Launching a New Nation:

1. Launching a New Nation: 1789 - 1816

2. New Gov’t Takes Shape • Washington elected 1st President unanimously. • Although the Constitution provided a strong foundation, it was not a blueprint for governing. • “We are in a wilderness without a single footstep to guide us.” -- James Madison

3. The Judiciary Act of 1789 • The Constitution had authorized Congress to set up a federal court system, headed by the Supreme Court, but it failed to spell out the details. • Judiciary Act of 1789 created the federal court system and allowed state court decisions to be appealed in federal court when constitutional questions were raised.

4. Washington Shapes Executive Branch • Congress created 3 executive departments: • 1) Department of State to deal with foreign affairs • 2) Department of War to handle military matters • 3) Department of Treasury to manage finances

5. Washington’s Cabinet

6. Washington chose Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury, Henry Knox as secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph as attorney general (the chief lawyer of the federal gov’t). • These department heads soon became the president’s chief advisors, or cabinet.

10. Hamilton and Jefferson Debate

11. Hamilton believed in a strong central gov’t led by a prosperous, educated elite of upper-class citizens. • Jefferson distrusted a strong central gov’t and the rich. He favored strong state and local gov’t run by the common man.

12. Hamilton believed that commerce and industry were the keys to a strong nation. • Jefferson favored a society of farmer-citizens.

13. Hamilton’s vision of America found support in the North, particularly New England. • Jefferson’s views won endorsement in the South and the West.

15. Hamilton’s Economic Plan • Hamilton believed that no nation could survive without the confidence of foreign and domestic creditors. • He believed the federal gov’t must legislate to enrich the educated business and professional men so that they would be bound to that gov’t.

16. Hamilton proposed to pay off the war debt owed by the federal gov’t. • He also proposed an assumption plan, which called for the federal gov’t to assume the war debts owed by the states. • Hamilton reasoned that assuming state debts would give creditors an incentive to support the federal gov’t.

17. Assumption was strongly opposed by the South, which had already paid off most of their debt. • The northern states were all for assumption. • Assumption vehemently opposed by Jefferson and Madison.

18. In exchange for southern support for assumption, Hamilton compromised with Jefferson and Madison to move the national capital from New York to Philadelphia for 10 years, then to a permanent spot on the Potomac River.

19. Plan for a National Bank • Hamilton also proposed a national bank to issue paper money and handle tax receipts and other gov’t funds. • The bank would be funded by the federal government and wealthy investors. • Hamilton hoped to tie these wealthy individuals to the country’s welfare.

20. The proposal for a national bank met much opposition. • Madison feared that the bank would forge an unhealthy alliance between wealthy investors and the gov’t. • Jefferson saw the bank as unconstitutional, because the Constitution did not give the federal gov’t the power to operate a bank (strict construction vs. broad construction).

21. The First Political Parties

22. The disagreements between Hamilton and Jefferson caused them to clash over gov’t policy, and this fueled the growing division in national politics. • The split in Washington’s cabinet helped give rise to the country’s 1st political parties.

23. 2 parties formed around one of the key issues in American history -- the power and size of the federal gov’t in relation to the state and local governments.

24. Those who shared Hamilton’s vision called themselves Federalists. • Those who supported Jefferson’s vision of strong state governments called themselves Republicans (No relation to today’s Republican Party. Later called Democratic Republicans, Jefferson’s party is the ancestor of today’s Democratic Party).

25. Republicans believed in limited central government, an agrarian economy, strong state governments, and a democratic system based on broader political participation.

26. The Whiskey Rebellion • Occurred during Washington’s 2nd term in office • Reflected tensions between national and regional interests

27. Congress passed an excise tax -- a tax on a product’s manufacture, sale, or distribution -- to be levied on whiskey. • This infuriated frontier farmers in western Penn., whose livelihood depended on the sale of corn whiskey. • When federal agents came to collect the tax, the farmers chased them off.

29. Washington didn’t want another Shays’ Rebellion, so he mobilized 13,000 state militia to put down the “insurrection”. • No casualties, only a few arrests of ringleaders (many farmers fled to Kentucky) • Washington had demonstrated the power of the federal gov’t to enforce laws.

30. Foreign Affairs Trouble the Nation

31. US Reaction to French Revolution • Some Americans supported the French Revolution because it was inspired by the ideal of republican rule and because France and the US were allies. • Some disagreed with the Revolution due to the excess of the revolutionary regime (The Reign of Terror)

33. During the French Revolution, France declared war on Great Britain and expected American help. • Jefferson, Madison and the Republicans favored supporting France. • Hamilton and the Federalists wanted the US to back the British. • Washington issued a declaration of neutrality, a statement that the US would support neither side.

34. The French sent a young diplomat, Edmond Genet, to win American support. • Going against diplomatic procedure, Genet began to recruit Americans for the war effort against Great Britain.

35. Americans were outraged. Federalists called Jefferson a radical because he supported France. • Frustrated by these attacks and his ongoing feud with Hamilton, Jefferson resigned from the cabinet in 1793.

36. Treaty With Spain • US ambassador Thomas Pinckney negotiated treaty with Spain in 1795. • Spain gave up all land claims east of the Miss. River (except Florida) and allowed American traders to use the port of New Orleans. • Pinckney’s Treaty helped pave the way for US expansion west of the Appalachians.

38. Native Americans Resist White Settlers

39. Pioneers had been moving west of the Appalachians since before the Revolutionary War. • Westward migration greatly increased after the Treaty of Paris, which secured the land between the Appalachians and the Miss. River for the Americans.

40. British still maintained forts in the Northwest Territory (a direct violation of the treaty). • Settlers also met fierce resistance from the Indians, who often attacked white settlers. • The federal gov’t sent the army (into Ohio) to secure the land for the white settlers.

41. Twice the army clashed with a confederacy of Indian tribes led by Miami chieftain Little Turtle and twice were defeated. • Washington appointed General Anthony Wayne (“Mad Anthony”).

44. After training for a full year, Mad Anthony defeated the Miami Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near present-day Toledo (1794). • This victory ended Indian resistance in Ohio.

45. Jay’s Treaty • John Jay negotiated a treaty with Britain in which the British agreed to evacuate their posts in the Northwest Territory. • Jay’s Treaty allowed British-Canadians to continue their fur trade on the US side of the border. This angered many western settlers.

46. Even though the US remained neutral in the war between France and Great Britain, the British had begun to seize US ships and confiscate their crews and cargoes. Many were furious that Jay’s Treaty did not resolve this problem.

48. Adams Provokes Criticism • The election of 1796 was the first contest between candidates from opposing parties. • The Federalist ticket was John Adams and Thomas Pinckney. • The Republican ticket was Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.