The American
Pageant
Chapter 10
Launching the
New Ship of State,
1789-1800
Chapter Themes
Theme: Led by Washington and Hamilton, the first
administration under the Constitution overcame
various difficulties and firmly established the
political and economic foundations of the new
federal government. The first Congress under the
Constitution, led by James Madison, also
contributed to the new republic by adding the Bill
of Rights.
Theme: The cabinet debate over Hamilton’s
financial measure expanded into a wider political
conflict between Hamiltonian Federalists and
Jeffersonian Republicans—the first political parties
in America. Federalists supported a strong central
government, a "loose" interpretation of the
Constitution, and commerce (business).
(Democratic) Republicans supported states' rights, a
"strict" interpretation of the Constitution, and
agriculture (farmers).
Theme: The French Revolution created a severe
ideological and political division over foreign
policy between Federalists and Republicans. The
foreign-policy crisis coincided with domestic
political divisions that culminated in the bitter
election of 1800, but in the end power passed
peacefully from Federalists to Republicans.
American isolationist tradition emerges as a result
of Washington's strong neutrality stance and his
farewell warnings about foreign alliances.
Alexander Hamilton by
Charles Wilson Peale
Hamilton was a true American
success story: an illegitimate
son of a Barbados gentleman,
he immigrated to the mainland
as a teenager where he enjoyed
a meteoric career. Hamilton
served as Washington's aidede-camp, became
Author of many of The Federalist
Papersa leader of
York bar, and entered
essays and first Secretarythe
of New
the Treasury,
New York's social elite by his
Alexander Hamilton was marriage
admired,into
even
by
the Schuyler
bitter political opponents,family.
for hisInintellectual
1803, a political
brilliance and his politicalenemy,
vision.
Aaron Burr, killed
Hamilton in a duel.
Alexander Hamilton
by John Trumbull,
1792
Hamilton's selfconfident pride clearly
shines through in this
portrait, painted at the
height of his influence
in the Washington
administration.
Congressional Pugilists, 1798
A cartoonist satirizes the fiercely partisan debates in
Congress surrounding the Alien and Sedition Acts.
(Library of Congress)
Edmond Genêt by Ezra
Ames, 1809–1810
Citizen Edmond Genêt's
visit caused the first major
diplomatic crisis in the
new nation. His attempts
to enlist Americans in
support of the
French Revolution raised troubling
questions about the international
role of the United States.
George Washington by
John Trumbull,
miniature, 1792–1794
John Trumbull, known
primarily for his largerthan-life portraits of
patriot leaders, painted
this miniature (c. 1792–
1794) of George
Washington, who posed
for it during his
presidency.
George Washington's Inaugural Journey through
Trenton, 1789
Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences by Samuel
Jennings, 1792
How do historians know... that the 1780s and 1790s marked
a crucial turning point in the history of slavery and racism in
the United States? Emancipation, manumission, and
miscegenation laws adopted by state legislatures, coupled
with debates in pamphlets and newspapers, indicate a shift
in Americans' thinking.
A painting such as the one reproduced here, Liberty
Displaying the Arts and Sciences, offers a unique
visual perspective on the same developments.
In 1792 the Library Company of Philadelphia, a private
lending library founded in the mid-eighteenth century,
commissioned the artist Samuel Jennings to produce a
depiction of slavery and abolitionism showing the "figure
of Liberty (with her cap and proper Insignia) displaying the
arts."
The results reportedly pleased the library's directors.
The painting, probably the first to celebrate emancipation,
shows the blonde goddess presenting books (symbolizing
knowledge and freedom) to several grateful blacks, while
in the background former slaves dance joyfully around a
liberty pole.
Although the theme is abolition and the African
Americans in the foreground have realistic
features, the portrayal of blacks in passive roles
and diminutive sizes portended future stereotypes.
Thus the picture linked emancipation and the growth of racism.
(Photo from The Library of Congress of Philadelphia)
Native American signature
marks on Greenville Treaty
Independence sparked renewed
westward migration by land
hungry Americans. The federal
government took steps to
legitimate these incursions into
Indian homelands by
persuading selected chiefs and
warriors of the northwest to
cede all rights to vast tracts of
this Ohio Valley land.
Treaty of Greenville
In the Treaty of
Greenville, the
United States
formally accepted the
principle of Indian
sovereignty, by virtue
of residence, over all
lands the native
peoples had not
ceded. (National
Archives)
Greenville Treaty of 1795, a treaty that ceded
almost two-thirds of present day Ohio and
portions of Indiana. Many tribes protested such
treaties on the grounds that the signers were not
legitimate spokesmen for their people. (Library
of Congress)
The document pictured here provides a sample of the
eleven hundred signatures obtained in the
Property Protected, a la Francoise
In the background, John Bull (England) watches from on
high, while other European nations discuss the situation.
Thomas Jefferson, absent because of his
duties as ambassador to France, referred to
the fifty-five delegates who crafted the
Constitution as a gathering of "demigods."
Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Thomas
Pritchard Rossiter, 1867
In 1867, Thomas Pritchard Rossiter painted his Signing of the
Constitution of the United States, honoring a group of statesmen that
included James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George
Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention.
Sketch of
Stockbridge Indian
serving with the
American Army
Like other Native
Americans in locales
long dominated by
whites, the
Stockbridge Indians of
western
Massachusetts
contributed substantially to the patriots'
military effort.
Tax collector scene from Whiskey Rebellion
In 1794, the new federal government passed an excise tax on whiskey
made from surplus American grains. Farmers in western Pennsylvania
rose up in protest against what they considered an unfair assault on
their livelihood. Using tactics straight out of the pre-Revolutionary
War era, including tarring and feathering the "revenooer" assigned to
collect the taxes, the "Whiskey Rebels" challenged the federal
government's authority.
Washington Taking the Oath
George Washington was the most
admired man in eighteenth-century
America. Even before the Constitution
was ratified, his name was widely
proposed for the presidency. "Of all
Men you are best fitted to fill that
Office," wrote one friend, and indeed,
Washington was unanimously elected
to serve as the first president of the
United States.
Along the route from his home
at Mount Vernon, Virginia, to his
inauguration at New York City,
Washington was greeted by
cheering crowds, bands, and
parades.
Barges, decorated in patriotic themes,
accompanied him as he crossed the
Hudson River. In this painting, the
artist captures the enthusiasm and
patriotism of the crowd that has
gathered to see the general take the
oath of office. (Library of Congress)
Presidential Election,
1800
The DemocraticRepublicans, with their
candidates Thomas
Jefferson and Aaron
Burr, won the electoral
votes of the southern
states, while the
Federalists, the party
of John Adams and
Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, received
votes primarily in New
England.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The fledgling government faced considerable
difficulties and skepticism about its
durability, especially since traditional
political theory held that large-scale
republics were bound to fail. But President
Washington brought credibility to the new
government, while his cabinet, led by
Alexander Hamilton, strengthened its
political and economic foundations.
The government’s first achievements were the
Bill of Rights and Hamilton’s financial
system. Through effective leadership,
Hamilton carried out his program of funding
the national debt, assuming state debts,
imposing customs and excise taxes, and
establishing a Bank of the United States.
The bank was the most controversial part of
Hamilton’s program because it raised basic
constitutional issues. Opposition to the bank
from Jefferson and his followers reflected
more fundamental political disagreements
about republicanism, economics, federal
power, and foreign policy.
As the French Revolution evolved from
moderation to radicalism, it intensified the
ideological divisions between the pro-French
Jeffersonians and the pro-British
Hamiltonians.
Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation
angered Republicans, who wanted America to
aid Revolutionary France. Washington’s
policy was sorely tested by the British, who
routinely violated American neutrality. In
order to avoid war, Washington endorsed the
conciliatory Jay’s Treaty, further outraging
the Republicans and France.
After the humiliating XYZ affair, the United
States came to the brink of war with France,
but Adams sacrificed his political popularity
and divided his party by negotiating peace.
These foreign-policy disagreements
embittered domestic politics: Federalists
passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, to which
Jefferson and Madison responded with the
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
The American Pageant
Chapter 10
•The first ten amendments to the United
States Constitution are commonly known as
– 1. the separation of powers.
– 2. the Bill of Rights.
– 3. freedom of religion, freedom of speech,
and freedom of the press.
– 4. the necessary and proper clauses.
•The first ten amendments to the United
States Constitution are commonly known
as
– 2. the Bill of Rights.
– See page 192.
•Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton believed that federal fiscal
policies should be designed to favor
–
–
–
–
1. the wealthy.
2. farmers and western frontiersmen.
3. the states.
4. wage-earning ordinary citizens.
•Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton believed that federal fiscal
policies should be designed to favor
– 1. the wealthy.
– See pages 193–194.
•Hamilton raised the first revenues to
finance the federal government through
– 1. a national sales tax.
– 2. making a profit on the issuance of
federal currency and bonds.
– 3. an income tax and a tax on interstate
commerce.
– 4. a tax (tariff) on imports and an excise
tax on items like whiskey.
•Hamilton raised the first revenues to
finance the federal government through
– 4. a tax (tariff) on imports and an excise
tax on items like whiskey.
– See pages 194–195.
•Alexander Hamilton believed that the
Bank of the United States was
constitutional because of
– 1. the president’s inherent powers to
administer federal finances.
– 2. the “necessary and proper” clause of
the Constitution.
– 3. the Constitution’s stipulation that the
federal government had excusive powers
to create money and guarantee its value.
– 4. the clause declaring Congress’s power
to protect copyrights and patent
protections.
•Alexander Hamilton believed that the
Bank of the United States was
constitutional because of
– 2. the “necessary and proper” clause of
the Constitution.
– See page 195.
•The crushing of the Whiskey Rebellion was
significant because
– 1. the rebels were in danger of creating a
revolutionary Pennsylvania federal government
that might secede from the Union.
– 2. Hamilton’s financial plan could not succeed
without the revenue from the tax on alcohol.
– 3. it demonstrated that the new federal
government had the power and will to defeat
challenges to its authority.
– 4. it demonstrated that the new U.S. army and
marines were capable of fighting a guerilla war
in the West.
•The crushing of the Whiskey Rebellion
was significant because
– 3. it demonstrated that the new federal
government had the power and will to
defeat challenges to its authority.
– See page 196.
•The first American political parties arose
out of the conflict over
– 1. the suppression of the Whiskey
Rebellion.
– 2. Thomas Jefferson’s opposition to
Hamilton’s creation of the Bank of the
United States.
– 3. the conflict over British support for
American Indian attacks in the West.
– 4. the legitimacy of John Adams’s
presidency after the close, contested
election of 1796.
•The first American political parties arose
out of the conflict over
– 2. Thomas Jefferson’s opposition to
Hamilton’s creation of the Bank of the
United States.
– See page 196.
•Regarding the French Revolution, the
Jeffersonian Republicans basically believed
– 1. that despite its excesses it was a necessary
victory for the cause of human liberty.
– 2. that the overthrow of the king was legitimate
but that the revolutionary terror discredited the
whole event.
– 3. that the United States should join with
France in a revolutionary alliance to overthrow
the world’s remaining monarchies.
– 4. that the revolution was legitimate but that its
anti-Christian dimensions made it unacceptable
to Americans.
•Regarding the French Revolution, the
Jeffersonian Republicans basically
believed
– 1. that despite its excesses it was a
necessary victory for the cause of human
liberty.
– See page 199.
•George Washington’s Neutrality
Proclamation of 1793 indicated that the
fundamental basis of American foreign
policy would be
– 1. isolationism and realism.
– 2. commitment to international security
and global peacemaking.
– 3. a commitment to international alliances
and the balance of power.
– 4. a willingness to commit American forces
abroad wherever the cause of liberty was
threatened.
•George Washington’s Neutrality
Proclamation of 1793 indicated that the
fundamental basis of American foreign
policy would be
– 1. isolationism and realism.
– See page 199.
•The Sedition Act of 1798 declared that
– 1. anyone criticizing the president or other
federal officials could be fined or imprisoned.
– 2. foreign immigrants in the United States
could be held in prison without the writ of
habeas corpus.
– 3. those who engaged in open rebellion
against the federal government could be
attacked by the U.S. army as enemies of the
United States.
– 4. that the Jeffersonian Republican Party was
illegal until the war with France was settled.
•The Sedition Act of 1798 declared that
– 1. anyone criticizing the president or other
federal officials could be fined or
imprisoned.
– See page 205.
•Thomas Jefferson’s “Kentucky
resolutions” essentially declared that
– 1. western states like Kentucky should not
remain part of the federal Union.
– 2. individual states had the right to “nullify”
or refuse to obey unconstitutional federal
laws.
– 3. state Supreme Courts should be the
final judges of what laws were or were not
constitutional.
– 4. that the federal government had not
power or right to tax individuals under the
Constitution.
•Thomas Jefferson’s “Kentucky
resolutions” essentially declared that
– 2. individual states had the right to “nullify”
or refuse to obey unconstitutional federal
laws.
– See pages 206–207.
When the new government was launched in 1789,
A the nation's population was doubling about every
twenty-five years.
B most people lived in the fast-growing cities.
C most people lived west of the Allegheny
Mountains.
D New York was the largest city in the nation.
E Great Britain refused to establish diplomatic
relations with the United States.
A. the nation's population was doubling about every twenty-five
years.
Regarding central authority, early Americans saw it
as all of the following except
A something to be ultimately eliminated.
B something to be distrusted.
C something to be watched.
D something to be curbed.
E a necessary evil.
A something to be ultimately eliminated.
D cabinet.
The new Constitution did not provide for the
creation of a(n)
A Electoral College.
B vice president.
C Supreme Court.
D cabinet.
E federal court system.
E
did not provide guarantees for individual
rights.
One of the major criticisms of the Constitution as
drafted in Philadelphia was that it
A
was too long and detailed.
B
was far too short and required more detail.
C
failed to guarantee property rights.
D
failed to provide a mechanism for amendment.
E
did not provide guarantees for individual rights.
5
.
The
Bill of Rights was intended to protect __________
against the potential tyranny of
_________________________.
A) the prerogatives of Congress, the president
B) the army and the navy, the national government
C) the South, the northern majority
D) individual liberties, a strong central government
E) civilian authorities, the military
D)
individual liberties, a strong central
government
A)
6
the right to vote for all citizens.
.
All
of the following are guarantees provided by the Bill
of Rights except
A) the right to vote for all citizens.
B) freedom of speech.
C) freedom of religion.
D) freedom of the press.
E) right to a trial by a jury.
The__________ Amendment might rightly be called
the “states' rights” amendment.
A) First
B) Sixth
C) Ninth
D) Tenth
E) Eighth
D)
Tenth
.
C)
Alexander Hamilton's financial program for the
economic development of the United States favored
A) agricultural interests.
B) trade with France.
C) the wealthier class.
D) the poor.
E) the middle class.
the wealthier class.
.
Hamilton believed that, together, his funding and
assumption programs would
A) gain the monetary and political support of the
rich for the federal government.
B) restore the principles of state sovereignty.
C) be the quickest way to pay off the national debt.
D) guarantee the fairest treatment of the original
holders of government bonds.
E) keep taxes low and therefore create a feeling of
loyalty to the new federal government.
A)
gain the monetary and political support of
the rich for the federal government.
D)
1
bolster the national credit.
0
As
Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton's first
.
objective was to
A) help the wealthy.
B) bring more industry to the United States.
C) see that more agricultural products were exported.
D) bolster the national credit.
E) put the country on the gold standard.
E)
1
paying only domestic debts but not foreign
debts.
1
All
of
the
following
were
part
of
Alexander
Hamilton's
.
economic program except
A) the creation of a national bank.
B) funding the entire national debt at “par.”
C) vigorous foreign trade.
D) protective tariffs.
E) paying only domestic debts but not foreign debts.
1
2
Alexander
Hamilton
believed
that
a
limited
national
.
debt
A) would do great harm to the nation's economy.
B) might lead to military weakness.
C) could persuade individuals and nations not to lend
money to the United States.
D) was beneficial, because people to whom the
government owed money would work hard to
make the nation a success.
E) could help his economic plans but not his political
plans.
D)
was beneficial, because people to whom the government owed
money would work hard to make the nation a success.
D)
1
based on the “necessary and proper,” or
“elastic,” clause in the Constitution.
3
Alexander
Hamilton's proposed bank of the United
.
States was
A) rejected by the House of Representatives.
B) supported by Thomas Jefferson.
C) enthusiastically supported by George Washington.
D) based on the “necessary and proper,” or “elastic,”
clause in the Constitution.
E) never fully enacted.
1
4
.
The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 arose in
southwestern Pennsylvania when the federal
government
A) levied an excise tax on whiskey.
B) tried to prohibit the sale of whiskey.
C) allowed the import of foreign whiskey.
D) halted the export of American whiskey.
E) tried to prohibit the manufacturing of whiskey.
A) levied an excise tax on whiskey.
A)
1
Bank of England.
5
Alexander
Hamilton's Bank of the United States was
.
modeled on the
A) Bank of England.
B) Swiss National Bank.
C) Bank of France.
D) national bank that existed in the United States
prior to the Constitution.
E) National Bank of the Netherlands.
A)
1
6
.
the formation of permanent political parties.
Opposition by Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison to the financial plan of Alexander Hamilton
resulted in
A) the formation of permanent political parties.
B) Hamilton's dismissal from the cabinet by
George Washington.
C) politics drifting too far out of kilter with the
wishes of the people.
D) the rejection of Hamilton's plan by
Washington.
E) their dismissal from the cabinet of George
Washington.
1
7
Jeffersonians
believed in all of the following except
.
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
C)
opposition to a national debt.
agriculture as the ideal occupation.
every adult white male's right to vote.
freedom of speech.
central authority should be kept to a minimum.
every adult white male's right to vote.
1
8
.
Thomas Jefferson appealed to all of the following
groups except
A)
small shopkeepers.
B)
the underprivileged.
C)
the middle class.
D)
the upper class.
E)
artisans.
D)
the upper class.
B)
1
the “best” people.
9
Federalist
advocated
rule
by
.
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
the majority.
the “best” people.
farmers.
industrial workers.
native born citizens only.
2
0
.
The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions were
written in response to
A) the XYZ affair.
B) Thomas Jefferson's presidential candidacy in
1800.
C) the Alien and Sedition Acts.
D) the compact theory of government.
E) the Federalist papers.
C)
the Alien and Sedition Acts.
D)
2
prevent the outbreak of a full-scale war.
1
President
Adams
sought
a
peaceful
solution
to
the
.
undeclared war with France in order to
A) ensure his chances of reelection in 1800.
B) align himself with the Hamiltonian wing of the
Federalist party.
C) save the Franco-American alliance of 1778.
D) prevent the outbreak of a full-scale war.
E) keep trade with France in place.
2
2
.
The immediate cause of the undeclared war
between the United States and France was
A) the XYZ affair.
B) the Genêt mission.
C) the Neutrality Proclamation.
D) Washington's Farewell Address.
E) Jay's Treaty.
A)
the XYZ affair.
2
3
John
Jay's 1794 treaty with Britain
.
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
E)
increased George Washington's huge popularity.
provided further evidence of American support for
France.
alienated America from Spain.
created deeper splits between Federalists and
Democratic-Republicans.
led to the election of Thomas Jefferson.
led to the election of Thomas Jefferson.