The Presidency of the United States of America

The Role of the President in the New Nation

Constitutional Convention

•Created a Bi-Cameral legislature. Consisted of a House & Senate. Population used to

determine representation in House.

•Debates raged in Hall over issue of Slavery and powers of bigger states and smaller

states.

•Great Compromise created the two house system.

•States took three years to ratify the document.

•Could not gain approval until Bill of Rights was added in 1791.

•Constitution has been in effect since 1791

Basic ideas of New Government

•Power of Government: Divided into Three Parts•Legislative:Congress;House & Senate (ARTICLE I)

–Powers: Make laws, levy taxes, how to elect representatives

•Executive: President–Powers: Enforce laws, commander in chief, State of the Union

•Judicial: Supreme Court & Federal Court System.

–Powers: Enforce Laws, serve justice

• Entire system of Government designed to have a check/balance effect.

• Madison envisioned a “work in progress” type of government that would allow for changes...

• Amendments..1st ten are the Bill of Rights

Federal Court System

Supreme Court

1

Circuit Courtof Appeals

13

Federal District Courts97

George Washington• 1st President of

the United States.– 1789-1793– 1793-1797

• Home State: Virginia

• Party: None• Selected 1st Time• Elected 2nd Time

Administration of George Washington

• James Madison-was very influential in development of "how" government would work. He becomes Washington's principal advisor.

• Patrick Henry - prevented Madison’s election to the Senate, but Madison was voted into House of Representatives. – Executive Office is created by the Constitution of the United

States of America and gives specific power to the President. Washington believed it was his duty to define and exemplify

the office of President. He felt it was his job to make differences between executive & legislative branch clear.

Madison is actually the organizer of the Executive Branch’s role in dealing with the Congress.

Powers of the President• Under the Constitution,

the President of the USA has power to create Executive dept.'s

• First Offices created: Office of TREASURY, STATE, WAR, ATTORNEY GENERAL, POSTMASTER GENERAL.

• Cabinet Members will report to the President directly, not to the Legislature as they do in England.– Example of separation of

Powers!Edmund Randolph

Washington’s Original Cabinet

• President: George Washington• Vice President: John Adams• Attorney General: Edmund Randolph• Secretary of War: Henry Knox• Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson• Secretary of Treasury: Alexander

Hamilton

New Government will levy taxes to pay off war debts and it’s own!

July 4, 1789-Customs duties passed to be paid on all imports.

Hamilton wants to apply money raised from this to pay off debts.

Most of the debt is in the form of “Certificates”

Many were purchased at less than face value after the credit of the Govt. failed

Hamilton promised to pay off the debt at face value.

Alexander Hamilton

Report on Public Credit (1790)

• Hamilton proposes that Certificates be exchanged for US Govt. bonds + 4% interest!

• Plan is overwhelmingly accepted and question is now… WHO WILL WE PAY?

• Hamilton says Govt. will pay holder of the Certificates! – Many had already been sold, people begin to buy up

Certificates from unsuspecting public at half their cost, then sell it to Govt., and make a profit!

• Madison is shocked by dishonesty of American citizens! – Proposes that we pay original holder of the certificate at

face value, pay all others at 50 cents on the dollar! – This plan prevents speculators from making large profits!

Funding and Assumption

• Funding: Congress redeems federal certificates of debt at face value – Unsuccessfully opposed because

most certificates currently held by speculators

• Assumption: federal government purchases states' debts– Initially defeated, salvaged through

payments to Virginia, location of new capital on Potomac

The Bank Controversy

• National bank privately owned, Federally chartered to regulate finance

• Madison opposes as benefit to the rich

• Jefferson opposes as unconstitutional

• Hamilton defends constitutionality through doctrine of “implied powers”

• Congress charters Bank, 1791 = First Bank of the United States

James Madison

(Loose Construction)

• Future = COMMERCE!

• NEED NATIONAL BANK!!

• PRIVATE INVESTMENT OKAY!

• BANK NOTES SERVE AS CURRENCY!

• BANK HANDLES FED. GOVT. FINANCES.

• OPPONENTS THOUGHT IT WAS SOCIALISTIC!

Thomas

Jefferson (Strict Construction)

• FUTURE = AGRICULTURE

• NO NEED FOR NATIONAL BANK.

• SHOULD FOCUS ATTENTION ON FRENCH RELATIONS!

• BANK DOES NOT REFLECT INTERESTS OF PEOPLE!

• HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY FRENCH REV. (Had been there in 1789)

Challenges of AdministrationWhiskey Rebellion (Spring & Summer 1794)

• Excise tax on whiskey was upsetting to citizens of Western Pennsylvania. They appeared to be in open rebellion against the USA because they harassed the tax collectors & closed federal courts.

• Washington decided to send troops into PA to quash the rebellion, and in Summer of 1794, the rebellion was crushed by a group of 12,000 Federal soldiers.

• This event established that the Federal Government was in control of the United States!

FEDERALIST ERA Foreign Policy

The Battle over Foreign Affairs

• European context– French Revolution – War in Europe

• Division over foreign policy divides nation

• Jeffersonian Republicans favor France

• Hamiltonian Federalists favor England

The Peril of Neutrality

• Franco-British War breaks out in 1793• French diplomat Edmond Genet

challenges American neutrality repeatedly in public

• England violates American sovereignty, neutrality on high seas– Jefferson: punish England by cutting

off trade– Hamilton: appease England because

they are too strong

BRITISH STRATEGY• November of 1793 British government

issues orders to seize foreign ships trading with French islands in the Caribbean. – British seize over 250 American vessels

• British navy continues to “impress” American sailors into British naval service

• Encourage Native-Americans to rise up and kill American settlers. – Inflammatory speech by Canada’s Governor. – British troops also begin building Fort Miami

near present day Toledo, Ohio

WASHINGTON ATTEMPTS TO AVOID

WAR• Launches a major diplomatic initiative to avoid

conflict. Sends Jay to Great Britain and General “Mad” Anthony Wayne to negotiate a treaty with the natives of the Ohio valley.

• Wayne fights and wins a major battle at Fallen Timbers (1794) - over the Miami Confederacy and begins to build a stronghold to challenge the British – Ft. Defiance. – Provides him leverage in negotiating the Treaty of

Greenville (1794)• English withdraw support from Indians, pull

back into Canada

Gives US control of the Ohio territory.They forced Indian leaders to accept that Ohio River is

no longer a permanent boundary.

Role of Jefferson• Jefferson as Secretary of State

helped Washington with negotiations and relations with foreign powers.

• Jefferson believed that a close alliance with the French was necessary because they had supported the American Revolution in 1781.

• During Washington's second term, several foreign policy events occur that will divided people on the role of the United States Government.

Thomas Jefferson

1795 Jay Treaty

• Negotiated by Chief Justice John Jay with Great Britain.

• British agreed to give up Western Forts in United States.

• Agree to pay 1.3 million in damages for ships lost in West Indies and slaves killed in Revolution!

• Many people opposed this because it supported the despised British who just 15 years earlier were our mortal enemy.

• Jefferson does not support the treaty but it is passed & ratified by the Congress.

Treaty Advantages

1.) Gives US sovereignty over entire Northwest.

2.) Gave the US time for peaceful development.

3.) Encouraged a trade relationship with Great Britain!

1796 Pinckney's Treaty• Provided the US with

free navigation of the Mississippi River.

• Native American groups were continually pushed further and further westward by American forces.

• US gets descriptive boundaries of West Florida and many concessions from the Spanish.

• Recognizes American claims to disputed territory on the border of Louisiana.

•Gives the US a port city on the Gulf of Mexico (New Orleans).

•Boundary of US would be 31st parallel in the South (Florida).

•Discouraged Indian Attacks against Western settlers!

Quasi War with France1798-1800

XYZ affair (1798)

• French believed that the Jay Treaty signals an American Alliance with Great Britain!

• They begin to seize American Merchant Ships at sea!

• Total of 300.• Adams sends three

envoys to Paris to negotiate and investigate

Commission is approached by three French diplomats in Paris (X,Y, &Z).

They demand $250,000 up front money and a “loan” of $10 million.

Delegation refuses and returns to New York

This event outraged many American citizens and leads to an undeclared

between France & Great Britain.IMPACT: Leads to rearming of military

forces and creation of the US Navy!

Alien & Sedition Acts (1798)• Pushed through Congress by the

Federalists.• They are actually four separate laws

passed by Congress in 1798.• They allowed the President to deport or

imprison foreign citizens. • Anyone who wrote, published or said

anything scandalous about the USA was subject to the terms of the Act.

• It gave the Federal Govt. the right to imprison those people with Jeffersonian ideals.

The Alien and Sedition Acts

• Alien Enemies Act, Alien Act gives the president power to expel any foreigner

• The Naturalization Act requires U.S. residency of fourteen years for citizenship

• Sedition Act criminalizes criticism of the government– Federalist appointees in federal courts

enforce Sedition Act in absurd ways

One Last Hurdle• Treaty of Algiers(1796 & 1805) - Algiers, a

tiny nation in the Mediterranean had captured enemy sailors and held them as prisoners for ransom.

• This treaty said that the US would pay $800,000 dollars for American sailors held since 1785.

• And they would pay an additional $24,000 per year as “Security Interest”.

• Washington does not like it one bit!

Washington steps down

• Jefferson runs for President against John Adams.

• Under election law of the times #1 person is President and #2 is Vice President.

Unfortunately this means that they both are usually from different parties.

“Like putting a Cat and a Dog in a Bag and letting them fight their way out!”

December 14, 1799• Washington had been retired from

public life for almost two years.• He awakens with a sore throat that

rapidly worsened into a fever and chills.• Doctors treated him with “Bloodletting”

and as a result he died that evening about 11:30 PM.

• Washington was "the most illustrious and beloved person which this country ever produced.” according to John Adams

Presidency of John Adams

• 2nd President of the United States

• 1797-1801• American Revolution

Hero.• Had been a signer of

the Declaration of Independence.

• Chief political rival is Thomas Jefferson!– The VICE PRESIDENT!!!

Presidency of John Adams (background)

• Washington never liked Adams, he had thought he was arrogant.

• Adams had helped guide the Declaration of Independence.

• Campaign for Presidency had been nasty, with much name calling by both sides

• 1796 - Adams (Federalist) ran against Jefferson (Dem-Republican)

• Problems for Adams – Hamilton is his most vocal opponent!– Cabinet consists of same people.– Inherited a violent quarrel with France.

Political Parties developFederalists

(LOOSE) A desire to establish a

strong central government Desire for weaker state

governments The support of:

landowners, judges, lawyers, leading clergymen and merchants

The support of: creditor elements who felt

that a strong central government would give protection to public and private credit.

Democratic Republicans (STRICT)

A desire to establish a weak central government.

A corresponding desire for strong state governments

The support of: many small farmers and small

landowners The support of:

debtor elements who felt that strong state legislatures were more sympathetic to them than a strong central government.

“Those who own the country should run it!”

Educated, wealthy and intelligent.

Democracy is too important to be left to the average person!

Pro British (trade) and are anti French!

Former loyalists! Promote Foreign

Trade!

Middle class, under privileged Americans.

Bulk of power should be retained by the states.

Keep a more vigilant eye on National Affairs.

Anti-British and Pro-French. Majority were Patriots

during the Revolution. Jefferson said farming

would keep you close to God!

Growth of Political Parties

• 1792-1816 Federalist Party existed.• 1820- Federalists / Republicans

become one party!• 1825 - National Republicans &

Democratic Republicans• 1834- Whigs and Democrats• 1854 - Republicans and Democrats All parties are an outgrowth of the opinions /

ideals and beliefs of Jefferson / Adams and Madison.

Virginia/Kentucky Resolutions

• 1798/1799– Jefferson and the Jeffersonian-Republicans refused to

take the Alien & Sedition Acts lying down!– Secret Resolutions adopted by the Kentucky

Legislature in 1798 and Virginia Legislature in 1799!– Stressed: The “COMPACT” that the 13 states had with

regards to the jurisdiction of the Federal Govt.– IMPACT: Because the Federal Govt. had overstepped

its bounds, in Jefferson’s mind, the states had the right to nullify the Acts within the individual states!

– FEDERALISTS argue that the people had the compact with the Govt. not the states!

– NO OTHER STATE LEGISLATURES ATTEMPT TO DO WHAT VA & KY DID!

Election of 1800 Proved to be a costly

and drawn out election. Both sides slinging

insults and barbs at each other.

Federalists spread rumors about Jefferson in the Newspaper1. Jefferson had mixed breed

children with one of his slaves (TRUE)

2. Robbed a widow & her children of their trust fund (FALSE)

The Tale of the Tape Nastiness: Jeffersonian papers accused

Adams of being a Monarchist, a loyalists and British sympathizer! (irony?)

Popular voting took place and Jefferson won. Electoral College was to meet in December.

Neither man could gain a majority of the EC votes needed to be President. (Still some who want to vote their conscience, not the will of the people!)

The House of Representatives was now set to decide the next President of the United States on February 11, 1801. (Majority = Jeffersonian Republicans)

February 17, 1801-House of Reps chooses Jefferson to be the next President of the US!

Relation to 2000 electionNov 7th - No winner could be declared the night of the election.

Election results from the state of Florida were in doubt and were not certified correctly.

Supreme Court Case (Bush v Gore) forced the state of Florida to stop recounting the votes and certify the results!

The night of Nov 7th, major TV networks declared Al Gore the winner of the state of Florida, they then recanted their statement!

At 2 am, on November 8th, Gore called Bush and conceded the election, then called him back and recanted his concession!

State of Florida eventually declares the race to close to call and orders a recount!

Recount Chronology

•Nov 9th – Bush – 1,734 vote lead

•Nov 10th – Bush – 327 vote lead

•Nov 14th – State officials certify Bush the winner with 300 vote lead!

•Nov 18th – overseas ballots give Bush a 900 vote lead

•Nov 21st – State Supreme Court orders vote to be certified Nov 26th

•Nov 22nd – Bush appeals to stop recount to US Supreme Court

•Dec 1st – US Supreme Court hears arguments

•Dec 2nd – Trial begins in state court in Florida

•Dec 5th – State of Florida rules against Gore

•Dec. 9th State Supreme Court orders a recount of votes

•Dec. 11th – Arguments before Supreme Court

•Dec 12th = Court rules all recounts must end!

•Dec. 13th – Al Gore concedes!

Reaction of John Adams• Adams would not leave office for a few weeks

but he was determined to leave his “mark” in Federal Government!

He makes several appointments right before he leaves office including “midnight judges” Adams appoints John Marshall as Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court! Adams refused to be present at Jefferson’s inauguration and left Washington in disgust!

Washington, DC

Creation of a Capital City1. Many people believed that the country

needed a grand and impressive capital city.2. They did not want it to be located in anyone

major city, therefore there would be no influence in Congress by that state’s congressmen.

3. In 1790, a 10 square mile tract of land near Mt. Vernon was chosen to be the District of Columbia, and named Washington in 1799 after the former President’s death.

• Two men were chosen to design and build the capital for the Government

• Pierre L’Enfant- was a French Architect hired to plan out the capital and all of it’s buildings!

Benjamin Banneker- was an African American scientist and inventor recommended by Jefferson for the job!

He was in charge of the survey work!

The idea behind the design of the capital was that it would be an imposing symbol of American power and freedom for all visiting foreign dignitaries.

Facts about Washington DC

The city itself was laid out to have a European feel to it with all roads leading to the Capital buildings and the White House.

The design of many of the buildings and offices that would house the federal government reflected a Roman type feel for the importance of Government.

Plan for the Capital• The idea behind the city was

to have a showcase that would awe and impress foreign dignitaries.

• All roads lead to the White House in Washington, DC.

• Federalists wanted to display the grandeur and spectacle of this New Democracy!

• American public eventually would want to have a simpler government in place!

Washington, DC (A Federal city)

• Officially called the District of Columbia so as not to favor one particular state over another.

• Houses every major Federal branch of the Government.

• Contains a Presidential Mansion, broad streets and pedestrian walkways.

• A truly European style city with an American flair!