LOREM IPSUM. Book Title DOLOR SET AMET

Transcription

1 LOREM IPSUM Book Title DOLOR SET AMET

2 Chapter 8 The Federalist Era With a new constitution in place, George Washington would take the reigns of a fledgling nation. He, along with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, would lead the country through its early years with strong leadership despite many obstacles.

3 Chapter 8, Section 1 Washington Confronts U.S. Problems IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... Most people believe that George Washington 1. Learn about the conflicts facing the United States after the passage of the Constitution. was the first president of the United States. In reality, he was the first president to preside in office under the modern-day U.S. Constitution. We actually had at least a half-dozen presidents under the Articles of Confederation before Washington. So if someone tells you that George Washington was our first president you can say, sort of... Pretty much any list you see of the top presidents in our history has Washington at the Washington presidential portrait top. This is mainly because he governed as a person who would consistently act in the best interest of the United States. After taking office, Washington appointed people to his cabinet who could put the country on the right track. He would choose Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton immediately addressed the national debt. Congress devised a bond program to try and stabilize the economy. People can buy a bond, and when they did, they received a certificate for it to be repaid at a later date with interest. This plan was controversial, but it worked well and stabilized the economy. 2

4 Alexander Hamilton Congress would also create the Bank of the United States. The bank was designed to help regulate agriculture and industry. The government would deposit tax money into the bank, and then issue loans to farmers and businesses when they requested them. Not only did Washington have to deal with the nation s debt problem, but he also had to confront England once more. This time, though, he was Commander in Chief, not a commander in the military. Now that the national government was stronger, the international problems Washington had would be easier to deal with. One issue that the U.S. kept its eye on was the French Revolution in Europe. Most all of Europe would become involved in this war, and the U.S. would take its foreign policy cues from other countries who were involved. Washington, understanding that the U.S. was still young and vulnerable as a country, wanted to remain neutral in the French Revolution. In 1793, there were a lot of anti-british feelings in the United States. Remember, the British were still on U.S. soil occupying a handful of forts. The public wanted to fight the British, and pressure on Washington to go to war increased. To avoid war, Washington sent John Jay (below) to England to resolve some of the problems we had with England. At this time, Jay was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His task: get the British out of America. With some tough negotiating, Britain and the U.S. signed the Jay Treaty in Along with getting British troops out of America (officially by 1795), businessmen would be compensated for property lost on the Atlantic due to the French Revolution. During the French Revolution, the British harassed American merchant ships because they thought the ships were heading to France. As a direct result of the Jay Treaty, we were also able to resolve our problems with Spain. Remember, there was a border dispute between Georgia and Spanish controlled Florida. Spain knew the public information of the Jay Treaty, but not the private. They feared that the U.S. and England might be making secret agreements that would threaten Spanish interests in North 3

5 America. Therefore, in early 1795, the Spanish government requested negotiations with the U.S. related to Florida border and Mississippi. The U.S. and Spain would sign the Pinckney Treaty which resolved the Floridian border dispute, and would give America access to the Mississippi River. 4

6 Chapter 8, Section 2 Problems on the Frontier IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... After the American Revolution, the desire to expand westward became a 1. Learn about problems with Native Americans in the Ohio territory. prominent idea in the United States. However, Native Americans did not want to 2. Understand how the federal government exerted its power in a new, unprecedented way. give up their territory to new settlers. The federal government dealt with these conflicts by using military force. The Shawnee and Miami tribes formed an alliance against a white settlement. Chief Little Turtle led this alliance from the Miami tribe. And in the early 1790s, they created a lot of problems for Americans. The United States and the Native Americans fought three expeditions against Little Turtle. The first of these would be in 1790 against U.S. general Josiah Harmar, and the second was in Both times, the United States would be defeated. By 1793, Little Turtle had essentially terrorized the Ohio territory. By 1794, Washington mandated a third expedition led by Anthony Wayne. Wayne met the Shawnee and Miami Indians in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Ohio. The Indians would be crushed, and would sign a treaty giving up rights to this territory and move west to Indiana. Another problem Washington had to deal with was the Whiskey Rebellion near Pittsburgh in In order to lower the national debt, Congress put a tax on whiskey. Many people were angry over this new tax, especially lower class farmers. Not only were they mad that they had to pay a new tax, but they were even more frustrated with the fact that those who produced whiskey had to pay more. So, they formed a makeshift army to rebel against the new tax. 5

7 When George Washington heard about this rebellion, he reacted immediately by personally leading a 12,000 man portion of the U.S. army across Pennsylvania to deal with the problem. The rebellion eventually faded away, and the farmers army faded away. This enormous show of force illustrates a new-found power of the government that people in the U.S. had not seen before. 6

8 Chapter 8, Section 3 End of an Era IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... Late in Washington s second term, there were two political parties forming that 1. See how the Washington presidency ended. could compete against each other in the 1796 presidential election. These two 2. Recognize the development of new political parties in the United States. 3. Learn about the presidential election in Understand how the XYZ Affair both helped and hurt John Adams presidency parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The Federalists were founded by Alexander Hamilton. They believed in a stronger central government, with a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The DemocraticRepublicans were led by Thomas Jefferson. Democratic-Republicans believed in strong state governments and strict interpretation of the Constitution. Although the Constitution says nothing about having political parties, they formed due to conflicting interests in the country. Washington will eventually decide not to run for a third term. In his famous Farewell Address, he gave two warnings to Americans. Firstly, he said that political parties were dangerous, and that they would be the undoing of the country (and the parties themselves). He also warned against the United States becoming involved with military alliances with other countries. He encouraged future leaders to maintain neutrality in foreign conflicts, and argued for isolationism. As previously mentioned, two new political parties would compete for power in the Election of The Democratic-Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson for president, and he would run against John Adams from the Federalist party. This 7

9 would be an extremely close election, and one that actually got very personal. Adams won narrowly. One problem in this election was how the vice president was chosen. The Constitution stated that the person who received the most electoral votes would be Adams presidential portrait president, and whoever was second would be the vice president. Not taking into account the formation of political parties, Jefferson would assume the role of vice president with a man who he did not get along with. Adams had a difficult first year and a half of his presidency. He did not have the political skill or public admiration that Washington had. He proved to be a bad politician and leader, and passed very little legislation during his presidency. One significant thing that did happen, though, was the XYZ Affair in This incident grew out of a diplomatic relationship between the United States and France. Tensions escalated between the two countries after the signing of the Jay Treaty. The French felt betrayed by the United States because they helped the U.S. win their war for independence. In addition, the British and French were bitter enemies. As a result of these tensions, the French navy started searching American merchant ships on the Atlantic. By early 1798, an increasing amount of Americans wanted to join the French Revolution on the British side. Adams began to fear that if he did not do anything to ease this tension, there might be a declaration of war from Congress. So in the spring of 1798, Adams sent a diplomatic team to Paris to negotiate a peace between France and the United States. When the Americans arrived in France, they were not greeted in a normal, official way. They were treated poorly, and were met by low-level French bureaucrats. These three men were hired to speak on behalf of the French government, and would become known as XYZ in the American press because nobody knew their names. The French then undermined the United States through extortion and bribery. They demanded that the U.S. government pay the French $250,000 each year. If the Americans would comply, the French said they would stop harassing U.S. ships. And if the U.S. didn t make this payment, the French would continue on the path they were on. The American diplomats returned to the U.S. and the event that took place in France was leaked to the press. Adams would tell 8

10 the French that they would not comply with their demands. By doing this, Adams gained a lot of support with the American public. But at the same time, the anti-french sentiment grew even more, and people wanted to go to war with France even more. Adams still refused, and war never took place. He knew that war would have been bad for the country. But he would use his new found popularity to his advantage. Adams would sign the Alien and Sedition Acts. This act was basically a two part law. The alien part of it was aimed at French illegals and/or French citizens in the United States. This was essentially a national security measure. Some thought they might be spies in America. The sedition part of the law was a bit different. It dealt with freedom of speech and press. Under this law, it became a federal crime to speak, write, or publish anything that was false or malicious against the federal government or federal officials. Initially, the public bought into this because of the fact that this was to protect America. Jefferson (Adams vice president) thought it was an infringement on people s freedom of speech. As weeks and months went by, Americans began to feel that this act, particularly the Sedition Act, was unconstitutional. Adams lost support from this law. People thought he was infringing upon his rights, and it was unclear if he would be reelected in 1800 when his term was over. 9

11 Chapter 8, Section 4 Election of 1800 IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... In early 1800, France requested that the United States send a diplomatic team to 1. See the controversy behind the Election of 1800 Paris to settle the XYZ Affair. They signed the Convention of 1800 to resolve their 2. Understand how we had another revolution because of this election. differences. This treaty reaffirmed and strengthened commercial and economic ties with France. It also ended all military obligations we had with France. Adams was not exactly honest in his actions during and after the XYZ Affair was over. Historians now agree that he was using this particular event to advance himself politically by taking advantage of a potential national security crisis. He hoped that by passing these laws (Alien and Sedition Act) he would silence his critics, and could perhaps solidify himself as a strong candidate for the election in But the results of this election would not go in the president s favor. The Election of 1800 would be a repeat of 1796, but would have different results. Adams again would compete against Thomas Jefferson. This campaign was even tougher and more personal than four years ago. Adams leaked to the press that Jefferson had a relationship with one of his slaves, and had a child with her. Jefferson accused Adams of being an atheist and also attacked his political views. The results of this election was close and the Democratic-Republican party (Jefferson) won. But here s where things get interesting. Aaron Burr was the Democratic-Republican vice presidential candidate. Jefferson was supposed to 10

12 Aaron Burr be the be the president and Burr was to be his V.P. But both of them tied in electoral votes with 73. Burr could have stepped aside and do the honorable thing. But his ambition to become president was overwhelming. He recognized an opportunity to become president and seized the opportunity. As a result, the election would have to be decided in the House of Representatives. Many ballots were cast, and eventually, Jefferson was elected as president with Burr as his vice president (after 37 votes). the United States would not have a peaceful transfer of power. They thought there would be a military coup against Jefferson so the Federalists could keep their power. This is called a revolution because we now had a totally different type of ruler in office. The United States would now have a more liberal president, and many things were about to change throughout the country. Burr and Jefferson became bitter enemies, and Burr was dropped from the Jefferson administration four years later. Soon after this election, the 12th amendment was added to the Constitution. There would now be a president and vice presidential ticket, and people would vote for the ticket rather than just individuals. Another interesting outcome of the 1800 election was what some people call the Revolution of The Democratic- Republicans not only won the presidency, but they also gained the majority in Congress. Many European observers thought that 11