Roger Williams' community of free believers inRhode Island provide outlets for nonconformists. Other features such as theindependence of its courts and the power of judicial review would somedaybe enlisted directly in support of the civil rights of blacks and otherminorities. . The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Hall saysthat "divorce in colonial America was extremely rare" (165). . Neither the Revolution nor the Constitution emancipated women fromthe disabilities imposed upon by the common law which included, no right tovote or stand for public office, coverture or the husband's control overtheir property and income during marriage and very little basis forobtaining divorce. Cases in the materials refer todivorces allowed in North Carolina in the 179 s and early 18 s for causessuch as adultery. Hallmentions that some free blacks fought in the Revolutionary Army but that bythe late 178 s the spirit of abolition, which briefly flowered during thewar, had been replaced by a general spirit of anti-black prejudice in theNorth. Indians hadnothing to look forward to do for the next century but successivedispossession from their ancestral lands by whites under broken treaties.The Revolutionary War accelerated this process by removing the British astheir protectors in the Northwest Territory which was opened to whitesettlement in 1787. VII, no. The great mass of peoplehad little control over their lives or society, but substantial autonomywas enjoyed by the colonies and their legislatures from their colonialoverlords which was a function of distances and different conditions in theharsh wilderness. Nor was it intended that black slaves be regarded as anything otherthan chattel which could be disposed of by their masters as they saw fitand who had no legal rights. However,republican ideals and privileges were never intended to apply to NativeAmericans, black slaves, the poor or other members of the so-calleddangerous classes. Women and white males who did not own property remaineddisenfranchised. New York: Oxford U P, 1989.Northwest Territorial Ordinance, Congress of the Confederation, 1787.Winthrop, John. Princeton: Princeton U P, 195 .Butterfield, L. The establishment of a strong national governmentand other constitutional reforms, however, set the stage for later measureswhich would ameliorate the status of some subordinate groups. Boston, 1641.----------------------- 9 Massachusettsas early as 178 allowed judicial divorce. Another subordinate group was the poor. Changes Caused by the Revolutionary War In order to muster public support, Congress had to appeal torepublican sentiment and to justify the revolution on the grounds that KingGeorge III had thwarted the popular will. The Revolution generated a republican spirit and aspirit of common sacrifice for the cause of independence. . That statement was not intended literally. Constitutional Era The system of checks and balances in the Constitution itself whichJames Madison said were there to check the growth of factionalism also hadthe effect of blocking tyranny whether of a new ruler or of the majorityand in promoting moderate solutions to political questions. Considerable diversity developed overtime as the colonial population and the area under cultivation expanded.According to Hall, "in each colony emerged a body of rules that, owingsomething to remembered English ways, also reflected the circumstances ofthe New World" (27). Colonial Era The early settlers brought with them the English common law legalsystem and its institutions which were modified to meet the conditions oflife on the frontier. H. He cites the peaceful and non-revolutionarycharacter of the transfer of power in the fact that all American Torieswere permitted to take their possessions and leave the country for Englandor Canada, as tens of thousands did. Pennsylvania again under the influence of the Quakersabolished capital punishment in 1786 for all crimes other than first degreemurder, well before any other government in the world. During the late 18th century and the first decade of the 19thcentury, the penitentiary movement began, an outcome of FrenchEnlightenment thinking which led to reforms in criminal sentencing andpenology. Conclusion The American system developed gradually from its colonial and Englishorigins in a manner which accommodated the republican spirit andimplemented a living and enduring constitution in which subordinate groupsas well as others have fared fairly well. in 1787. In correspondence between them in 1776, Abigail Adamschides her husband because men treat women as vassals. (Ed.). The Revolution involved more a change in national loyalties than asocial revolution. Cambridge: Belknap P Harvard U, 1963.Elliott, Jonathan (Ed.). Petitions by black slaves to New Englandlegislatures for their freedom in the 177 s were ignored. Social structures and laws were highly cohesive, reflecting commonnecessities in the struggle for survival and religious unity, which wasparticularly strong in New England. A burgeoning middle class characterized all but theplantation economy of the South. While John Adams and others repeated the complaintof the English Whigs and political philosophers such as John Locke, that"republican government had its origin in the people," and justifiedrevolutionary violence as an expression of popular sovereignty and the willof the majority, Hall says "an elite class . He answershumorously but avoids the issue (Butterfield 369 & 381). A common theme throughout thecolonial period and really until well into the 2 th century was "whiteracial and cultural superiority" (Hall 129). Class distinctions were much moreimportant generally in the South where a plantation system of agriculturedeveloped first around tobacco and then primarily around cotton after EliWhitney developed the cotton gin in 179 . Pennsylvania was the firststate (in 1776) not to require debtors to serve indefinitely sentences indebtor's prison. Pennsylvania wasthe first Western government to outlaw slavery in 178 , which it claimedwas contrary to nature. A hundred plusyears previously John Winthrop, the Governor of Massachusetts had nocompunction about referring to husbands as a woman's "lord" (56). Criminal laws incolonial times were very harsh and sometimes very unpredictable, asexemplified by the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. One consequence of weakening British rule was to weaken the power ofcolonial executives or royal governors. Alexis DeTocqueville, among others, commented on how the Americans used the jurysystem to ease the rigors of the criminal law and to instill the judgmentof the community into the criminal justice system. Neither the Colonial system, the Revolution nor the Constitutionalera did much to improve the power of the subordinate elements of society.However, the Constitution, especially the federal system and its checks andbalances, produced a self-correcting framework within which the economy andsociety could grow and in which the population could improve its lot andexploit the resources of its vast interior. POWER OF SUBORDINATE PEOPLE IN COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY ANDCONSTITUTIONAL ERAS This research paper discusses the power of subordinate people overtheir lives and society during the colonial period and the changes in thatpower which were brought about by the changes in governance during theRevolutionary War and Constitutional eras. Colonial legislatures enjoyed considerableautonomy from royal governors, who depended upon them in part to defray thecosts of local government and to raise militia for local defense.Localities, as exemplified by New England town meetings exercised a degreeof local self-government unknown in England. Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution . 164. Works CitedBoyd, Julian P. Each slave counted as3/5 in deciding a state's population for representation purposes, no directtaxes could be imposed on slaves and the validity of the slave trade wasguaranteed through 18 8. Hall says "the American Revolution was an ambiguous affair asrevolutions go," with home rule the issue, not political, social oreconomic equality (49). Under Article IV, as supplemented by the FugitiveSlave Law of 1793, slaves lawfully under the slave codes of any state hadto be returned by other states to their lawful owners. "Speech on Liberty." Old South Leaflets, vol. And even the poorest freemen enjoyedliberties unknown in the mother country because of labor shortages, greatersocial mobility, and traditions of religious dissent. When, however, the weakening ofcentral authority under the Articles of Confederation reached the pointthat it threatened private property rights, such as under Shay's Rebellionin western Massachusetts, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and otherconservatives argued that it was time to reassert national authority and toprotect the propertied classes. (1881).Hall, Kermit L. About the same time actions lay against men for breach of promise tomarry. In both New England andthe Middle Atlantic states, opportunities were good over time for thegrowing middle classes as well as the landed and mercantile aristocracieswhich was not titled or inherited. et al (Eds.). That system proved to bedistinctively American and flexible enough to respond to changingcircumstances. By 18 9, child custody did not necessarily go to thefather but was governed by the principle of the best interests of thechild. . Hall goes very far toward validatingCharles Beard's economic interpretation of the motives which lay behind thefounding of the Constitution when he acknowledges that "the rule of law hasmasked blatant class oppression" (7). It was based on the proposition that "all persons were capable ofself-reformation if placed in the proper environment and given, throughsolitary confinement and the discipline of hard labor, the opportunity toreflect on and to correct their wayward habits" (Hall 171). The most extreme statement is theassertion in the Declaration of Independence that all men are createdequal. Adams Family Correspondence vol I. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.