Our Early Presidents…Day 1

Miss Springborn- Team 6

The First Five…

1. George Washington 1789-1797

2. John Adams 1797-1801

3. Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809

4. James Madison 1809-1817

5. James Monroe 1817-1825

George Washington- #1

Elected as our first president of United States He was a great leader and well respected hero of the

American Revolution Americans felt he had a strong character, was honest,

and full of patriotism. Perfect role model for new nation

Important People that helped Washington… Vice President- John Adams Secretary of Treasury- Alexander Hamilton Secretary of State- Thomas Jefferson Secretary of War- Henry Knox Attorney General- Edmund Randolph First Lady/Wife- Martha Washington

Events from Washington’s Presidency… 1789- Congress passes the Judiciary Act

Creates the Supreme Court Creates a federal court system for nation

with three levels Washington makes John Jay the first

Supreme Court Chief Justice (head judge)

Hamilton’s great idea…

We are in debt from the war and need to find a way to cover our taxes

Hamilton believes we need a National Bank to stabilize our economy and help with debt

1791- Congress agrees and charters the Bank of the United States The bank received taxes, was a place for deposits,

loaned out money for development, and issued our paper money

The Great Divide…

How to interpret the Constitution. Should we take it word for word exactly as

written? For example “The sky is blue,” therefore the sky must always be blue, never gray, yellow, dark blue, etc…

OR, should we interpret the meaning of what the constitution says? For example “Be home before 9” could mean be home at 8:30 or 8:45 or even 8:59.

Exact meaning vs. Interpreted meaning

Loose vs. Strict

People divided into two groups Loose Constructionist believed that the

government can take any reasonable actions that the Constitution does not specifically forbid it from taking i.e. create a bank

Strict Constructionist believed that the government should do only what the Constitution specifically says it can do

Two points of view…

Some loose constructionists were Alexander Hamilton, John Adams

Some strict constructionists were James Madison, Thomas Jefferson

“Necessary and Proper clause”

In the Constitution is says that congress has the power to “make all laws that are necessary and proper” for governing the nation

How would you interpret that????

WE ARE NOT INVOLVED…

1793- The French Revolution begins (similar to the American Revolution)

French want our help…What to do??? 1793- Proclamation of Neutrality issued by

Washington Told the world that the United States would NOT

take sides with countries at war Washington thought this would be safe for such a

young country

Should the United States have helped out the French?

Think about the American Revolution and how they helped us…

Britain is after us again!!!

British start taking over our ships of goods heading to the French West Indies

They threaten our neutrality…What to do??? John Jay heads to Britain to try and avoid war 1794- Jay’s Treaty signed

British will pay damages for goods they took United States agreed to pay back pre-war debts

still owed

Spain is mad at us now…

Spain disputes their border with us They closed the port of New Orleans BAD!!! We need to use this port for trading!!! Thomas Pinckney goes to Spain and to help.

1795- Pinckney treaty agreed upon Spain reopened New Orleans for us We agreed to change our border with Florida

Washington says goodbye…

Washington decides NOT to run for a third term, he says he is a President, not a King

1796/1797- Washington’s Farwell Address- He warns the United States against..

1. Foreign Entanglements- STAY NEUTRAL and out of foreign problems

2. Political Parties- STAY UNITED, don’t get split apart

Lasting effects of Washington’s Presidency…

PRECEDENTS- an action or a decision that serves as an example for later generations

Big precedents set by Washington…

1. Created a Cabinet of Advisors… every president after him does this too

2. Only serves 2 terms as president…”I am not a king, only a president. The people are the country’s true leaders”

Early Presidents Notes….

DAY 2

Second President- John Adams

Ran for the Federalist Party and wins a narrow victory over Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson is elected as his vice president even though he is from a different political party, the Democratic-Republicans

Many saw him as hard working, honest, and intelligent.

XYZ Affair… (nothing to do with pants)

1798- French officials (aka X,Y, and Z) tried to bribe our American diplomats on a peace seeking mission.

Adams feared war might break out over this incident Adams does create a large navy and army but is

able to avoid war over this insult

Alien and Sedition Acts… not from Mars or Venus

In response to the incident with France and a possible war

Congress passed this law in 1798 that said1. President could remove any foreign resident

for “treasonous behavior”

2. Made it illegal for citizens to “write, print, utter, or publish” any false or hostile words against the government or its politics

3. Citizens could not plot against any government actions

What is wrong with the Alien and Sedition Acts?

Do you think they are fair?

Wait a minute!!! Keep thinking …

How does the Alien and Sedition Acts violate the Bill of Rights?

Election of 1800- Big Issues…

Adams runs for re-election, Jefferson, Burr, and Pinckney run against him.

Jefferson and Burr won 73 electoral votes each while Adams won 65 and Pinckney won 64.

TIE FOR PRESIDENT…

WHAT TO DO???

How do we handle this???

There was nothing in the Constitution about what to do… So they sent the issue to the House of

Representatives for a vote which resulted in another tie…and for 30 more times after that!!

Finally, so many people refused to vote overall and Jefferson ended up winning

Because of this the 12th amendment was passed in 1803 creating a separate ballot for President and Vice President to avoid ties

Third President- Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson was a Democratic- Republican Party Candidate…believes in less government control over issues

Wanted the people to be in charge

Wanted to be fair

Important people for Jefferson…

Secretary of State- James Madison

Chief Justice of Supreme Court- John Marshall

Rival- Alexander Hamilton

1803- Marbury vs. Madison

VERY IMPORTANT CASE!!! Established Judicial Review… gave the

Supreme court its power of declaring laws unconstitutional.

What Happens… Marbury sues Madison saying that he Madison illegally stopped

Marbury from getting his job as a federal judge as was his right under the Judicial Act of 1789

The court rules that the Judicial Act was WRONG and did not follow the Constitution therefore it was invalid or illegal

This is the FIRST time the supreme court has done this

1803- Louisiana Purchase- Land anyone???

France needs money to fight a war and offers to sell us some land

This DOUBLES the size of the United States and gives us the control of the Mississippi and Port of New Orleans for trade

Jefferson is able to purchase the land owned by France at the price of $15 million dollars

This is called the LOUSIANA PURCHASE

Some fun facts…

What cost $15,000,000 million in 1803 would now cost $204,768,579.15 TODAY in 2009.

It came down to less than 3 CENTS and ACRE!!!!

An acre is about ¾ of a football field… imagine all that land for less than 3 CENTS!!!

Time to go exploring…

Jefferson commissions the Corp of Discovery in 1804 to go and explore our new land.

Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, famous native guide Sacagawea (a female)

It took 3 years to travel from St. Lewis to the Pacific Ocean, creating maps and discovering new animals and tribes along the way

A map of the journey…

Think about it…

Why did Jefferson buy the Louisiana Purchase even though the Constitution

did not give him this power?

1807- Embargo Act…Good or bad idea?

Passed in 1807 and banned all trade with foreign countries

It was meant to hurt British and French merchants

Wanted to stop the illegal seizures of American ships by the British

Who do you think really got hurt???

1809- Congress says… Let’s try that again

They get rid of the Embargo act and instead create the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 that banned trade only with Britain, France and their colonies. ( a little better I guess?)

Meanwhile out on the Frontier…nothing to write on this slide…

The Native American tribes are starting to threaten American power

It boils over at the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7th, 1811 when Natives attack a camp of Americans

In response, the American forces destroy the native village, crushing their support of further attacks

The British are at it again…

Many thought the British were behind the native attacks on the frontier and called for war

James Madison, elected president in 1808, spoke to Congress in early 1812 urging them to declare war on Britain.

The “War Hawks” gained support in Congress and were able to get a declaration of war against Great Britain in early June of 1812

Why do you think Britain kept antagonizing (going after) the

United States after the American Revolution?

Think about it…

Coming Attractions…

The War of 1812…The British are at it again!