Transcript Chapter 6 The Origins of American Politics

Building the Federal
Government
Focus Question
• How did debate over the role of
government lead to the formation of
political parties?
The New Leaders
• Washington took his oath as part of the
official swearing-in ceremony, or
inauguration
• Elected 1st President of the United States
• One French diplomat who witnessed the
inauguration reported in awe “He has the
soul, look, and figure of a hero united in
him”
Washington’s
Government
• Established precedents for how to
govern
• Precedent is an act or statement
that becomes an example, rule, or
tradition to follow…” So help me God”
The New Leaders
• 1789, Washington made a precedent
by creating the departments of War,
State and the Treasury
• Called the Cabinet
• Washington selected officials to
head the major departments of the
executive branch
The New Leaders
• Thomas Jefferson – Department of
State
• Alexander Hamilton – Secretary of
Treasury
• Henry Knox – Secretary of War
• Edmond Randolph – Attorney General
Treasury Secretary
Hamilton
• Brilliant, dynamic lawyer
• Advocated a strong central
government
Hamilton’s Program
• Secretary of Treasury
• Huge debt after the
Revolutionary war
• Proposed a plan to help
the economy and
strengthen the
national government
Hamilton’s Program
• Federal government
will assume state
debts
• Controversial because
some states had
already paid debt
• If Southern States
approve then
Hamilton’s Program
• Federal capital will
relocate to
Potomac River –
stimulate the
economy of Virginia
• Congress approved
the plan
Hamilton’s Program
• U.S. government
charter a national
bank
• Strengthen the
federal government
Hamilton’s Program
• Creditors would look
to the nation for
payment rather than
individual states
• The central bank
would collect tariffs
and repay debt with
interest
Hamilton’s Opponents
• James Madison and
Thomas Jefferson
• Concerned that
Hamilton’s policies would
hurt the common person
Secretary of State
Jefferson
• Maintained contacts with foreign
governments
• Collected information about world
affairs
• Communicated with U.S. officials
living overseas
Thomas Jefferson Republican
• Thomas Jefferson Republican
• Objected to interference
of the national government
in the economy
• Assumed the strength of
the economy in its
agricultural productivity
Foreign Policy Issues
• Conflict between Britain and France
threatened to break apart the new American
nation
• Federalists oppose the war
• Washington and his successors managed to
steer a neutral course (until the War of
1812).
Foreign Policy Issues
• War with French and
Britain
• US is neutral, or not
taking sides
• British seized US
trading ships and
supported Native
American in the NW
Political Parties Emerge
• Hamilton’s
economic program
continue to grow
• The Whiskey
Rebellion
• Direct tax on
whiskey
Whiskey Rebellion
• “taxation at the
source,” meaning
the Government
collects the tax
from the producer,
not the consumer.
Whiskey Rebellion
• Whiskey was then often used as a form
of currency on the cash-strapped
frontier.
• Made the whiskey tax unfair to the
western farmer-distillers
Whiskey Rebellion
• “Whiskey Rebellion” of 1794 in
southwestern Pennsylvania
• President Washington, accompanied by
Alexander Hamilton, led 12,000 troops to
put down the rebellion.
Whiskey Rebellion
• The successful
suppression of the
Whisky Rebellion
helped establish
the power of the
Federal
Government
Jeffersonian Republicans
• Federalists and
Republicans
• First two political parties
• Key issue --Power and size
of the federal government
• Federalists- followed
Hamilton’s ideas of strong
central government
Jeffersonian Republicans
• Republicans- favored
Jefferson’s idea of
strong state
governments
• limited central
government and agrarian
economy
• No relation to the
republican party today,
Daily Quiz
Who supported the
federal government to
take on the states’ debts
• Alexander Hamilton
officials to head the
major departments of
the executive branch
• Cabinet
an act or statement that
becomes an example, rule, or
tradition to follow
Precedent
Who objected to the
interference of the national
government in the economy
• Jeffersonian Republicans
Whiskey Rebellion
occurred in response to
• Hamilton’s debt plan
Treaty between the US
and Britain aimed at
expanding trade between
the two countries
• Jay’s Treaty
Name the first two political
parties in the United States.
Federalists
and
Republicans
Federalists v Jeffersonian
Republicans
• Create a T-chart outlining the
difference in the Federalists and
Jeffersonian Republicans