Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 9

Introduction to the Documents

The newness of the nation in a long-settled society offered many Americans opportunities for a fresh start. Some departed for the promise of a new life in the western vastness beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Many others believed the new opportunities of American life threatened to undermine established institutions, habits, and morals. Divisive disputes arose over just how “new” the new nation should be. Would innovations in government, education, the economy, and politics give shape to recently won liberties, including for women? Or would the innovations undermine liberties, as happened — many believed — in the slave insurrections in the French colony of Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti)? The following documents illustrate both the promises and fears of innovation in the new nation.