Washington Heads a
New Government
Washington takes charge
 Washington
taking charge of the new
government was a huge experiment.
 Our new is government based on the will
of the people could really work
 We are in a wilderness without a single
footstep to guide us”.
 James Madison
Here we go..
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One of the first tasks Washington and Congress
did was to create a judicial system
How many court systems should there be?
The Judiciary Act of 1789 fixed these
problems..
Provided a Supreme Court with 5 justices and
one head chief justice.
Allowed state court decisions to be appealed at
the Supreme Court level is the question of a
Constitutional amendment came up
Shaping the Executive Branch..
 GW
also needed help creating an
executive brance – it only consisted of
who at the time?
 Congress and GW created 3 executive
departments:
 1. Dept of State – TJ
 2. Dept. of War – Knox the Ox
 And Dept. of Treasure - Hamilton
Cabinet
head these departments – GW could
have given the jobs to friends and relatives
- however, he chose strong political
leaders  Alsao chose Edward Randoph as Attorney
General
 The chief lawyer of the federal
government.
 All of these people make up the ……..
 To
Hamilton and Jefferson Debate…
Hamilton’s Economic Plan:
1. Proposed a plan to manage the new country’s
mounting debt.
2. National Government was responsible for
about 2/3 of the millions of dollars owed back.
a. Proposed to pay off the foreign debt and
issue new bonds to cover the old ones.
b. Also proposed to that the fed. Govt assume
the debt of the states. – Why?
A.
 3.
. Because assuming state debt would
give creditors an incentive to support the
new federal government.
4. However, if the govt failed, would the
creditors get their money back?
No.
B. Plan for a National Bank:
1. Proposed a National Bank that would b e
funded by both the federal government and
wealthy private investors.
2. Hamilton wanted to tie in wealthy investors
into the govt’s welfare.
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4. The Bank of the United States would issue
paper money and handle taxes, government
funds.
5. Opponents of the National Bank claimed it would
give an alliance between the wealthy and the
federal govt?
a. Madison argued that the Const. made no
provision for it – therefore you couldn’t do it.
b. This led to a huge debate between those who
favored STRICT interpretation of the Const.
(federal govt would have LLIMITED POWERS)
and those who favored a loose interpretation
(federal government would have GREATER fed.
Powers.)
Creating D.C.
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To win support for his debt plan from the
southern states – which hated him – Hamilton
offered a new suggestion:
 What if the nations capital was moved from NYC
to a new cityin the south?
 This idea pleased southerners,
particulallry….who?
 This new southern site would give southerns the
feeling that the govt was repsonsive to their
inerests!
Who would design it?
 Pierre
L’Enfant, a French engineer drew
up plans for the new capital.
 L’Enfant was later fired by GW for being …
 Obstinate.
 He was replaced by someone else who
kept to the original
 They continued the plan on a grand scale
– designing avenues, boulevards, traffic
circles, that mirrored European capitals!
 One
amendment saved Hamilton’s plan…
 “Congress could do whatever is necessary
and proper” to carry out specific
enumerated powers, such as regulating
commerce.
 Hamilton convinced Washington and a
majority in Congress to accept his views
and the fed. Govt established its first Bank
of the United States.
How did the Political Parties
originate?
 GW
tried to remain above the arguments
between Hamilton and Jefferson.
 However, their hatred for each other
created and fueled a growing division in
politics!
 Federalists and the Democratic
Republicans:
 This split in GW’s cabinet helped give rise
to the country’s 2 party system
 Those
who shared Hamilton’s decision of
a strong central government called
themselves…
 Federalists.
 Those who shared Jefferson’s belief that
states should have more power called
themselves Democratic – Republicans.
 Because of this – the 2- Party system
began to develop.
The Whiskey Rebellion!!
 During
GW’s 2nd term, an incident
occurred that reflected the problems
between the states and the fed.
Government.
 Congress had passed a protective tariff –
which is an import tax on anything coming
in from Europe.
 This tax was meant to encourage
American Production.
Hamilton wanted more…
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He pushed through an excise tax – a tax on a
product’s manufacture, sale and distribution….of
Whiskey.
Most whiskey producers were small backwoods
farmers – the major crop for it was CORN.
Corn was too bulky to transport across the App.
Mountains – so they distilled it into whisky..
Which the sold and made a huge profit from.
Whiskey Rebellion
 Since
whiskey was the main source for
cash for these frontier farmers, Hamilton
knew the excise tax would make them
angry – and it did.
 In 1794, furious farmers in PA refused to
pay the tax.
 They beat up federal marshals and even
threaten to secede from the Union.
Hamilton thought this was great!
 Hamilton
thought this was the perfect
opportunity to show off the new govt force
and put down the rebellion.
 Headed up by GW and Hamilton himself,
they led 15,000 troops to western PA and
scattered the rebels without a shot.
 The Whiskey Rebellion was a milestone in
the example of what federal power could
do.
Meantime, back in Europe…
 Most
Americans initially supported the
French Revolution
 Like the American, it was inspired by the
ideal of Republican Rule.
 The French set out to cerate a gov't based
on the will of the people.
Reactions.. – What do we do?
 The
reaction back in the U.S. was divided.
 Because of their alliance, the French
expected full support from us.
 The reaction tended to split along party
lines.:
 The Federalists such as Hamilton wanted
to back the British
 The Democratic –Republicans, like
Jefferson, backed the French cause.
What should we do??
 GW
decided to declare neutrality towards
the cause.
 Both sides agreed – getting involved right
now was not the best policy.
 Earlier in April, the French had sent a
French diplomat by the name of Eddie
Genet to convince us to get involved in the
war…
Sneak…Liar..
 Instead
of following the diplomatic
procedure, he began to recruit Americans
on his own against GB.
 What would this violate?
 Made France look bad and Genet feared
to go back to France.
 Made Jefferson look so bad since he
supported the French that he ended up
quitting his position!
Spain is still around…and scared
 Since
the U.S. wanted to secure land
claims west, they needed to get an
agreement with Spain, who still owned
much of the LA territory.
 However,
these potential negotiations
stalled bc of the war in Europe.
 Spain,
unlike Britain, had signed a treaty
with France after the American Revolution.
 Spain now were scared of the British and
Britain-American alliance – so they quickly
moved to negotiate with the U.S. on a land
deal.
 Suddenly, Spain agreed to meet with the
U.S. minister to GB, Thomas Pinckney..
What do we get??
 Pinckney’s
Treaty gave us a lot of land!
 Spain gave up ALL claims to land east of
the Mississippi (except Florida)
 Allowed us to use New Orleans Port.
 Pioneers began to move west now in great
numbers…
 They assumed that after the Treaty of
Paris, that western land was theirs for the
taking!
Who do they run into out there?
 The
British were still hanging around in the
Northwest Territory. – an area that is now
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, etc.
 Also met fierce resistance from….
 Its “original inhabitants”!
Fights break out…
 Having
been excluded from any
negotiations, of the Treaty of Paris, the
Native Americans in the NW Territory
continued their tribal land claims and often
attacked any settlers that they came into
contact with.
Jay’s Treaty…
 While
all of this was going on, John Jay,
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
was in London trying to negotiate a treaty
with Britain.
 One issue was obviously removal of them
from U.S. land, however, they could still
trade with the French on the U.S.
Canadian border.
GW is getting tired..
 After
all of the bickering and fighting
within the Cabinet, Washington
decides not to run for a 3rd term
 Goes
back to Mount Vernon, retires with
Martha and the kids….
 In
the Presidential Election of 1797, the
Federalists nominated John Adams for
President and Thomas Pinckney for VP.
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The Democratic Republicans nominated
Thomas Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr
for VP.
 In
the electoral vote, Adams receives 71
votes while Jefferson receives 68.
Big Mistake
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The Constitution originally stated that the 2nd
runner up will become VP.
However, why is that a bad thing in this case?
Why did the Constitution set up the election
process this way?
The election had become underscored by..
Sectionalism – where the interests of your
region is more important than the election as a
whole.
The northern delegates voted for Adams while
the southerners voted for Jefferson.
Adams ticks off the Congress..
 Right
after taking office, President Adams
faced his 1st crisis – a war with France.
 The French Government regarded the Jay
Treaty with Britain a direct insult to them
and refused to receive the American
ambassador.
 Even worse, they began seizing American
ships on their way to trade with other
European countries.
The Affair…
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Adams sends a 3 man team of Charles
Pinckney, Chief Justice John Marshall, and El
Gerry to Paris to ease tensions.
 By this time, the ‘Reign of Terror” had stopped
and the French Gov’t was at a new high point
 They had a young general named Napoleon
Bonaparte who was taking over Europe at the
moment –
 Couldn’t be bothered with these little
Americans…-
 The
3 man team had planned to meet with
the French Gov’t called the Directory.
 The Directory of course, sent 3 low-level
officials, whom Adams, later on called X,
Y, Z.
 The officials demanded $250,000 as bribe
payment to see Talleyrand, the French
Foreign Minister.
Anti-French…
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Once everyone found this out back at home
most Americans became “anti-French”.
 No on played French music, and the Americans
went on to create a strong navy and authorized
our ships to seize French vessels.
 12,000 men marched to the White House to
volunteer for war.
 For the next 2 years, an “undeclared” war raged
between France and the United States.