Transcript Chapter 10

Chapter 10
the Start of the New Nation
In 1788, Congress ratified the Constitution and the
new government began.
The House of Representatives chose the
first President, George Washington.
• George
Washington was
inaugurated in
1789 and started his
job. People did not
know what to
expect. Would he be
like a king? How
would he use his
power?
Precedents set by President Washington
• Washington set some very important
precedents. A precedent is an example
that other people can follow. Washington
showed people what a President should be
like. Washington was very popular but he
didn’t want to be too powerful. He let
Congress do most of the work. He stayed
President for only eight years.
Washington knew that his job was too big for one
man, so he appointed people to help him. They
were called his Cabinet.
The President’s Cabinet
• One member of the cabinet was called the
Attorney General. He was the President’s
lawyer. He helped the President in court. All
the other members were called secretaries.
One was called the Secretary of State. His
job was to help the President with foreign
affairs. Another was called the Secretary
of the Treasury. His job was to help the
President collect the taxes and count the
nation’s money. The last one was the
Secretary of War. He helped the President
manage the armed forces.
The Departments of the Executive Branch
• Each Cabinet member set up his own
department of the government. The
Attorney General made the Justice
Department. The Secretary of State made
the State Department. The Secretary of
Treasury made the Treasury Department.
And, the Secretary of War made the War
Department.
Comprehension Check
• What precedents did Washington set
that Presidents still follow today?
• What is the President’s Cabinet?
• What does each member of the
Cabinet do?
Problems for the new government
• One of the first big problems
Washington and his Cabinet
had to solve was paying off
the nation’s debts. Congress
had borrowed a lot of money
from people to pay for the
Revolutionary War. Now, they
had to find a way to pay it
back. Alexander Hamilton,
the Secretary of the Treasury,
convinced Congress to pass a
law to raise taxes and pay the
debts.
Alexander Hamilton
• Alexander Hamilton also wanted to start a
Bank of the United States. He believed that
the government of the United States should
have its own bank. He thought that the
government could use this bank to keep the
money it got from taxes. It could also lend
that money to businesses to help them
grow. This would make the federal
government very strong and help business.
Opposition to Hamilton
• Some people tried to stop Hamilton. They
said it was bad because it would make the
federal government too strong. They said
the Constitution did not give the Federal
government the power to start a bank.
The Elastic Clause
• But, Hamilton showed them Article I, section
8 of the Constitution. It says the
government can make any new laws that are
necessary. Hamilton believed this part of
the Constitution gives the government the
power to do whatever it needs to do. Today,
people call this part of the government the
elastic clause because it stretches the
government’s power. Hamilton convinced
Congress to start the Bank of the United
States.
Fighting in the frontier
• Another problem the government had was
with Americans fighting with Indians on the
frontier. Washington sent the army to help
the settlers. They forced the Indians to
give them more land.
The Whiskey Rebellion
• President Washington also
had to stop a rebellion on
the frontier. Farmers were
fighting the government to
stop a new tax on whiskey.
Farmers did not like the tax
because whiskey was one
way they could make more
money. This rebellion was
called the Whiskey
Rebellion.
A New Capital
• While Washington
was President,
Congress also
decided to build a
new capital for the
government. They
named the new city
Washington after the
first President of the
United States.
Comprehension Check
• What problems did the United States
government have when it first started?
• What are some of Washington’s
achievements as President?
The Election of 1796
• In 1796, America
had another
election.
Washington chose
not to be a
candidate. He
believed that a
person should stop
being President
after eight years.
The First Political Parties
• In the election of 1796, people were still
very divided about what kind of government
they wanted. Some people wanted a strong
federal government. Others wanted a weak
federal government.
The Federalist Party
• The people who
wanted a strong
federal government
formed a political
party. They called
themselves the
Federalists.
Alexander Hamilton
and John Adams were
their candidates.
The Democratic Republican Party
• People who wanted a weak federal
government started a political party called
the Anti-federalists or the Democratic
Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr were their candidates.
President Adams 1796-1800
• The Federalists won
the election and
John Adams
became the second
President of the
United States.
President Adams
• The Federalists used their power to pass
strict laws. One of these laws was the Alien
Act. The Alien Act said immigrants had to
wait 14 years to become U.S. citizens.
Another one of these strict laws was the
Sedition Act. The Sedition Act made it a
crime to criticize the government. People
were arrested for printing political
newspapers. Adams and Hamilton tried to
use this law to arrest the Anti-federalists.
Federalists versus Anti-federalists
• Anti-federalists fought against these new
laws because they believed they were
unconstitutional. Unconstitutional means
that they go against the higher law of the
Constitution and break the promises of the
Bill of Rights.
Federalists versus Anti-federalists
• The Federalists and
Anti-Federalists hated
each other so much
that they would
sometimes fight.
Eventually, Alexander
Hamilton and Aaron
Burr actually had a
fight with guns. Burr
actually killed
Hamilton!
President Jefferson 1800-1808
• In 1800, there was
another election.
Thomas Jefferson
became the third
President of the
United States of
America.
Comprehension Check
• What were the first political parties in
the United States?
• How were these two parties different?
• Who was the second President of the
United States and what party was he
from?
• Who was the third President of the
United States and what party was he
from?