What does that kind of money look
like?
$100: We'll start with a hundred dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S.
denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly
fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.
$10,000: A packet of one hundred hundred dollar bills
is less than 1/2" thick and contains ten thousand
dollars. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than
enough for a week or two of shamefully decadent fun.
$1,000,000: Believe it or not, this next little
pile is a million dollars (100 packets of
$10,000). You could stuff that into a
grocery bag and walk around with it.
$100,000,000: While a measly 1 million dollars
looked a little unimpressive, 100 million dollars
is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a
standard pallet...
$1,000,000,000: A BILLION dollars...
now we're really getting somewhere...
$1,000,000,000,000: A TRILLION dollars! This is that number
we've been hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars?
Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. And notice that
those pallets are double-stacked. So the next time you hear
someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... this is what
they're talking about.
Our National Debt Today
What are you going to do about it?
National Debt
• U.S. owed $11.7 million to foreign countries
• Government
owed $40.4 million to U.S. citizens
90
80
70
Federal and State Debts
$77,228,000
60
50
40
30
Government
Operating Expenses
$4,269,000
Revenue from Tariffs
$4,418,000
Additional Revenue
$19,000
20
10
0
Money Owed
Revenue
A New Nation
George Washington had a huge task to face.
Not only did he have to set up a brand new
government, he had to figure out how to pay
off all that debt!
So he handed over the task of fixing America’s
finances to his Secretary of Treasury…..
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
Alexander Hamilton
• Aide to General
Washington during the
Revolutionary War
• Strong Interest in
business matters
• Secretary of the
Treasury
• Hothead
National Debt
• Some of the debt was in the form of bonds
National Debt
• Bonds were certificates that people bought during the
Revolutionary War. Officials promised to buy back the
bonds with interest, allowing the buyers to make a profit.
National Debt
• People started selling bonds for less than the original
value to speculators.
National Debt
• Speculators are people who buy items at low prices in
the hope that the value will rise.
Head Butts
•Hamilton wanted to pay back
the war bonds in full.
•This would allow speculators
to make a profit.
•Their loss
•Majority of Congress agreed
with Hamilton
•That would cheat the original
bondholders who had sold their
bonds at low prices.
THIS IS NOT THE END
States Debts
• Hamilton wanted the
government to pay the
bulk of states debts
• But states that didn’t have
a lot of debt did not want
to help pay back other
states debt.
What is a Compromise?
• Southerners wanted a
different capitol, farther
away from northern
influence
• In exchange, Jefferson
and Madison agreed to
gather support in the
South for Hamilton’s
debt payment plan.
If the Southern States would
help pay off the debt, then
Hamilton
promised
to
• Hamilton promised to
convince northern
• The Compromise
change
the
tonew
members
of Congress
to capitol
Worked and the
move the capital
capitol was chosen………
Washington D.C.
Washington D.C.
The French Revolution
The Tennis Court Oath
– The Three Estates agree that they must work
together
– The question now is what to do with the king
•
Make him a regular citizen or a Constitutional
Monarch
– Famous Americans sit on the committee:
•
•
•
•
•
Three Estates
The Church
The Aristocracy
Everyone else
– Bourgeois (rich people with no title)
– Merchants (traders and business
men)
– Serfs (poor people)
Marquis de Lafayette
Thomas Paine
The French Revolution
• King Louis XVI tries to escape
• King and Queen are beheaded at the guillotine
• Radicals take over and the “Reign of Terror” begins.
Many criticized
Washington for staying
neutral and James
Madison even
questioned his right to
issue the proclamation
without Congress
approval!
• Edmond Genet was France’s
new representative to the
United States
• Americans were swept up in
the Revolution’s cause
• Washington warned Genet
against recruiting privateers,
Genet said he would ask the
American people to overrule
Washington
• He obviously got sent home
Jay’s Treaty
Britain Gives:
• Pay damages for seized
American ships
• Merchant ships could
continue trading in the
Caribbean
• Abandon forts on the
frontier
America Gives:
• Pay the pre-Revolutionary
debts owed to British
merchants
Pickney’s Treaty
• Under this treaty, Spain agreed to change the
Florida border. Spain’s government opened
the port at New Orleans to American ships
and gave them right of deposit.
– Allowed American boats to transfer their goods at
New Orleans without paying fees on the cargo
• This opened the frontier to further expansion