Making Connections

1. Leaders in the new nation held that voting should be restricted to men possessing independence of mind. What did they mean by that? Who did they mean to exclude from voting?

2. Twenty-first-century Americans see a profound tension between the Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality and the persistence of American slavery. Did Americans in the late eighteenth century see a tension?

3. What proposals were offered to manage the sale and settlement of the Northwest Territory, the confederation’s greatest financial asset? How did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 shape the nation’s expansion?