The period after the War for Independence in 1783- 1788 was a crucial time for the United States as it fixed the limits of revolutionary change and established a new government. The American War for Independence was a revolutionary period where Congress declared the independence of the thirteen colonies causing social, political, and economic changes in the new nation. The newly created United States of America established a republican form of government, where governmental power was vested to the independent property owners who were the main stakeholders.There was also a marked increase in support for female education changing the lives of women.
Nurturing incorruptible future leaders, or republican motherhood, was women’s principal responsibility under the new government. After the war, in the early 1780s abolition of slavery took place in the states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts as a feeling of anti-slavery spread to the North with Chesapeake region supporting the abolition. Despite an antislavery movement in the North and emancipation in the Chesapeake region, most African Americans remained slaves and sometimes were denied voting rights.After the war, the United States was left with a national debt of about $50 million, owed to France and Americans, to which congress consented to pay. On the other hand, the war of 1812 facilitated the growth of nationalism by exacting respect from Great Britain.
Just like in the American War for independence, in the War of 1812, The United States was victorious against Great Britain, which benefited the leading members of the government to view national economy growth more favorably leading to the unprecedented trade growth, other areas that experienced growth were construction of roads which opened the path for westward expansion.In the Northeast, fundamental changes also took place in the household manufacturing, seeing the first establishment of the textile industry in Massachusetts, which employed young New England farmwomen. In the South, the high demand for cotton by England and New England industries increased domestic trade. Slave owners from the east started to sell their slaves to planters in the South increasing the prices of slaves.
The American southern dependence on slavery compromised the strength of the economy.In 1816, the new president supported a new national bank to stabilize the economy and distribute scarce money more uniformly. Several fundamental changes occurred after the War of 1812,even though they were not complete radical political or socioeconomic changes to be termed revolutionary. The war of 1812 represents the definitive end of the American War for Independence (1776-1783). The signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the Revolutionary War and established the United States among the nations of the world with a new government.
The most notable fundamental alteration of the War of 1812 was an upsurge in American nationalism. “The war has given the Americans what they so essentially lacked, a national character” (French Diplomat). Most importantly, America’s independence and status in the world was reaffirmed, never again to face any serious challenge. Both conflicts brought fundamental changes to the United States and established the framework for a future democracy.
