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There was war, but no meltdown, a kin to what happened in France or Russia. We kept basically the same legal system, basically the same constitution (but wrote it down), and society continued basically as it always had. Can we have some response that is not sarcastic?
There was war, but no meltdown, a kin to what happened in France or Russia. We kept basically the same legal system, basically the same constitution (but wrote it down), and society continued basically as it always had. Can we have some response that is not sarcastic?
Nah, not really. We did not keep the same constitution, our legal system was based upon many elements of English law but with some big changes. The difference between France and Russia was that the revolution was both social and political were as in the U.S. it was just political. In the U.S. if you were a rich land owner you probably remained one(unless you were a loyalist) after the revolution. In you were poor you probably would still be poor.
In much of Europe heredity mattered. The King of France and the Czar of Russia were more or less absolute monarchs and nobility matter much more in those countries.
George III was not an absolute monarch and If left up to him the British would not have made peace. When news of the surrender of General Lord Cornwallis reached England, the faction of Parliament that favored Peace won and Parliament voted against continuing operation in the U.S. and began to seek peace. It would take another 2 years for what had become a world war to wrap up and a formal peace treaty to be signed but from then on Parliament was in Control.
This country had about zero nobility and did away with nobility all together. For instance the U.S. Constitution does not allow Congress to grant titles of Nobility. The Presidency is not hereditary and he must be elected by the electoral college. The Senate likewise does not have seats anything equivalent to the Lords(i.e. Seats by Hereditary or Seats for Church officials) and the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land(not the House of Lords till recently).
In terms of voting only property holders would be able to vote but over time property requirements would be reduced until by about the 1820ies all white men could vote. Blacks and Women could vote in a handful of states till this was taken away. Slavery too would be slowly set on a course to being eliminated in the North with some states gradually abolishing during and shortly after the war and it being banned in the Northwest Territories(what would become IL, IN,IA, OH, WI, MI, MN).
Russia totally did away with the nobility including the king. France did the same until Napoleon lost and the French Monarchy was restored. The U.S. never had a state religion(The U.K. did/does) but some states did and they got rid of them and limited the power of the church after the revolution. France did away with Feudalism(which was just about dead in the U.K. at the time). For Russia and France the revolutions were huge changes in society and religion as well as the structure of government. Our changes were for the most part slow and gradual.
Now there was quite some unrest in the U.S. as tax revolts would continue until 1800 or so but after Shay's rebellion help prompt the creation of the U.S. Constitution and later with the then new Federal Government under President Washington was able to put down the Whiskey rebellion in a near bloodless manner. Basically the change from the Article of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution would slowly fix the economic and international problems that the revolution created.
The issues that were faced after the revolution are what should be the role of the States and the Federal government. How strong should the Federal government be. And even today we still deal with this.
Nah, not really. We did not keep the same constitution, our legal system was based upon many elements of English law but with some big changes. The difference between France and Russia was that the revolution was both social and political were as in the U.S. it was just political. In the U.S. if you were a rich land owner you probably remained one(unless you were a loyalist) after the revolution. In you were poor you probably would still be poor.
I wanted to acknowledge that this is a great post. I agree with many of the points, not the conclusion. The U.S. basically wrapped the monarch and Prime Minister into one. Similar to the British HOC, money bills must originate in the lower house. The Senate and House of Lords had similar original roles, but different methods of election/selection.
The President, like the British monarch, started out with "levees" or gatherings with important people. The tw systems were frighteningly similar for two countries that fought a war.
King George was in a bind. Many people did not recognize the House of Hanover as legitimate; his throne was on shaky ground - the Jacobite Rising was in 1745. To acquiesce in the loss of the 13 colonies was to appear to weaken his House.
Just a technical note: Virginia put in property requirements for voting in 1670 and did not remove it fully until the approval of the 1850 State Constitution. It was proposed in the 1830 constitution but the provision failed by two votes; however, the property requirement was reduced to $25 (very roughly $800 today). (The right to sit on a jury was another matter and until the 1970's women, racial and religious minorities were under represented despite court rulings.)
King George was in a bind. Many people did not recognize the House of Hanover as legitimate; his throne was on shaky ground - the Jacobite Rising was in 1745. To acquiesce in the loss of the 13 colonies was to appear to weaken his House.
Just a technical note: Virginia put in property requirements for voting in 1670 and did not remove it fully until the approval of the 1850 State Constitution. It was proposed in the 1830 constitution but the provision failed by two votes; however, the property requirement was reduced to $25 (very roughly $800 today). (The right to sit on a jury was another matter and until the 1970's women, racial and religious minorities were under represented despite court rulings.)
In the U.S. a jury is selected by both lawyers for the trail and the Judge making it hard to get people other than what both lawyers and the judge like to be Jurors. So the right to sit on a Jury was present since the 14th amendment for racial minorities but getting selected was another matter.
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