Chapter 5Federalist

Vs Democratic- Republican:

Washington and Adams as Presidents

First Political Parties

George Washington Speech

Father of America• George Washington

– Hoped to retire from public life after the ratification of the Constitution

– Friends urged him to run for president• Believed he would make an excellent leader• Agreed because he felt it was his duty

– January 1789 – delegates from the 11 states that had ratified the Constitution formed the 1st electoral college – made up the electors who vote for president

– Washington unanimously elected• John Adams – 1st Vice-President

The 1st PresidentWhat were George Washington’s major

achievements while in the Presidency?

George Washington’s Cabinet

Thomas Jefferson – Secretary of State

Alexander Hamilton – Treasury Secretary

General Henry Knox – Secretary of War

Edmund Randolph – Attorney General

Who are Bush’s Cabinet members?• Homework – part 1 Print out or write out a

list of President Bush’s current cabinet members

A Snapshot of America in 1790• Nearly 4 Million Americans• Most lived in rural areas & worked on farms• Some lived in towns as craftspeople, laborers, or

merchants– Farmers wanted fair tax laws & the right to settle

western lands– Merchants wanted simpler trade laws– Manufacturers wanted laws to protect them from

foreign competition• Only New York City & Philadelphia had populations

greater than 25,000• New York City served as the 1st U.S. capital

Financing Our New Government• By 1789 the government needed additional

monies to continue to operate Faced a national debt – money the U.S. owed to lenders

Owed $11.7 million to foreign creditorsOwed $42.4 million to U.S. Citizens

Some Revolutionary debt was in the form of bonds – certificates that represent money

These bonds had been issued w/ the promise of interest

Bondholders feared that the government would not buy back the bonds

Speculators (individuals who bought the bonds @ a low value in hopes the value would rise) – purchased the bonds from individuals for below value prices

Hamilton and Financial Reform

• Tariff Act of 1789• 5% tariff (hemp,

glass, and nails subject to higher tariff)– Heavy tonnage

duties on all foreign shipping

• U.S. debt large and credit shaky

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)

• Hamilton’s plan seemed to favor the North and rich so opposed by Jefferson and Madison– Northern citizens held four-fifths

of national debt still– Southern states had mostly

already paid their debt– Compromise: South votes Yes,

capital located on Potomac River• Plan extremely successful and

capital poured in• Daniel Webster: “He (AH) touched

the dead corpse of public credit and it sprung upon its feet!”

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)• Hamilton proposed a national bank which:

– So that the government could manage its debts & interest payments, and issue bank notes

– Was to be partly owned by the government, but 80% of $10 million in stock was to be sold to private individuals

• Objections-Southerners felt only the Northerners could afford the bank’s stock-Jefferson and Madison felt Congress couldn’t est. a bank because it was not with in the Constitution’s enumerated powers – powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)

• Washington was not sure it was constitutional– Hamilton argued it was

covered by “implied” powers– Jefferson, a strict

constructionist, said no– Washington signed the billFirst Bank of the United States approved by Congress February 1791

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)

• Difference in positions depended on whether one stressed proper or necessary in clause granting Congress power to pass “all Laws which shall be necessary and proper”

• 1819: Supreme Court backed Hamiltonian stress on “proper”

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)

• Bank was a big success with bank notes accepted at face value and state chartered banks climbing from 3 in 1791 to 32 in 1801

• 1791 Report on Manufactures called for tariffs, subsidies, and awards to encourage American manufacturing– Report was set aside though most of tariffs

passed in 1792

Hamilton and Financial Reform (cont'd)

• Bank of the United States– Established as a joint public and private

venture in 1791 at the behest of Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of the United States served as a depository of government funds, collected and expended government revenue, and issued notes to serve as a national medium of exchange. The bank’s charter expired in 1811. A Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816.

Whiskey Rebellion

• 1791 – Hamilton proposes a tax on the manufacturing of American whiskey– Passed by Congress– Outraged western farmers

• Result:– Whiskey Rebellion begins – 1794

• Washington sent 13,000 troops to stop the rebellion

Whiskey Rebellion

Hamilton Vs. Jefferson

The split in Congress over Hamilton’s financial plan resulted in the formation of two political parties:

Federalist & Democratic-Republicans.

The Federalists  Alexander

Hamilton

Democratic-Republicans Thomas Jefferson

Social Make- Up

Merchants, Bankers, manufacturers, New England and Mid-Atlantic Coast

Artists, shopkeepers, settlers, and southern plantation owners, small farm owners in the south and from western regions of the nation; believe in the idea of agrarianism - idea if owning land which enabled them to become independent.

Attitude Toward Government

• Wanted to imitate British aristocracy (rule by the rich) but without a king.

• Saw the common people as unable govern themselves. 

• Willing to censor the press for political power.

• Wanted more democracy than in the  British Parliament.

• Common people were able to govern themselves. They wanted greater involvement by the people through lower voting qualification.

• Reduce government interference by decreasing numbers of federal officeholders.

• Favored freedom of speech & press.

Views on the Constitution

Held "loose constructionist" view that the Federal government had implied powers not listed in the Constitution.

Held ''strict'' view of the constitution: limit the powers of the central government and support states rights.

Foreign Policy Positions

Favored Britain in culture and trade as the basis of wealth.

Distrusted Britain & wanted closer relations with France, which had just been through a democratic revolution.

Federalist vs. Republicans, cont.

Washington’s Foreign Policy• France Revolution – (French Civil War) began

in 1789, shortly after Washington was inaugurated– Americans were divided over the French

Rev.• Federalist opposed it because of the

violence• Republicans supported it because of

the fight for liberty• 1793 – French declared war on Britain

– Forced Washington to issue a proclamation stating that the U.S. would remain neutral – friendly & impartial between the 2

– British navy intercepted neutral ships, including American ships carrying goods to France

King Louis XVI of France is beheaded in Paris, January 21, 1793.

Jay’s Treaty

• Wanting to avoid war, Washington sent John Jay to Britain to find a solution

• Gave Britain the right to seize American cargo heading to France

• Britain gave America “Most Favored Nation” status – would not discriminate against when

they traded w/ Britain • Set the w/drawal of British soldiers from posts

in the American west• Est. a commission to settle outstanding border

issues between the U.S. & Canada• Est. a commission to resolve American losses in British ship seizures & Loyalist losses during the

American Revolution

Americans object . . .• Missing from the treaty

– a refrain from arrest the arrest of American ships– impressment of American seamen

• Hamilton was stoned by an angry crowd in N.Y.– Senate ratified w/ provision limiting trade in the British

West Indies– Washington reluctantly approves

• Raised concerns in Spain– Felt that the British & Americans might join forces to

take over Spanish holdings in N. Am.

Fallout over Treaty• Although still admired, Washington came

under sharp attack• John Jay resigned from the Supreme Court• Led to Pinckney’s Treaty (1795)

“Let it be remembered that civil liberty consist, not in a right to every man to do just what he pleases, but it consist in an equal right to all citizens to have, enjoy, and do, in peace, security & without molestation, whatever the equal & constitutional laws of the country admit to be consistent w/ the public good.”

~John Jay

Pinckney’s Treaty 1795• Thomas Pinckney negotiated a

treaty w/ Spain– Recognized U.S. borders @

the Mississippi & the 31st Parallel – northern border of Florida (Spanish possession)

– Agreed to allow the U.S. free navigation of MS River to the Gulf of Mexico & granted the right of deposit in New Orleans for 3 years

– Both nations agreed not to incite Na. Am. Attacks against each other

• Supported by Western farmers

Western Expansion• Americans moved in large numbers to the area between

Appalachian Mountains & the MS River because of abundant land, fertile soil, wide rivers, & a variety of fish game. – Increase of white settlers led to tension w/ Na. Am.

• Little Turtle – chief of the Miami people of the Northwest Territory - formed a confederacy of several Na. Am. Groups against the white settlers.– After 2 battles in which American troops were defeated, Na.

Am. Resistance was put down by AM. Troops under General Anthony Wayne

• 1795 – 12 Na. Am. Nations signed the Treaty of Greenville. – Na. Am. Gave up parts of what later became Ohio & Indiana

for a yearly payment of $10,000 from the federal government.

• Treaty allowed for more settlers to move into the region

The United States and Its Territories,1787–1802

1795: All’s Well That Ends Well (cont'd)

• 12 Ohio Valley Indian tribes signed Treaty of Greenville leading to vast western settlement– 1792 Kentucky became a state– 1796 Tennessee became a state– 1798 Mississippi Territory was organized– 1800 Indiana Territory was organized

Washington’s Farewell AddressWashington retires from office after being irritated by party

politics & attacks on his character.Washington’s Farewell Address

– Listed the benefits of the federal government“The unity of government . . . is a main pillar in the

edifice [foundation] of your real independence . . . of your tranquility @ home, your peace abroad; of your safety, of your property, of that very liberty which you so highly prize.”

– Warns against the party system“It (parties) agitates (stirs up) the Community w/

ill-founded jealousies & false alarms; kindles the animosity (anger) of one . . . Against another. . . .it opens the door to foreign influence & corruption . . .”

Continued . . .– Stressed the importance of religion & morality

“Where the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths (if we leave religion out of it), which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?”

– Warned against misuse of public credit“Cherish public credit. . . .One method of preserving it is to

use it as sparingly as possible. . . Avoid the accumulation of debt. . . .”

– Warned against permanent foreign alliances“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances w/

any portion of the foreign world . . .”– On an over-powerful military establishment

“. . . Avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, & which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty.”

John Adams V/S

Thomas Jefferson

Election of 1796

Who won the election of 1796?

49%68

XYZ Affair

• French, angry over Jay’s Treaty, stopped American ships & seized goods while en route to Britain.– Federalist called for war against France– Instead, Adams sent negotiators to France.– Tensions increased. Why?

• France demanded bribes from the Americans before they would negotiate, in what became known as the XYZ Affair

Quasi-War w/ France• 1798 – Congress suspended trade w/ France &

ordered the navy to capture French ships.= undeclared war at sea was called the Quasi-

War.• Convention of 1800 - negotiations w/ France

led to an agreement– U.S. gave up all claims against France for

damages to American shipping. – France released the U.S. from the Treaty of

1778Quasi-War ENDED!!

FYI - The Cutters

First Coast Guard, known as “the cutters”, was established in 1790.

Alien & Sedition ActsFederalist pushed through 4 laws know as the Alien & Sedition Acts – were designed to destroy Jefferson’s Democratic-RepublicansStated:

3 were aimed @ aliens – people living in the country who are not citizens

Immigrants could not become citizens for 14 years (rather than 5), thus weakening the republican party. (Why? French & Irish immigrants tended to vote republican.) Gave the President the power to imprison or deport immigrants deemed dangerous to the U.S. w/out a trial.

Prevented Sedition – an incitement leading to a rebellion.Made it unlawful to say or print anything false or scandalous against the government or its officers.

Results:These Sedition Acts virtually destroyed the First Amendment rights outline under the Constitution.Bolstered support for the republicans in 1800 election.

States respond . . .

• VA – introduced interposition – “ . . . If the fed’l gov.t did something unconstitutional , the state could interpose between the fed’l gov.t & the people to stop the illegal action

• Kentucky – advanced the theory of nullification – “ . . . If the fed’l gov.’t passed an unconstitutional law, the states had the right to nullify the law or declar it invalid

Null & Void

• XYZ Affair– A political furor caused by French diplomats who in 1797 demanded a

bribe before they would enter into negotiations with their American counterparts; some Federalists, furious over this assault on national honor, called for war.

• Alien and Sedition Acts– Four laws passed by the Federalist-dominated Congress in 1798

directed against sympathizers to the French Revolution—chiefly Thomas Jefferson and his Republican party. The laws, which stifled dissent and made it more difficult for immigrants to gain citizenship, had lapsed by 1802.

• Kentucky and Virginia Resolves – Political declarations in favor of states’ rights, written by Thomas

Jefferson and James Madison, in opposition to the federal Alien and Sedition Acts. These resolutions, passed by the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures in 1798, maintained that states could nullify federal legislation they regarded as unconstitutional.