UNIT 2 NOTES:

Washington and the first Presidency

• New Constitution and Government

take effect on April 30, 1789.

• Washington begins his

presidency in New York City and

alternates between there and

Philadelphia.

• Capital city at this time was New York

City.

• New Constitution and Government

take effect on April 30, 1789.

• Washington begins his

presidency in New York City and

alternates between there and

Philadelphia.

• Capital city at this time was New York

City.

Establishing a government

Washington and his followers (federalists) believed that the balance of power had tipped towards anarchy after the revolution

Federalist wanted the Constitution to counter democratic excesses Washington came into office determined to make the national government

powerful enough to command respect abroad and to impose order at home

They succeeded but also aroused a determined opposition that feared the federalists consolidation of power came at the expense of states and citizens

The Democratic-Republicans (Jeffersonians) were led by Thomas Jefferson They were tied to revolutionary ideals of limited government with independent

farmer citizens

The fight between these two parties echoed the revolutionary contest between liberty and power

THE NEW CAPITAL CITY

In the first year of Presidency the capital was in New York City In 1790, the capital was moved to Philadelphia It would remain there for a decade while the new capital city was

being built

The Residence Act of 1790 established the District of Columbia as the new capital city

The federal government moved to the new capital in 1800

Cabinet advises the President and heads up an agency of the

government

Cabinet advises the President and heads up an agency of the

government

Department of Treasury---Financial affairs• Alexander Hamilton—Secretary of the Treasury

Department of War-------------------Military affairs• Henry Knox----Secretary of War

Attorney General----------------------Legal affairs• Edmund Randolph---Department of Justice

HOW MANY CABINET POSITIONS ARE THERE TODAY????15

Department of State – Foreign Affairs• Thomas Jefferson ---- Secretary of

State

John Jay first Chief Justice of

the Supreme

Court

•President Washington appoints 6 justices to the Supreme Court• 3 from North and 3 from South

•Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress created lower courts to assist the Supreme Court.

•President Washington appoints 6 justices to the Supreme Court• 3 from North and 3 from South

•Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress created lower courts to assist the Supreme Court.

Alexander Hamilton

Washington filled his cabinet with familiar faces Alexander Hamilton of New York, his trusted aid during the revolution

selected to head the Treasury

Secretary of Treasury This office dealt with improving the nation’s economy His main issue became to pay off the nation’s huge war debt

Hamilton believed, in contrast to Jefferson, that government could be used to accomplish great things

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

HAMILTON’S PROGRAM One of the biggest issues facing the new nation

was the huge debt it owed to other nations and its own citizens following the Revolutionary War

As Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton had the responsibility of finding a policy that could help the nation pay off its debts and become economically stable

He used this as a chance to push for the kind of government he wanted

The National Debt In 1789 Congress asked Hamilton to report on the

public debt

He reported that debt fell into 3 categories Money owed to foreigners, primarily owed to France from

the revolution Money in national debt owed to citizens who had supplied

resources during revolution Money in state debt to private citizens in revolutionary

loans

Hamilton’s Plan Two measures would be used to raise money to pay off debt

In 1789 Congress created a tariff, tax on imported goods In 1791 Congress placed a tax on distilled liquors (called the whiskey

tax) To fund the national debt Hamilton called for a federal tax on wines,

coffee, tea, and other spirits Spirits would fall mostly on whiskey produced in abundance on the frontier

Most of this money went to pay for the expense of government and creditors

He also wants to form a national bank

Why would creditors go along with this plan? To satisfy their worries Hamilton outlined a specific budget with a payment

plan

Foreign Debt

$11,710,000Federal Domestic Debt

$42,414,000

State Debt$21,500,000

CustomDuties

(Tariffs)

ExciseTaxon

Whiskey

Misc.Revenue

Congress & Sec. of Treasury Alexander Hamilton solve debt

problems:

•Pay off $80 million debt

•Excise tax: Taxes placed on manufactured products

•Tariff: a tax on imports

•Establish good credit with foreign nations

•Create a national bank with a national currency

•Raise money for govt backed by gold silver

ASSUMING STATE DEBT’S

Hamilton calls for national government to assume state debt’s Southern states did not want to help pay back loans

owed by northern states

Why would the national government want to add to its debt? To strengthen it Most debt was owed to European banks and American

merchants He knew that these lenders would not want any

government that owed them money to collapse

Hamiltonian economics – the national debt

His plan was that a permanent debt would attract the wealthiest financiers in the country as they would now be dependent on the federal government

The National Debt was at the center and Hamilton’s solution to creating a powerful national state

Hamilton’s bank As part of his plan, Hamilton asked Congress

to charter a bank of the United States The government would store its funds in the bank

and would supervise its operations But the bank would be controlled by directors

representing private stockholders It would print and back national currency and

would regulate other banks It was a carbon copy of the bank of England

HAMILTON• Safe place to deposit and

transfer money• Provide loans to government

and state banks• A national currency---$$$$$

• An investment by people to buy stock into US bank

• Constitution did not forbid a national bank….Loose

construction of Constitution• National debt good for country

• He also cited the “necessary and proper clause” (article 1,

sec. 8)

JEFFERSON• Against the Constitution

• State banks would collapse• Only wealthy could invest in bank and would control bank than control the government

• Hurt the common man• Strict construction…If it is not

mentioned in the Constitution than there can’t be a national

bank.• Against a national debt

Compromise Finally, Madison and Jefferson compromised with

Hamilton In exchange for accepting proposals on debt, they won his

promise to locate the permanent capital on the Potomac river Hamilton struck a deal: if they would support his economic

plan, he would gain northern support to move capital to a southern state

The goal of Jefferson was to distance federal government from commercial cities and put an end to the “republican court” that had formed around Washington

Hamilton’s financial plan was passed in April 1791

•Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson played a valuable role in the beginning of our nation.

• Both were visionaries and influenced the direction our country would go economically, politically and

socially. • President Washington was stuck in the middle of these two men as they argued over our country’s

beginnings.

Federalist Beliefs(former Anti-Federalists)Democratic-Republicans

Leader

Appealed to

Alexander HamiltonJohn Adams

Thomas JeffersonJames Madison

Manufacturers, merchants, wealthy and educated….Favored seaboard cities

Farmers and Planterscommon manFavored the South and West

Ideas of Government

Strong government over statesLoose Construction of Constitution

• Implied powersWealthy and educated involvedLimit freedoms of speech & pressPreferred govt. similar to a king

State’s rights over National Govt.Strict construction of Constitution

Expressed/Enumerated powersCommon man but educatedBill of Rights is sacredLesser government the betterDomestic

Policy

Supported National Bank—BUSSupported excise taxNational debt good for countryNational govt. assume state debtsTariffs should be high

Against National Bank—BUSAgainst excise tax Against National debtStates pay their own debtsTariffs should be low

ForeignPolicy

Opposed French RevolutionWanted war with FrenchFavored the British

Supported French RevolutionOpposed war with FrenchFavored the French

political

Foreign policy

What to do with the world at war?

The French Revolution places the U.S. in a tough spot

• France goes to war against European kings• France requested US ships to block West

Indies from the British• President Washington declared Neutrality

and ordered Americans to avoid this war

• France goes to war against European kings• France requested US ships to block West

Indies from the British• President Washington declared Neutrality

and ordered Americans to avoid this war

French Rev

• Executions of King Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette in 1793.

•Begins “Reign of Terror” during French Revolution where 40,000 opponents

of the new govt. were beheaded.

• Executions of King Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette in 1793.

•Begins “Reign of Terror” during French Revolution where 40,000 opponents

of the new govt. were beheaded.

Citizen Genet During their years of war from 1793-1815, Britain

and France would make American isolation and neutrality difficult

In April 1793 France sends Citizen Edmond Genet as a minister to the U.S. France orders Genet to enlist American aid to help the

French cause

The British respond to Genet’s free trade declaration by promising to seize any ship trading with French colonies in the Caribbean

Genet leads Britain to overrun American sovereignty and seize U.S. ships - Impressment

Impressment: an act of kidnapping a ship, its contents, men and forcing them into your navy----this

became British policy

JAY’S TREATY Washington and Hamilton believed that long-term interests of

the U.S. would be best served if we avoided war with Britain Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate an agreement

The result is called Jay’s Treaty Britain agreed to leaves forts in occupied in the NW territory On every other point however he agrees to British terms The Jay Treaty makes no mention of impressments or violations of American

maritime rights unable to convince the British to end their practice of stopping American ships

at sea

Jay’s Treaty passes through the senate and is ratified in June 1795

Pinckney’s Treaty

Pinckney’s Treaty In March 1796 Thomas Pinckney

negotiates a treaty with Spain Set U.S.-Spain border Gave us unrestricted travel on the

Mississippi Put an end to Spanish claims in the SW Helped offset the unpopularity of Jay’s

treaty

Domestic issues

Trouble with Indians and Whiskey

• Farmer’s revolt in western

Pennsylvania.• Refused to

pay Hamilton’ s excise tax

• Believed it was an unfair

tax.

• Were called the “Whiskey

Rebels”

• Issue at hand was testing the power

of the new Constitution

Outcome: • Demonstrated to

the people that this new

constitution was powerful enough

to put down domestic

rebellions, “mobocracy”

•Showed the power of the national

government

President Washington reviews 13,000 troops of the Western Army assembled at Fort Cumberland, Maryland, to crush the

Whiskey Rebellion.

The first transition in government

ELECTION OF 1796

Washington refuses to run for reelection in 1796 Thus sets a two-term limit precedent observed by

every President until FDRWashington’s vice president, John

Adams ran on the Federalists side Thomas Jefferson opposed him

Adams won a close victory and Jefferson became his vice-president

WASHINGTON LEAVES

George Washington left office in 1796 Washington had achieved what he set out to do

In his farewell address he gave two warnings: 1) He called for a foreign policy of neutrality and

to stay out of alliances 2) He warns against internal political divisions

George Washington in Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5uPqucnHk&list=UUP6OYn7B1t4DRhczjXxEP9g&index=21&feature=plpp_video

The Presidents http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_AL1Xn6UYM

WHO ARE THE MIDNIGHT JUDGES?