Early Republic
Launching a New Republic
THINK about it…
• Under the new Constitution, we
have a President
• What kind of person would you
choose to help you govern?
• What challenges might you
have in being the first
President?
George Washington takes office
• 1789 – the electoral college selected
George Washington as President
• John Adams got the second most votes =
Vice President
• April 30, 1789 – George Washington
was inaugurated – sworn in
as president
Setting up the courts
• Federal Judiciary Act of 1793 gave Supreme Court 6 members
• Over time, that number has grown to 9
– An odd number
prevents a tie
if they vote
Washington’s cabinet
• cabinet - heads of departments who
help the President lead the nation
• Washington had 3 men in his cabinet:
– Secretary of State – foreign interests
– Secretary of War - defense
– Secretary of the Treasury - $$
Secretary of State
• Thomas Jefferson
• In charge of foreign
interests
Secretary of War
• Henry Knox
• In charge of defense
Secretary of the Treasury
• Alexander Hamilton
• In charge of the
Nation’s finances
The new nation’s economy
• Alexander Hamilton was appointed
secretary of the Treasury
•
The nation was in debt. They borrowed
money from other countries for the war.
• Hamilton’s Financial Plan
1. Pay off war debts
2. Raise government revenue
3. Create a national bank
Paying off debt – how?
• Hamilton’s idea to pay off the national
debt was with tariffs – a tax on
imported goods.
•
Tariffs serve 2 purposes:
– Raise money for the government
– Encourage growth of American
industry
Washington D.C.
• Gov’t told Virginia if it would give its debt
to the national gov’t the federal city would
be built on its door step
• Built on 10 square miles of land inbetween
Virginia and Maryland and belongs to NO
state
• Virginia’s debts were paid off due to the
tourist activity in the new capital
Whiskey Rebellion
• Hamilton put a tax on whiskey
• Farmers were upset because
whiskey and the grain it was made
from were important products
– The Whiskey Rebellion – a group of
farmers rebelled against the tax
– Washington sent armies to end the
rebellion – this showed the
government had power
Create a national bank
•
Why a national
bank?
– Give the
government a
safe place to
keep money
– Make loans to
business and
government
– Issue paper
money
How does a bank work?
How does a bank work?
Political Parties form
Main disagreement was Americans
were divided over how the nation
should be run
•
political party – a group of people that
try to promote ideas & influence
government
1. Jefferson & Madison =
Democratic-Republican Party
2. Hamilton = Federalist Party
Democratic-Republicans
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Supported civil liberties (individual rights)
Wanted nothing more than a coastline defense
Weak federal government
Strict interpretation of Constitution
Did not like tariffs
Mostly agricultural based
Resided along the South and West of Country(frontier)
Supported the French
Preferred state banks over National Bank
Federalist
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Supported restrictions on civil liberties
Wanted a strong navy
Strong central government
Loosely interpreted the Constitution
Advocated the protective tariff
Gov’t should be ruled by best people
Business and merchant mariner along sea coast
Supported the British
Favor of a National Bank
French Revolution
• In France, the French began a
revolution (similar to the American
Revolution)
• France helped us in our revolution –
do we help them?
• Neutrality proclamation of 1763
–
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we remain neutral, do not choose sides
This is a major foundation for America’s
isolationnist tradition
British Conflicts
• For 10 years Britain kept forts along the
Great lakes in defiance of the treaty of
Paris 1793.
• America had no Navy to stop from giving
guns to the Indians, who attacked us as
we moved west
• They also seized 300 merchant ships in
the West Indies.
Washington Retires
•
George Washington gave a
farewell address when he retired
from office.
• The address had 3 important points:
1. Avoid debt
2. Stay out of foreign
affairs (neutral)
3. Do not form
political parties
Next election
• Federalists choose John Adams
• Democratic-Republicans choose
Thomas Jefferson
• Adams becomes 2nd President
• Jefferson becomes Vice President
(2nd most votes)
– They were rivals
XYZ Affair
• XYZ Affair – Incident in which French
agents attempt to get a bribe and loans
from U.S. diplomats in exchange for an
agreement that French privateers
would no longer attack American ships;
it led to an undeclared naval war
between the two countries.
Undeclared War
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France vs America 1798 to 1800
USA realized the need for Navy
Marines were created in 1798
Napoleon came to power in France in
1800
• He had big plans for Europe and couldn’t
afford to be at war with the USA
Convention of 1800
• France agreed to no longer accept the
treaty of alliance of 1798
• USA agreed to pay damages done to
American shippers by France
• This ended the undeclared war.
• The timing was critical in 1803 we doubled
the size of the USA and if we had been
still fighting France this wouldn’t have
happened
Federalist Power
• While the war was being fought the
federalist gain overwhelming power in the
Senate and House of Representatives
• We now had a Federalist president,
supreme court and Congress
Alien & Sedition Acts
• Congress passed the Alien Act –
President can expel any person
thought to be a threat (targeted
immigrants)
• Sedition Act – anyone who
criticizes government can be
jailed or fined
both were UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions
• Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
anonymously wrote a response to the laws
which criticized the abuse of power and
violation of the peoples 1st amendment
rights.
• This caused Americans to compare our
gov’t to the British monarchy we had
overthrown
Election of 1800
• Federalists choose John Adams
• Democratic-Republicans choose
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
• There was a tie between Jefferson
and Burr
– The House of Representatives voted
and broke the tie
– Thomas Jefferson won the tie and
became the 3rd President