CHAPTER 7 Hammering Out a Federal Republic 1787
CHAPTER 7 Hammering Out a Federal Republic 1787– 1820 Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s A. The Federalists Implement the Constitution 1. Devising the New Government - Washington received the highest number of votes from the electoral college and was elected president in 1788; John Adams was elected vice president. Washington insisted that only the president had the right to remove appointed government officials. He appointed a cabinet: T. Jefferson (head of Dept. of State), A. Hamilton (head of Treasury Dept. ), and H. Knox (Sec. of War). Judiciary Act of 1789 established a federal district court in each state with three circuit courts to hear appeals; Supreme Court would have final judicial say.
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s • 2. The Bill of Rights - Added to the Constitution; Madison (now a member of Congress) submitted 19 amendments; 10 were approved by 1791; they were designed to protect individual citizens against an oppressive national government.
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s B. Hamilton’s Financial Program 1. Public Credit: Redemption and Assumption - extremely controversial because it would create a permanent national debt; suggested that Congress redeem at face value the $55 million in Confederation securities held by foreign and domestic investors to create good credit; critics said this policy would unfairly increase the profits of speculators—all wealthy men. In his “Report on Public Credit” (1790) Hamilton wanted to improve public credit by having the national government assume the war debt of the states.
The Political Crisis of the 1790 s 2. Creating a National Bank - Hamilton argued in his “Report on a National Bank” (1790) that a bank would be jointly owned by private stockholders and the national government; bank would make loans to merchants, handle government funds, and issue bills of credit. Jefferson and Madison opposed a national bank (preferred a strict interpretation of Constitution) on the grounds that the government did not have the right/power to create such an institution. • Where did Hamilton see it?
The Political Crisis of the 1790 s 3. Raising Revenue Through Tariffs - Hamilton’s “Report on Manufactures” (1791) urged the expansion of American manufacturing; called for Congress to impose excise taxes (on Whiskey) to pay the interest on the national debt; advocated moderate revenue tariffs and not protective tariffs. Northerners supported Hamilton’s plan (Federalists). Southerners & Westerners opposed this. Why?
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s C. Jefferson’s Agrarian Vision 1. Southern planters and western farmers – supported Jefferson (Democratic Republicans). He argued that the wage-labor of the North could not sustain a republican nation; therefore, he focused instead on yeoman farmers and their families, whose work he argued could support the nation as well as European countries.
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s D. The French Revolution Divides Americans 1. Ideological Politics -some Americans supported the Jacobin ideas of social egalitarian/democratic society; Americans with strong Christian beliefs disliked the Jacobins closing the churches and feared a similar social rebellion in the U. S. (for ex. Whiskey Rebellion) 2. Jay’s Treaty - accepting Britain’s right to stop neutral ships; in return, Americans could make claims to the British for illegal seizures and required the British to remove their troops and Indian agents from the Northwest Territory; was seen as a decidedly pro-British treaty. 3. The Haitian Revolution - American slaveholders feared contagion of slave revolution; many Americans saw Haiti as a perversion of the republican ideal.
I. The Political Crisis of the 1790 s E. The Rise of Political Parties 1. Public interest - Many Americans believed organized political parties were dangerous because they feared that they did not serve the public interest. 2. The Naturalization, Alien, and Sedition Acts of 1798 – John Adams was elected president; maritime disputes with the British erupted (impressment policy) and the XYZ Affair happened in France (bribes requested from American Diplomates). Federalists took a hard line against Republican critics; they passed Naturalization Act (lengthened residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years), Alien Act (authorized deportation of foreigners particularly French), and Sedition Act (prohibited publication of insults or attacks on president or members of Congress), which limited individual rights and threatened the fledgling party system.
The Political Crisis of the 1790 s 3. Virginia & Kentucky resolutions – Federalist prosecutors arrested many Republican newspapers editors and politicians and jailed some of them; resulting constitutional crisis led Kentucky and Virginia legislatures to declare Alien and Sedition Acts to be “unauthoritative, void, and of no force”; the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (Madison and Jefferson respectively) set forth a states’ rights interpretation of the Constitution, asserting that the states had a “right to judge” the legitimacy of national laws. 4. The “Revolution of 1800” - The presidential election of 1800 was an intense partisan contest; Federalists attacked Jefferson as an irresponsible radical; election was contested, but Federalist Hamilton supported Jefferson, leading in new Republican era; bloodless transfer of power showed that popularly elected governments could be changed in an orderly way.
II. A Republican Empire Is Born A. Sham Treaties and Indian Lands 1. The Treaty of Greenville 2. Assimilation Rejected
II. A Republican Empire Is Born B. Migration and the Changing Farm Economy 1. Southern Migrants 2. Exodus from New England 3. Innovation on Eastern Farms
II. A Republican Empire Is Born C. The Jefferson Presidency 1. Policies- Jefferson’s presidency began the “Virginia Dynasty” of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe (1801– 1825); all three actively supported westward expansion; Jefferson reduced the size of the permanent army. 2. Marbury v. Madison (1803) Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court did not have the constitutional power to enforce legislation (executive branch) but did have the power to review legislation and interpret the Constitution. Judicial Authority firmly established.
II. A Republican Empire is Born D. Jefferson and the West 1. The Louisiana Purchase - Jefferson wanted it to be easier for farm families to acquire land in the West; in 1801, Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Spain that regained Louisiana for France; made efforts to purchase New Orleans (ultimately all of Louisiana); Jefferson believed this would force Indian population further west. 2. Secessionist Schemes - Some New England Federalists considered leaving the Union after Louisiana Purchase to form a confederacy of northeastern states, supported by Vice President Aaron Burr; Hamilton accused Burr of treason: a duel occurred between the men and Hamilton was killed; Burr was later acquitted of treason. 3. Lewis and Clark - Jefferson sent his secretary Meriwether Lewis and army officer William Clark to explore the Louisiana region; came into contact with Mandan and Sioux peoples; continued traveling further (1, 300 miles) into unknown territories; gave to Jefferson the first maps of the immense western wilderness and a detailed account of its resources and inhabitants.
III. The War of 1812 and the Transformation of Politics A. Conflict in the Atlantic and the West 1. The Embargo of 1807 – Napoleonic War in Europe and the Atlantic eventually brought Americans into the conflict; the British navy impressed Americans into service from merchant ships; Embargo Act of 1807 kept American ships from leaving ports until the French and British restrictions had been lifted; American economy weakened. 2. Western War Hawks - Republicans from the West blamed Britain; Shawnee war chief Tecumseh rebuilt the Western Confederacy (Indians) and mobilized his people (and others) for war; violence broke out between native peoples and white Americans; British aided Indians; war broke out between U. S. and Britain in June 1812, with U. S. arguing that Britain had violated the nation’s commercial rights.
III. The War of 1812 and the Transformation of Politics B. The War of 1812 1. Federalists Oppose the War, while Republicans and westerners support it. 2. Peace Overtures and a Final Victory - War cost the U. S. $88 million and increased the national debt to $127 million; by 1815, Britain called for peace; the Treaty of Ghent (1814) put borders back to prewar
III. The War of 1812 and the Transformation of Politics C. The Federalist Legacy 1. Marshall’s Federalist Law - John Marshall, Supreme Court Chief Justice; three main principles influenced Marshall’s thinking: 1) judicial authority, 2) supremacy of natural law, and 3) traditional property rights. 2. Asserting National Supremacy - Dominance of national over state statutes was again was asserted by the Marshall Court. Mc. Culloch v. Maryland (1919) Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) 3. Upholding Vested Property Rights -Fearing “tyranny of the majority, ” Marshall advocated protecting the property rights of the individual. Fletcher v. Fleck 1810) Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
III. The War of 1812 and the Transformation of Politics 4. The Diplomacy of John Quincy Adams 5. Monroe Doctrine
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