1784-1800 sample project
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TRANSCRIPT
Michael Siegenthaler
April 2006
AP U.S. History
Thesis Statement
Although great change and outstanding progress was made economically and
socially in the years from 1784-1800, the greatest change and accomplishments of this decade and a half came politically as
the new nation began to cement its government in the Constitution, institute its
own political parties, pass revolutionary legislation, and establish itself as a
prominent world power.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Ordinance, one of the
greatest achievements under
the Articles of Confederation,
guaranteed trial by jury, freedom of
religion, freedom of excess punishment,
and abolished slavery in the Northwest
Territories.
The Constitution
In 1787 a convention was held to draft our modern constitution built on the principle of checks and balances between three
different braches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
(A Bill of Rights was added in 1791 to
appease anti-federalist concerns.) Signing of the Constitution
Major Political Leaders
George Washington and John Adams, the two first presidents of the United States, made incredible accomplishments in both
the domestic and foreign sector, setting long lasting precedents for our future political greatness as a nation.
WashingtonAdams
Jay Treaty
In 1794 John Jay, negotiated a treaty
with England regarding free trade in
America; however, the treaty failed to
address the concerns of impressment or
outstanding debts of some loyalists.
Emergence of Political PartiesThe appearance of the first
political parties in the U.S. were the result of a feud
between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson over
the constitutionality of a National Bank and the
interpretation of the constitution.
• Jefferson– strict constructionist– Democratic-Republicans
• Hamilton– loose constructionist– Federalists
The XYZ Affair
The XYZ affair, which occurred when three
French diplomats requested a bribe to
continue peace negotiations with the U.S.
(regarding attacks on American ships), aroused
great anti-French sentiment and would
have sparked a war if not for the diplomacy of President Adams.
The XYZ Affair (1797)
The Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts, which allowed for
the expulsion of foreigners and jailing of newspaper editors who spoke out against the government, were a
Federalist action countered by Jefferson and Madison with the Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions which argued for nullification.
“… That whenever there shall be a declared war between the
United States and any foreign nation or government… all
natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or
government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within
the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall be
liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and
removed, as alien enemies. “
– Alien and Sedition Acts
Gender Roles
Although it was still believed that a
women’s place was in the home, the
revolution elevated women to a role of defenders of the
national conscience.
Republican Motherhood
Abigail Adams was thought to be a great example of this
new concept
Influence of the Youth
Although public education would not flourish in the U.S. until the nineteenth
century, a great deal of attention was
focused on trying to educate and instill
proper values in the youth who would
become the future leaders of the nation.
"Of all the views of this law [for public education],
none is more important, none more legitimate,
than that of rendering the people the safe as they
are the ultimate guardians of their own
liberty."
--Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIV, 1782.
ME 2:206
Art1789 marked the beginning
of the Federal Period in American art, furniture, and architecture which was characterized by a
new sense of nationalism and a return to the
principles of classicalism.
Literature
During the closing years of the eighteenth century,
most of American Literature remained
focused on politics but satires, epics, ballads,
and the “nature poems” of writers such as Philip
Freneau were becoming more popular.
Philip Freneau
Minorities
Slavery was dying out in the south at the
close of the eighteenth century;
however, the invention of the
cotton gin created a increased need for labor and renewed
the demand for slaves.
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton, the most famous Secretary of Treasury in U.S. history, developed a
financial program to help deal with the war debt that
included: the funding of the national debt, the assumption
of all state debts, and the imposition of a tax on liquor.
The Bank of the United States
Another crucial part of Hamilton’s financial
program was the establishment of the controversial First Bank of the United States which would
help to control the war debts and establish a
standard form of currency.
Cotton Gin
The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli
Whitney in 1793 and established cotton as the major crop of the south, revolutionizing southern agriculture
and the national economy as the U.S. became the world’s largest exporter.
Interchangeable Parts
Eli Whitney made another significant contribution to the
American economy with his invention of
interchangeable parts for muskets in 1798, which would go on to revolutionize mass production and the
assembly line.
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater, the father of American industry, secretly
brought knowledge of English textile factories to Rhode
Island and helped to establish one of the first factories in
America sparking the Industrial Revolution in the
Western Hemisphere and the emergence of a working class.
Social Class Developments Resulting from Economic Change
The economic changes of the decade
seemed to favor a widening gap
between the rich and the poor; for example, the financial programs
of Hamilton clearly favored wealthy
bankers over your average farmer.
Conclusion
The time period from 1784-1800 was a dynamic and rapidly evolving era in our
nation’s history, socially and economically; however, in the field of politics the change occurring was the most revolutionary as the nation completely revised its form of government and established itself as an
entity on the world stage.
Works Cited• http://www.law.msu.edu/students/wlc/the_caucus_march02.html
• http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1370.htm
• http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/270/frameset.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay's_Treaty
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XYZ_Affair
• http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_1bank.htm
• www.google.com/images
• Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam- Tom Meltzer and Jean Hofheimer Bennett
• The American Pageant- Thomas A. Bailey, David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen