The New Nation

(1789-1800)

Washington

• Former General of the Colonial Army• Virginian (slave-owner)• 1st president elected by the Constitution• Very modest• Believed in the help of others, set up a

Cabinet of advisors• Capital= New York City• Vice President= John Adams

(Massachusetts)

Washington and Adams

On his way to New York

• “About 10 o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York in company with Mr. Thompson, and Colonel Humphries, with the best dispositions to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations.”

“… So help me God.”

Washington’s first goals

• Bill of Rights (12 Amendments, only 10 passed under Wash.)

• Money -> Tariff of 1789, National Bank of US

• Europe -> Fre. Revolution, war b/w Fra & Britian

• Create a cabinet

James Madison

• Madison, a leader in Congress makes sure the Bill of Rights are passed. He will be the 4th

President.

Washington’s Cabinet

• Thomas Jefferson (Sec. of State)• Alexander Hamilton (Sec. of Tresurary)• Henry Knox (Sec. of War)• John Jay (Chief Justice, Supreme Court)

• Trouble is brewing b/w Jefferson and Hamilton from the beginning

Federalists v. Democratic-Republicans

• This is the major political fight of the early republic. How much control should the Fed. Have? This is also the start of 2 political parties

• Hamilton= Federalists– Strong Nat’l Gov’t– Fed. Bank– Favored Britain– Industrial economy (support from North East)

Hamilton

Federalists v. Dem. Republicans

• Jefferson= Dem. Republicans– Strong state gov’ts (weak central gov’t)– No Nat’l Bank– Favored France– Agrarian society (farming), support in

the South and West

Jefferson

HBO Boxing“Tonight we have one of the fiercest

battles in all of history. The illegitimate, bank-boy from the West-Indies, Alex Hamilton will take on the farm-loving slave-owner from Virginia, Tommy Jefferson.”

“Larry, these guys really don’t like each other.”

Jefferson

• Jefferson lands a right hook• “The aspect of our politics has

wonderfully changed since you left us. In place of that noble love of liberty, and republican government which carried us triumphantly through the war, an Anglican monarchical, and aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us the substance, as they have already done the forms, of the British government.”

Hamilton

• Hamilton lands a shot to the throat• “Various circumstances prove to me

that if these gentlemen were left to pursue their own course, there would be, in less than six months, an open war between the United States and Great Britain.”

Jefferson

• Jefferson goes for the uppercut• “That I have utterly, in my private

conversations, disapproved of the system of the Secretary of the Treasury [i.e. Hamilton's economic program], I acknowledge and avow; and this was not merely a speculative difference. His system flowed from principles adverse to liberty, and was calculated to undermine and demolish the Republic, by creating an influence of his department over the members of the legislature.”

Hamilton

• Hamilton is disqualified for a low-blow• “In respect to foreign politics, the views of

these gentlemen are, in my judgment,...unsound and dangerous. They have a womanish attachment to France and a womanish resentment against Great Britain. They would draw us into the closest embrace of the former, and involve us in all the consequences of her politics; and they would risk the peace of the country in their endeavors to keep us at the greatest possible distance from the latter.”

Jefferson wins by TKO

Money!!

• Tariff of 1789 (Madison’s work)– Angered Southerners, more $ for imports

• Hamilton’s financial plan– Pay full value for gov’t bonds (North has most bonds)– Public credit needed, US can borrow $– Nat’l bank (implied powers, enumerated powers)

• Whiskey Rebellion– Tax on whiskey production, troops called in, no blood– Ppl worried that gov’t used troops against Americans

Foreign Policy (War)• French Revolution (1789)– They helped in Ame. Rev.– Declared war on Britain

• Jay’s Treaty (1794)– Prevented war with Britain, Br. can still

attack US ships (they must pay damage)• Pickney’s Treaty (1795)– With Spanish, can navigate the Miss. River

• Treaty of Greenville (1795)– 12 NA tribes forced to give Ohio and some

of Indiana to US

Haitian Revolution

• Started in 1791• 500,000 African slaves• 40, 000 whites and 28,000 free

blacks• Toussaint L’Ouverture• Jean-Jacques Dessalines• 1st Black republic in the world in 1804• Weakens French Empire

L’Ouverture and Dessalines

Washington’s Farewell Address

• Warned against sectionalism (North v South v West v East)

• Sept. 1796• “Let me now…warn you in the most

solemn manner about the baneful effects of the spirit of party… The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of the individual.”

Farewell Address

• Also warned of getting involved in foreign affairs (starts American isolationism)

• “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible… ‘Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.”

Farewell Address

Election of 1796

• Adams versus Jefferson• Adams wins by 3 Electoral Votes (71,

68)

Adams and Jefferson

Adams’ Agenda

• Stay out of war with Britain or France• Try to curtail the problems between

the Federalists and Republicans• Try to live up to Washington’s

example

Problems with France

• XYZ Affair– French ambassadors wanted $250, 000

bribe to begin negotiations

Alien and Sedition Acts

• 1798• 3 laws against ALIENS (non-citizens)– Immigrants often anti-British, vote for Rep. party–Wait 14 yrs for citizenship, deport without trial

• 1 law against SEDITION (inciting rebellion)– Crime to print “false, scandalous, and malicious”

info about gov’t

• Fed. gov’t taking rights from the people

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

• KY written by Th. Jefferson– Nullification (fed. laws can be declared

null)

• VA written by James Madison– Interposition (state gov’t can interpose

b/w fed. and people

• Fights back for STATE’S RIGHTS

Election of 1800• Rematch of Jefferson and Adams• Jefferson and Aaron Burr each had

73 votes, House has to choose President

Midnight Appointments

• Judiciary Act of 1801• Judge John Marshall• 16 new judges in 6 new courts • To counter the incoming Dem-

Republicans

Slave Revolt

• Gabriel Prosser (1800), Richmond, VA• About 1000 slaves• Postponed 1 night, 2 different slaves

told their masters• 25 slaves hanged, 65 tried total• James Monroe is Governor of VA

Gabriel Prosser