Transcript Chapter 6
Launching the New Nation New Government Takes Shape G. Washington took office as the 1 president of the U.S st In charge of an experimental political system Never before had a nation tried to base its gov’t on ideas of republican rule and individual rights (Enlightenment ideals) No one knew if a gov’t based on the will of the people could really work Constitution provided a strong foundation BUT not at detailed blueprint for governing Washington and Congress had to make decisions on how to raise revenue and provide for defense Judiciary Act of 1789 First task of Washington and Congress was to create a judicial system Judiciary Act of 1789: law that provided for a Supreme Court with chief justices and est federal circuit and district courts throughout the country Also allowed state court decisions to be appealed to a federal court when constitutional issues were raised Guaranteed federal laws remained “supreme Law of the Land” Washington Shapes the Executive Branch Washington needed to build an executive branch to help him make policies and carry out laws Congress created three executive departments to help: Dept of State: deal with foreign affairs (T. Jefferson) Dept of War: handle military matters (H. Knox) Dept of Treasury: manage finances (A. Hamilton) These dept heads eventually became known as president’s Cabinet Hamilton v. Jefferson Hamilton Jefferson Believed in strong central gov’t led by a rich, upperclass citizen Favored strong state and local gov’t rooted in popular participation Commerce and industry were key to a strong nation Society of farmer-citizens Hamilton’s Economic Plan As secretary of the treasury, proposed a plan to manage the country’s debt and est a nat’l banking system Most of debt came from Rev War Hamilton believed nat’l gov’t responsible for about 2/3 of debt and states responsible for the rest Country also owed money to foreign countries and citizens who received bonds as payment for their service in the war Hamilton proposed: Paying off foreign debt Issuing new bonds to replace old ones Take over debt of the states (incentive to support fed gov’t)- made many in the Southern states furious b/c already paid off debt and saw it as gov’t paying Northern debts First Political Parties The split in Washington’s cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson led to the country’s first political parties Main issue debated: size of federal gov’t vs. smaller state/local governments Two-party system formed Federalists Agreed with Hamilton- believed in strong central government Democratic-Republicans Agreed with Jefferson- believed in strong state governments Whiskey Rebellion 1789 Congress passed protective tariff: import tax on goods produced in Europe Meant to encourage American production & brought in revenue Secretary Hamilton wanted more so pushed through excise tax: tax on product’s manufacture, sale, or distribution Levied against manufacture of whiskey Most whiskey producers were small farmers and it was their main source of cash Whiskey Rebellion Hamilton knew the tax would make the farmers furious and it did 1794: farmers in western PA refused to pay the tax, beat up federal marshals and threatened to secede from the Union Hamilton saw this rebellion as an opportunity for the federal government to show it could enforce laws on the frontier 15,000 militiamen were called up and scattered the rebels without any causalities The Whiskey Rebellion was a milestone in the enforcement of federal powers in domestic affairs U.S. Response to Events in Europe Most Americans initially supported the French Revolution because, like the American Revolution, it was inspired by the ideals of republican rule Alliance between France and the U.S. (Treaty of 1778) served as an additional bond between the nations Reactions to the French Rev When the Reign of Terror broke out in France, the French expected the Americans to help Democratic-Republicans wanted to honor the treaty and support France (Jefferson and Madison) Federalists did not & wanted to support British (Hamilton)’ President Washington took a middle side April 22, 1793 he issued a declaration of neutrality: statement that US would not support either side Hamilton and Jefferson came to an agreement and decided entering a war was not in the nation’s best interest Treaty with Spain U.S. wanted to secure land claims west of the Appalachian Mtns and gain shipping rights on the Mississippi R. Needed to come to an agreement with Spain Negotiations stalled because of issues in Europe Spain signed a treaty with France and then feared England would retaliate against them and attack the Louisiana Territory Spain agreed to meet with U.S. minister to England, Thomas Pinckney, and signed Pinckney’s Treaty on October 27, 1795 Pinckey’s Treaty Spain gave up all lands east of the Mississippi (except Florida) Recognized the 31st parallel as the southern boundary of the U.S. and the northern boundary of Florida Spain agreed to open up the Mississippi River to traffic by Spanish subjects and U.S. citizens Allowed American traders to use the port of New Orleans Adams Provokes Criticism Political battle over Jay’s Treaty and division between the two political parties led Washington not to seek a third term in office In his “Farewell Address” he urged the U.S. to “steer clear of permanent alliances” with other nations Election of 1796: John Adams wins presidency with 71 electoral votes T. Jefferson received 68 and because the Constitution stated that the runner up should be VP the U.S has a Federalist Pres and a Democratic-Republican VP This rule seemed sensible when the Constitution was written but unexpected rise of political parties had become a problem Election also illustrated danger of sectionalism: placing the interests of one region over those of the nation as a whole Southern states voted for Jefferson, Northern states for Adams Adams Tries to Avoid War After taking office Adams faced first major issue: possible war with France French gov’t saw the Jay treaty as a violation of the FrenchAmerican alliance and began to seize American ships bound for Britain Adams sent Charles Pinckey, John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry to Paris to negotiate a solution Planned to meet with French foreign minister but instead French gov’t sent 3 low-level officials that Adams described as “X,Y, and Z” in his report to Congress French officials demanded a $250,000 bribe as payment for seeing the foreign minister Adams Tries to Avoid War News of this bribe caused a wave of anti-French feelings at home- known as the XYZ Affair 1798 Congress created a Navy dept and authorized U.S. ships to seize French vessels 1,200 men marched to Washington D.C. to volunteer for war and Congress authorized the creation of 50,000 troops War was never officially declared but, for the next 2 years, naval war raged between France and the U.S. Jefferson Wins Election of 1800 T. Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) v. J. Adams (Federalist) Jefferson defeated Adams by eight electoral votes BUT Jefferson’s running mate, Aaron Burr received the same number of votes as him House of Reps was called on to break the tie After 6 days of voting Alexander Hamilton persuaded enough Federalists to cast blank votes so Jefferson could win Why? Because felt Jefferson was the better candidate Burr became vice-president This election showed flaw in Constitution’s electoral process As a result Congress passed the 12th Amendment: calls for electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice-president The moment you’ve all been waiting for… Ms. Ercan’s awesome iPhone pics in the middle of a snow storm! According to legend… This is the rock on which Hamilton leaned after being shot The Jefferson Presidency Replaced Federalist officials in gov’t with Democratic-Republican ones Caused more balance btwn the two parties in gov’t Believed that a simple gov’t best suited the needs of the republic Walked to his own inauguration and often wore simple clothes when meeting with visitors Tried to shrink the size of gov’t and cut costs whenever possible Reduced size of military and lowered expenses for gov’t functions The Jefferson Presidency Rolled back Hamilton’s economic plan by eliminating all internal taxes and reducing the influence of Bank of U.S. Strongly favored free trade rather than government controlled trade and tariffs Believed free trade would benefit the U.S. because the raw materials and food that Americans were producing were in short supply in Europe Southern Dominance of Politics Jefferson was first president to take office in the new federal office Location between VA and MD reflected growing importance of the South in national politics Both presidents that followed (Madison and Monroe) were all from VA Showed declining influence of both NE and Federalists in nat’l political life Many federalists refused to participate in political campaigns because they did not want to appeal to common people for support Nat’l expansion also worked against them because settlers in new states tended to vote for Dem-Republicans who supported farmer’s interests John Marshall and the Supreme Court Adams appointed John Marshall as chief justice of the Supreme Court Prior to leaving office Adams pushed through Congress the Judicial Act of 1801: increased the number of federal judges by 16 These judges were called ‘midnight judges’ because Adams signed their appointment on the last day of his presidency Since the documents authorizing some of the appointments has not been delivered by the time Adams left office, Jefferson argued they were invalid Marbury v. Madison The ‘midnight judges’ issue became one of the most important Supreme Court decisions William Marbury was one of the judges that never received his official papers and James Madison was Secretary of State who was responsible for delivering the papers ISSUE Judiciary Act of 1789 required the Supreme Court to order that the papers be delivered Marbury sued to enforce this RULING John Marshall decided this provision of the act was unconstitutional because the Constitution did not empower the Supreme Court to issue such orders Later recognized as the principle of judicial review: the ability of the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional Napoleon Gets Involved 1800- Napoleon Bonaparte persuaded Spain to sell back the Louisiana Territory that it received from France in 1762 (secret deal) French intended to use the land to create an empire in North America BUT slave revolt in Haiti and impending war with Britain led France to abandon plans and sell the entire territory to the United States Jefferson worried that French and Spanish may stop goods from going through New Orleans Also feared strong French presence in the continent would force an alliance with Britain Jefferson’s Plan Try to buy New Orleans and western Florida from the French He knew Napoleon was fighting wars with other nations in Europe and needed money Sent James Monroe and U.S ambassador Robert Livingston to Paris BUT little did they know, before they arrived in Paris, Napoleon had already abandoned his vision of a North American empire France Sells Monroe and Livingston closed the deal at 15 million dollars 828,000 square miles Less than 3 cents per acre Today: $233 million dollars- less than 42 cents per acre Was it Constitutional? Jefferson began to worry whether purchase was constitutional (within his power) On other hand, new lands could form “empire of liberty” he envisioned for the nation After short delay, submitted the treaty finalizing the purchase and Senate ratified it (October 1803) By December- U.S had control of land which doubled country in size Mixed Emotions Some felt purchase was a positive and gave the U.S room to grow Others worried that U.S would get too big to rule and land was just worthless forests and mountains Lewis and Clark 1803: Jefferson appointed Meriwether Louis to lead the expedition he called the Corps of Discovery from St. Lewis to the Pacific coast Ordered them to collect scientific info about unknown plants and animals en route to the Pacific Also wanted to learn as much a possible about the Native American tribes encountered along the way Lewis chose William Clark to be second in command Started off with 50 woodsmen and soldiers but later became smaller Added Sacajawea as an interpreter and guide Total: 2 yrs, 4 months Causes of the War of 1812 Impressment Practice of seizing Americans at sea and “impressing” (drafting them into the British navy Chesapeake incident (June 1807) Commander British warship demanded the right to board and search U.S naval ship Chesapeake for British deserters When U.S. captain refused, British opened fire killing 3 Americans and wounding 18 Tecumseh Shawnee chief that refused to sign land over to U.S and went from tribe to tribe encouraging them to do the same Tecumseh began negotiations with British for assistance (weapons) against U.S. Battle of Tippecanoe: U.S. troops burned Shawnee capital to ground but also suffered heavy losses When it was discovered Native Americans were using arms from the British, young Congressmen from the South and West called for war against England (War Hawks) The War Brings Mixed Results James Madison (Election of 1808) is president By Spring of 1812, Madison decided to go to war against England Believed that England was trying to strangle American trade and cripple American economy U.S was not prepared for war Low taxes reduced military The War in Canada Detroit was captured shortly after the war was declared and Americans suffered numerous setbacks including failed attempt to take Montreal The following year was better (1813) American fleet defeated British on Lake Erie and retook Detroit Also won several battles The War at Sea War of 1812 was opportunity for young U.S. Navy to test out its ships Aided by its three 44-gun warships: the President, the United States and the Constitution Known for speed and ability to sail close to enemy vessel As the war went on the British forced a blockade of the entire east coast By 1813 most U.S. ships were stuck in a port British Burn the White House British Attack DC- 1814 Burn Capitol and President’s Mansion (later repainted white) Only time since Revolutionary War capitol invaded by foreign power (until 9/11) Dolley Madison escapes bringing many important docs, art, ect from being destroyed Battle of New Orleans January 1815 General Andrew Jackson gathered troops Most decisive U.S. victoryover 2,000 British killed Battle took place after the peace treaty was signed but communication slow Treaty of Ghent December 24, 1814 Set boundary between U.S. and Canada Failed to solve problems of embargoes and impressments However, eager for peace so welcome treaty War 1812: confirmed American independence and strengthened nationalism