Transcript Early Presidents

EARLY PRESIDENTS
American History I - Unit 4
Ms. Brown
4.1 – WASHINGTON
HEADS THE NEW NATION
Washington = 1st POTUS!
• Unanimous vote in electoral college 
George Washington as 1st President of the
United States (POTUS)
• Washington reluctant and nervous
“About ten o’clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life,
and to domestic felicity; an with a mind oppressed with more
anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set
out for New York… with the best dispositions to render service
to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of
answering its expectations.”
- The Diaries of George Washington
New Nation Problems
• The new Constitution set up a basic foundation for a
national government… still work to be done.
• Expanding the judicial branch with a court system?
• Expanding the executive branch?
• Economy?
“We are all in wilderness,
without a single footstep to guide us.”
- James Madison
Expanding the Judicial Branch
• Constitution allowed for a Supreme Court… no other
details.
• Judiciary Act of 1789 – created the judicial structure for
the United States
• 1 Supreme Court – 1 chief justice and 5 associate justices
• 3 federal circuit (appeals) courts
• 13 federal district courts – 1 per state
• Emphasized that the federal laws were
the “supreme law of the land”
John Jay, 1st Chief Justice
Expanding the
Executive Branch
• Constitution allowed for a POTUS and VP…
no other details.
• Cabinet – a group of chosen officials to
advice the POTUS and VP
Executive
Department
Job
Secretary under
Washington
Dept. of State Manage foreign affairs
Thomas Jefferson
(TJ)
Dept. of War
Manage militia
Henry Knox
Dept. of the
Treasurer
Manage currency, national budget and
debts
Alexander
Hamilton (Hammy)
Attorney
General
Chief national lawyer to represent the
national government in court cases
Edmund Randolph
Hamilton’s Economic Plan
• Secretary of the Treasury – utilize the strong national
gov’t and pay off debt!
Hamilton’s Economic Plan
Raise $ by to pay off debt by…
Selling US
Treasury
Bonds
Investors buy
bonds and are
repaid over
time with
interest
Excise
Taxes
placing taxes
on certain
popular items
Tariffs
taxing
imported
goods to
protect
American
industries
Creating a
National
Bank
Stabilize
national
economy
Hamilton’s Economic Plan
• Proposed a Bank of the United States – national bank of
the USA prosed by Hamilton
• funded by federal government AND wealthy investors through
treasury bonds
Hamilton’s Economic Plan
• Hamilton’s vision for America…
• Financial stability and credibility
• The wealthiest Americans would fund the gov’t  become truly
financially and emotionally invested in the success of the nation.
• Investors would make money when bonds were paid back, adding
to future economic growth and wealth.
Opponents of Hamilton’s Economic Plan
• TJ, Anti-federalists, and Southerners
• Some southern states had already paid off debts and didn’t want to
front the money to pay off northern states’ debts
• Benefited the rich at the
expense of famers
• Relied too much on
wealthy investors and
business  unhealthy
relationship
between gov’t and
business!
Constitution Interpretations
Strict Interpretation
of Constitution
Loose Interpretation
of Constitution
• Belief that the Constitution
• Belief that the Constitution
forbids anything that is not
explicitly allowed.
allows for everything,
unless explicitly forbidden.
• Limits the power of federal
government
• TJ – “No national bank
because the Constitution
doesn’t say you can
establish one!”
• Expands the power of
federal government
• Hammy – “Yes national
bank because the
Constitution doesn’t say
you can’t establish one!”
National Bank Approved!
• 1790
• Compromise – National
capital moved to a southern
location to please TJ and
southerners
• NYC  Philadelphia 
District of Columbia (by 1800)
• Virginians (TJ) and others
believed they could have more
influence on the federal gov’t if
closer.
Divisions Create Political Parties
• Two-party system – a political system dominated by 2
main parties
Hamilton
Federalist
Jefferson
VIDEO
Party
Democratic-Republican
Strong central government
Federal
Government
Shared power with states
Republic lead by well educated,
wealthy elite
Who Should
Lead?
Democracy of virtuous farmers
and tradespeople
Uneducated mob rule
Fears
Absolute power in one ruler
Loose interpretation (read
between the lines)
Constitution
Interpretation
Strict interpretation (do only
what document says)
Constitutional (b/c the
Constitutional doesn’t say
anything about one)
National Bank Unconstitutional (b/c
Constitution doesn’t say
anything about one)
Industry and businesses
Ideal
Economy
Farming and agriculture
Pay all debt
National
debt?
Pay some
Merchants, manufacturers,
landowners, investors, lawyers,
clergy  North East US
Who agreed?
The “plain people” (farmers,
tradespeople)  South and
West US
Whiskey Rebellion
• 1789 – Congress and Hammy passed a protective tariff
on imported goods from Europe = $$$ for federal gov’t
• Tariff – tax on imported goods to encourage the purchase of
American goods
• Hammy raised a lot of $ but wanted more!
Whiskey Rebellion
• Levied an excise tax on whiskey
• Excise tax – tax on a product’s manufacture, distribution, and sale
• Usually on popular items that will be bought regardless of price
Whiskey Rebellion
• Most whiskey manufactures were
small frontier farmers whose major
crop was corn.
• Corn is too bulky to carry eastward
across the Appalachian Mountains to
sell  made whiskey from corn to
carry more easily
• Whiskey = main source of money for
frontier farms  FURIOUS about
excise tax they had to pay to
manufacture whiskey
Whiskey Rebellion
• 1794 - Farmers in western PA
refused to pay excise tax
• Beat up federal marshals (agents)
in Pittsburgh
• Threatened to secede from (leave)
the US
• Hamilton saw an opportunity for
the new federal government to
show its strength!
• Washington (half way) and Hamilton
(all the way) and 15,000 militiamen
reported to the area
• Rebels scattered
• No one injured/killed!
Whiskey Rebellion
• Effects of the Whiskey Rebellion
• Showed the new national government’s power
• To tax and gain money
• To handle uprisings quickly and safely
• Reflected national unrest
• New nation is still just barely surviving
• Many citizens with very different beliefs (Dem.-Reps. vs Feds) under 1
government – CONFLICTS!