Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

While there was concern among many Americans in the early years of the country over a number of issues (the climate, a sense that the people were becoming more licentious, etc) overall the American people and their leaders were optimistic.

To maintain this optimism and fulfill the promise of America, as those at the time saw it, would require work and reform though.

As an extension of the Enlightenment thinking that animated these Americans they believed it would be possible to mold American culture into what it would need to be for America to excel.

One of the key areas where leaders believed reform was needed in education; believing that American liberty depended on virtue and knowledge and that it wasn’t sufficient just for Americans to know of their rights but also of their obligations.

Prior to the Revolution education was largely a private enterprise and in New England, the only colonies that had laws on education, the townships were only required to maintain primary schools but parents were not obligated to have their children attend.

While there were several attempts in different states after the Revolution to have a public education system they largely failed with states commonly unable to raise taxes to pay for the enterprise.

As the distinction between private and public education did not yet exist the best some states could do was direct public monies to existing private educational institutions.

Many colleges sprang up following the Revolution from nine colleges to 33 by 1815 and while many, including the first six presidents, called for a national university the responsibility of colleges was just to train gentlemen whereas American leaders at the time believed it was the general population that also needed to educated through a public education system.

The dream of education reform and a Republican education system to mold the population floundered and it wasn’t until later in the 19th century that a publicly funded modern education system would come about.

Formal schooling wasn’t the only way reformers sought to educate the public.

Increased number of libraries due to public funding led to more readers, increased numbers of reading clubs, debating societies, etc.

Increased number of spelling books and books on manners.

An increasing number of institutions created to collect and transmit knowledge such as philosophical and historical societies.

An increasing number of published periodicals, magazines and books with three quarters of all books and pamphlets published in America between 1637 and 1800 occurring in the last 35 years of the 18th century.

More support by the federal government of a postal system allowed for the creation of of many more post offices and miles of post roads compared to the Confederation period.

69 post offices in 1788 to 903 in 1800.

An increase in the number of newspapers with only 92 in 1790 there were 235 in 1800.

Reform focussed on communication networks including roads and canals as well.

Turnpikes, roads built by chartered companies with tolls to collect payment and provide revenue to the investors, sprang up quickly and the mileage of post roads dramatically increased.

Congress authorized the National Road which would run from Cumberland, Maryland to the Ohio River eventually extending from Cincinnati to St, Louis on the Mississippi and the chartering of companies to build turnpikes dramatically increased.

By 1810 post roads connected what was essentially America’s northernmost town with its southernmost towns as well as running east to west as well.

Following the Constitution there was a dramatic increase in philanthropic organizations.

At first most organizations were run by gentlemen who were more interested in carrying out good deeds to cement their reputation as gentlemen but as time went on these organizations began to be run by middling sorts who were more interested in actually helping to change the circumstances of those they were helping.

These organizations were the beginning of civil society.

Somewhat related to the philanthropic organizations were the increasing number of missionary and religious societies who originally focussed on spreading the gospel in North America and then during the 19th century globally as well.

One of the areas of reform that got the most attention was related to how criminals were treated and the punishment they faced.

Prior to the Revolution punishment for crimes were in line with European and especially English standards with many crimes resulting in physical punishment doled out publicly.

The old ways of punishing criminals was seen as un-republican, believing that men were the results of their surroundings and could thus be changed the number of crimes that resulted in either physical punishment or capital punishment were greatly reduced and the penitentiary was created as a new institution to reform criminals.

However by the second decade of the 1810s this more enlightened way of dealing with criminals fell out of favor with high rates of recidivism and soaring costs.

The most important institution that changed as a result of the Revolution was the family and, like other institutions, it became more republican following the Revolution.

Marital relationships still favored the husband as the laws of coverture were still maintained but wives, and women generally, began to see themselves as more independent.

The legal authority men had over wives may not have greatly changed but people’s consciousnesses were.

Laws did start to slowly adopt with states abolishing petit treason (which provided for harsher punishment for wives who murdered their husbands as it was originally viewed as akin to a subject murdering their king) and there was some legal recognition over the right of women to divorce.

The new state constitutions did away with English inheritance laws such as entail and primogeniture.

Many of the new states also passed laws to make inheritance more equal between sons and daughters and provided more autonomy to widows when it came to inheritance.

Reflected in the popular literature of the time was also a phenomenon of children no longer having to defer to parents without question, marry for the purposes of property, or stay close to home and follow the path set forward by parents.

One of the most popular works of literature at the time was Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe which involved a Crusoe defying his parents by running away from home and then finding God when stranded alone on an island sending the message that salvation was possible without the guidance of one’s parents.

After the Revolution, even though most understood “rights” as applying to only men, some began talking about the rights of women as well.

The main catalyst was A Vindication of the Rights of Women by English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792.

Reconciling the rights of women and their traditional roles in the family was difficult but many believed that women had unique traits that made them indispensable to republican society.

Virtue was no longer seen as being identified with martial qualities but rather with things like sociability and benevolence which were traits women were, it was seen, uniquely suited for.

Women’s roles in the private sphere such as dances and tea parties were seen as important to tempering society but their roles in the public sphere of politics was still not realized.

Women were seen as instrumental to the family unit and were responsible for the raising of republican children.

There were increased educational opportunities and academies created for the advancement of women.

While there was no organized movement for women’s involvement in politics or suffrage at this time this era and discussions surrounding women’s rights did lay the groundwork for the future.