American Revolution Research Paper

The Revolutionary spirit was still alive and well into the 1780s as the then new United States was trying to create a functioning Republic. The Founding Fathers had the monumental task of creating a new form of government in the aftermath of the revolution. One that had never been successfully pulled off as Ellis states “no republican government prior to the American Revolution, apart from a few Swiss cantons and Greek city-states, had ever survived for long and none had ever been tried over a land mass as large as the thirteenth colonies. “(Ellis 6). The founding fathers had to also deal with the fact that they were not unified in how that government should rule. This division would soon result in the creation of parties, the Federalist and …show more content…
A question that the new government was hoping to avoid, until a group of Quakers presented a proposition to end the African Slave Trade. The Quakers had sat out the Revolution due to their pacifist beliefs, as Ellis states “What standing could such dedicated pacifist enjoy among veterans of the Revolution.”(Ellis 81). The constitution itself prevented Congress from passing any laws that abolished or restricted the slave trade until 1808. That would have been the end of the debate, had not one other person raised their voice in objection against the Slave Trade, Benjamin Franklin. Franklins petition to abolish slavery listed two points that caused panic in congress. First that the slave trade was incompatible with revolutionary beliefs and secondly that the constitution would not prohibit any legislation against slavery. As Ellis states “suggesting instead that the “general welfare” clause of the constitution empowered the congress to take whatever action it deemed “necessary and proper” to eliminate the stigma of traffic in human beings.” (Ellis 83). This causes debates to rage on, with the other founding fathers to remain silent on the subject. James Madison stepped forward to defuse the situation and restore balance to congress. Slowly those who had been for the proposition had now switched sides for reasons unknown “Madison seldom left …show more content…
As both men proved quite a powerhouse especially during the revolution and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, they formed an odd friendship as Ellis calls them “the odd couple of the American Revolution” (Ellis 163). Despite this powerful friendship, it had begun to hit rough patches as it was clear that politically both men were on opposite ends of the spectrum from each other. With Adams for a much stronger central government and Jefferson firmly in place for the states. This came to ahead after Adams was elected in the 1797, despite Adams attempt to bridge the gap between the two of them and create a bipartisan term Jefferson stood his ground. Adams had to deal with the possibly of a conflict brewing between the United States and its former ally France, as negotiations were near impossible with the newly installed French government. As Ellis explains “at the international level, the fundamental conditions essential for resolving the central problem of the Adams presidency did not exist.”(Ellis 186). Adams also had to deal with political infighting in his own party who were more loyal to the idea of Washington in the form of the then retired Alexander Hamilton. Fortunately, after several failures, Adams sent a successful peace delegation to France which Ellis attributes to an “apparently impulsive decision” (Ellis 191). Through this new delegation Adams was