The Federalist Era:
An explosive era in American
history…one that is vital to our
development as a nation.
Washington assumes control
 4/30/1789
 An exercise in
simplicity
 “Ocean of difficulties”
 Washington is about
the “safest” maybe not
the best (although you
could make a case for
that) president we have
ever had.
 We knew exactly what
we were getting
Tasks facing Washington
 Create Bureaucracy: the misunderstood
branch of Government…is it a branch, lacks a
check/balance relationship?
 Judiciary
 Raise $$$$$
 Bill of Rights issue
 Start governance for this nation
 Steady foreign relations
SECTION
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Washington Heads the
New Government
The New Government Takes Shape
Judiciary Act of 1789
• Judiciary Act of 1789 creates Supreme, 3 circuit,
13 district courts
• State court decisions may be appealed to federal
courts
Washington Shapes the Executive Branch
• Washington elected first president of U.S. in 1789
- executive branch is president, vice president
• Congress creates State, War, Treasury Departments
• Alexander Hamilton becomes secretary of treasury
• Washington adds attorney general; these
Department heads are Cabinet
Image
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SECTION
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Hamilton and Jefferson Debate
Hamilton and Jefferson in Conflict
Chart
• Hamilton: strong central government led by wealthy,
educated
• Jefferson: strong state, local government; people’s
participation
• Hamilton has Northern support; Jefferson has
Southern, Western
Hamilton’s Economic Plan
• U.S. owes millions to foreign countries, private
citizens
• Plan—pay foreign debt, issue new bonds, assume
states’ debt
• Some Southern states have paid debts, against
taxes to pay for North
Continued . . .
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Cabinet Government
Problem of National Debt
 Hopefully we learned from the problems
caused by Shay’s Rebellion?
 1790 estimates
 Paying soldiers…revolution possible
 “the price of liberty”
 Hamilton: the Economic whiz kid…an
important maligned figure in US History
Philosophies of Hamilton:
 1st Conservative
 Debt Assumption:
 Demonstrates the supremacy of the National
Government
 Laid ground work for Civil War?
 Establishment of a National Bank?
SECTION
1
continued Hamilton
and Jefferson Debate
Plan for a National Bank
• Hamilton proposes Bank of the United States:
- funded by government, private investors
- issue paper money, handle taxes
• Disagreement over Congressional authority to
establish bank
• Debate begins over strict and loose interpretation
of Constitution
The District of Columbia
• To win Southern support for his debt plan,
Hamilton suggests:
- moving nation’s capital from NYC to South
• Washington, D.C. planned on grand scale;
government seat by 1800
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The National Bank
 Will serve to add to the problems of
sectionalism and will be an issue for the next
100 years!
 Case for a national bank: series of papers
authored by Hamilton…summary
 Currency
 Investment
 Upper class
 Government finance and taxes
Heated controversy over the
Bank?
 Problem…will become the foundation for
modern politics!
 Construction of the constitution
 Political language, political interpretation and
a reading of the Constitution.
Whiskey Rebellion
 The first true “test” of the Constitutions
power and authority.
 What, and Why?
SECTION
1
continued The
First Political Parties and Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion
• Protective tariff— import tax on goods produced
overseas
• Excise tax charged on product’s manufacture,
sale, or distribution
• In 1794, Pennsylvania farmers refuse to pay
excise tax on whiskey
- beat up federal marshals, threaten secession
• Federal government shows it can enforce laws by
sending in militia
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The Foundation of Modern
Politics: The Political Party
 Birth: arising from the difference of opinion
between Jefferson and Hamilton
 Jeffersonians: Republicans (modern
Democrats)
 Hamiltonians: Federalists (modern
Republicans)
 Role of Newspapers
SECTION
1
The First Political Parties and Rebellion
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
• Split in Washington’s cabinet leads to first U.S.
political parties:
- Jefferson’s allies: Democratic-Republicans
- Hamilton’s allies: Federalists
• Two-party system established as two major
parties compete for power
Continued . . .
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Conflicting Views
Two individuals: two stark
differences (page 215)
Hamilton:
 Elitist

 Strong Central Gov’t

 Balanced economy with

National Bank
 Ally of Britain
 Model our nation after
Britain



Jefferson
Common man
Distrusted privilege
Weak central
government
Democratic gov’t
Agrarian economy
Support France
Their Biggest Difference
between the two men?
Construction of the
Constitution
 How should the constitution be interpreted?
 Jefferson a strict constructionist: reason
being…the best way to check the level of
power of the large government
 Hamilton a loose constructionist: reason
being…the best way to enhance the level of
governmental power.
Washington’s worst fear
realized
 One of the flaws in Washington’s armor.
 Washington and “King”…
 A fierce advocate of Democracy…yet?
 Fear of factions
 Benefits of Factions
Political Developments Aside:
 Foreign Policy takes center stage.
 French…what to do?
 Native Americans
 Problem?
 Revolution:
 Why do we feel the need for loyalty?
A Tale of Two Pictures?
The main difference?
 Pursuit of goal, liberty?
 Internal v. External destruction?
 Probability of Success?
Why we didn’t totally involve
ourselves with France?
 Problems with their revolutionary aims and strategy.
 Problems over land disputes here in colonies
 Rise of political factionism, political parties and the
dispute between Jefferson and Hamilton
 The idiocy of Edmond “citizen” Genet…and his
privateer approach in Florida. A clue: don’t irritate
George Washington.
Pinckney’s Treaty
 Agreed upon with Spain
 Set the boundary of the US at the 31st parallel
 US gains Mississippi. (HUGE)
Britain tests US neutrality and
authority.
 The aforementioned problems along with
those presented by the British…have
illustrated the first “challenge” to the United
States from a diplomatic perspective.
 Britain and neutrality?
 Why is our role so important…an
explanation.
John Jay the Great Diplomat
 His mission in
Britain…simple-stop
the seizure of American
Vessels.
 His secondary
mission…secure neutral
alliances if mission 1
fails!
Jay’s Treaty
 No agreement to stop
 “Damn John Jay, Damn
seizing ships
 No agreement to leave
the Ohio Valley (agreed
to extend window by 18
months)
 US had to repay British
debts
 Ummm…
any man who won’t
damn John Jay, Damn
any man who won’t stay
up all night damning
John Jay.” Popular
song of the day
 “I imagine I could find
my way home (NY) by
following the fires of
burning effigies” Jay
Problems with Indians
 Vacuous western lands confusing in two
regards…who runs them from our
perspective and what about the Indians?
 Remember the Iroqouis (4/6 of the groups)
sided with the British during the Revolution
and were obviously not in the best situation
since our victory.
 The time saw a rise in raids on frontier areas
and families
Indian Actions?
 Scalping and home
destruction were
common
 There destructive
murderous raids
became a major
problem for the new
nation.
Response?
 Our response was unkind to the Indians and
marks the beginning of our dramatic
mistreatment and relocation movements of
American Indians in the new national phase.
 Indians will be forced to sell Ohio and much
of Illinois for a mere 10,000 annually!
Harmar’s Defeat and “Mad”
Anthony Wayne
 Stunning defeat-Harmar; Victory for Wayne
whose name conjurs up images of heroism in
US History.
Treaty of Greenville
 The tribes agreed to surrender their claims to lands in
the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territory
(mostly present-day southern and eastern Ohio)
 The tribes also gave up additional defined areas that
were used by the whites as portages and fort
locations. This category included Fort Detroit and the
site of the future town of Chicago on Lake Michigan
 The United States government agreed to make an
immediate payment of to $20,000 in goods to the
tribes, as well as annual payments of $9,500 in goods
to be divided among specified tribes
 The tribes retained the right to hunt throughout the
area.
The End of the Washington Era
 Refused to serve a third term as
President…established a trend.
 Urged us in his notable Farewell Address to
avoid Alliances and Factions and threatened
that both could tear apart the “Fragile”
nation.
 The next question becomes…Who succeeds
the President?
Well…that didn’t last long
 As soon as Washington and his term ended, the
partisan war over who was to replace him began.
 Federalist assumed…you know what is to assume
that John Adams the VP founding father was the
logical selection. Problem here…who to nominate
for VP
 Hamilton-the talented choice but people distrusted
him for anything other than a cabinet position.
 Selection for VP candidate by Federalists: the
controllable popular Thomas Pinckney
Federalist ticket for 1796
Republican strategy
 A key opportunity: they feared that the
country after the success of Washington who
most considered a Federalist…would lead to
a monarchy of sorts for the Federalists.
 So they nominated their most popular
Candidate available to them and that was
Thomas Jefferson.
Results: a political catastrophe!





Order of finish:
Adams-71
Jefferson-68
Followed by Pinckney, and Aaron Burr
A political calamity…the Constitution called for candidates 1,
2 to finish Pres. And then VP.
 However, the Constitution did not account for the partisan
nature of the new system.
 So we have a federalist president, and republican VP.
Presidency of Adams
 Characteristics
 Good intentioned
 Not very talented
 Poor judge of character
 An average President
XYZ AFFAIR
 Continuation of problems with France
 Outraged by Jay’s treaty
 French began siezing US vessels
 Negotiation team sent to avoid war
 Bribery and deception
 Issue now becomes…do we go to war or not
 Adams was able to secure peace without having to
go to war but is was still a hated act?
Adams and
Washington…problem:
 Both refused to accept themselves as
“political beings”…viewed themselves above
Partisan politics.
 This is not possible.
 Adams was our first president to be
criticized…and he got it bad from the
Republicans.
 Adams takes it to the extreme! Alien and
Sedition Acts
Alien and Sedition Acts
•
•
Under the threat of war with France, Congress
in 1798 passed four laws in an effort to
strengthen the Federal government. Known
collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts, the
legislation sponsored by the Federalists was
also intended to quell any political opposition
from the Republicans, led by Thomas
Jefferson.
A series of Four Acts
Four Acts:
•
•
The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act, passed by
Congress on June 18. This act required that aliens be
residents for 14 years instead of 5 years before they
became eligible for U.S. citizenship.
Congress then passed the Alien Act on June 25,
authorizing the President to deport aliens "dangerous to
the peace and safety of the United States" during
peacetime.
•
•
The third law, the Alien Enemies Act, was enacted by
Congress on July 6. This act allowed the wartime
arrest, imprisonment and deportation of any alien
subject to an enemy power.
The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, passed on July 14
declared that any treasonable activity, including the
publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious
writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine
and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twentyfive men, most of them editors of Republican
newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers
forced to shut down.
The effected!
•
•
One of the men arrested was Benjamin
Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache,
editor of the Philadelphia DemocratRepublican Aurora. Charged with libeling
President Adams, Bache's arrest erupted in a
public outcry against all of the Alien and
Sedition Acts
The arrest of Franklin-Bache caused a public
outrage that threatened the legitimacy of our
Constitution and the presidency of Adams
Impacts of the Alien and
Sedition Acts:
 Set the US on a very dangerous political
course!
 Threatened the future of American Party
Politics and it’s greatest gift: DISCOURSE
 Further enhanced the bubbling sectional
conflict that has been brewing since pre
revolutionary days…why? Let’s look at this
again:
The Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions:
 Led by our two main
Democratic Republican
forefathers: Madison and
Jefferson.
 A movement in southern
legislatures that denounced
the acts as unconstitutional
and their role as parties to
the constitution gave them
the power to
nullify…exercise their rights
of social contract!
 James Madison
Further impact
 The acts encouraged other states to follow
their lead and declare the acts of congress
null and void however fortunately none did
so…with the weakness of our court system at
this time this could have torn apart the
country.
 A second harbinger to events of the civil
war…why?
Election of 1800:
A very modern election for
1800!
 Adams: “those who
 Jefferson a defender of
own the country ought
to govern it!”
 Elitist, violator of civil
rights.
 An ally of Britain
liberty
 A heretic in the eyes of
federalists
 An unpopular ally of
France
Results and Worry?
 Worry:
 The sectional partisan
election was so hotly
contested the fear was
that it could serve to
tear the country apart!
 Result:
 Jefferson-73
 Adams-65
 Only problem-Burr the VP
candidate for Jefferson also
got 73 votes!
 Federalist congress has to
break tie between
Republicans!
An unlikely result
 Jefferson: saved by the unlikely contribution of his
hated adversary: Alexander Hamilton! Why: he hated
Burr more!