Launching the New Nation
1790 – 1815

Chapter 6

American History

American History Honors

Launching the New Government

• Elections in Fall 1788 – Federalists mainly elected

• No party system yet

First Government Leaders

• George Washington, President

– John Adams, Vice President

– Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State

– Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of Treasury

– Edmund Randolph, Attorney General

– Henry Knox, Secretary of War

• John Jay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Ct.

• Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House (other leaders: Madison, et al.)

Difficulties in the First Administration

• Constitution unclear about courts – Judiciary Act of 1789

• Formalities?

– How was the Supreme Court to operate?

– How did Congress and the President work with each other?

– “Your Majesty”?

– Why such confusion?

Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of State

• Experienced diplomat (served as ambassador to France)

• Ardent critic of President Washington

Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of Treasury

• Originally from the West Indies

• New York

• Goal was to find a way to pay off debt

• “Hamiltonian world”?

• Majority rule = dangerous

Hamilton’s Financial Program

• Supports strong national power – little trust of the people

• Assume states debt = National Debt

• How to pay? Excise and Tariff

• Pay creditors in interest, not in full

• Keep people interested in government!

• Bank of the United States

Opposition and Political Parties

• Opposition: too much government power and control (Jefferson)

• Debate on Hamilton’s program creates first party system

• Jefferson resigns from Washington’s cabinet in 1793

• Know: strict and loose constructionist

• See table on page 185

Opposition, continued

• Whiskey Rebellion and the administration’s response

• Formal creation of parties in the 1796 election

• Washington’s Farewell Address

Current Events…

• What are the main issues of the Democrats and Republicans today?

Planning a Capital City

• Compromise to gain passage of Hamilton’s financial program

• Residence Act of 1790 – 10 square miles on the Potomac River (Virginia/Maryland)

• District of Columbia (1799: Washington)

• Benjamin Banneker/Pierre Charles L’Enfant

• Roman style and public monuments

Pierre Charles L’Enfant
First Architect of the Capitol

For more information…

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/us.capitol/s2.html

Foreign Problems and the Adams Administration

Section 6.2

Foreign Issues

• French Revolution and Citizen Genet

• Americans divided on the French Rev.

• Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation

• Problems with the British!

• Pinckney’s Treaty of 1795 (Spain)

Native American Problems

• British had not evacuated forts

• Confederacy led by Little Turtle

• General Anthony Wayne defeated Miami Confederacy – August 20, 1794

• Treaty of Greenville

• Jay’s Treaty of 1795 with the British – reactions at home?

Election of 1796

• John Adams – President – Federalist (gained 71 electoral votes)

• Thomas Jefferson – Vice President – Democratic-Republican (gained 68 votes)

Presidency of John Adams

• XYZ Affair – Undeclared war with France?

• Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

• Response: Virginia and Kentucky Resolves
VA: Madison; KY: Jefferson

• Nullify federal laws?

Jefferson’s Administration

Section 6.3

Election of 1800: Revolution!

• Reaction to Federalist Policy and Adams

• Bitter partisan campaign

• No clear winner in the Electoral College – vote takes place in the House of Representatives

• Thomas Jefferson elected President

Last days of the Adams Administration

• Midnight judges (done through the Judiciary Act of 1801)

• Adams not present at inauguration

• Revolution without violence – precedent?

Current or Recent Events?

• Precedent of peaceful transition of power

• Recent examples?

Jefferson’s Administration

• Settles on “Mr. President”*

• Reduce size and taxes of government

• Popular first term: re-elected 1804

• Rivals: Aaron Burr (VP) and former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton

• Southern dominance?

Judicial Branch as an Equal!

• Chief Justice John Marshall

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• Judicial Review

Duel: 1804 – Burr kills Hamilton

Jefferson and the West

• Land Act of 1800: new policy that allows more Americans to gain small land plots on credit from the government

• Louisiana Purchase – how the purchase originated, how transacted, dilemmas?

• Lewis & Clark Expedition

Jefferson’s Foreign Problems

• USMC to the Barbary States

Begin 6.4: War of 1812

• British continue impressments and blockade of Europe

• HMS Leopard attacks USS Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia (1807)

• Embargo Act of 1807

Tecumseh’s Confederacy

• Indiana Terr. Governor William Henry Harrison made land deal w/ NA chiefs

• Tecumseh tried to form confederacy

• Strategy – playing both sides?

• Tecumseh’s brother (“the Prophet”) led an attack on Harrison & US troops – response: Battle of Tippecanoe

Road to War (of 1812)

• Jefferson chooses not to run for a 3^rd term

• James Madison, 4^th President

• Britain continues to harass Americans on the open seas

• “War Hawks” in Congress demand action (Henry Clay of Kentucky)

• Problems with war?

War on Land

• US forces invade Canada in summer 1812 – disaster!

• US victories against British & Indians:

- William Henry Harrison @ Battle of Thames (October 1813) – beat Tecumseh

- Andrew Jackson @ Battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 1814)

War at Sea

• Americans outnumbered 20:1

• Summer 1813: Perry (US) defeats British flotilla on Lake Erie

• British blockade hurts American economy

• Naval invasion of Chesapeake Bay in 1814 – Wash, DC IS INVADED AND BURNED (Aug. 24, 1814)

• Francis Scott Key

Divided Opinions

• Hartford Convention (CT) – Dec. 1814

• War ended Dec. 24, 1814: Treaty of Ghent

• Battle of New Orleans
(Dec ’14 – Jan ’15)

• Andrew Jackson

Additional Settlements

• 1817 – Rush-Bagot Treaty: limited warships on Great Lakes

• Treaty of 1818: 49^th parallel – northern boundary of Louisiana Territory

• Joint occupation of Oregon