Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
(Pages 258 –259)
A. Although Washington thought he was going to retire to Mount Vernon after the war, he was elected the first president of the United States. On April 30, 1789, he took the oath of office. John Adams became vice president.
B. Washington was aware of the difficulties and decisions he had to face. He would establish precedents that would shape the future of the United States. He would make many decisions especially about the structure of government.
C. Congress set up a cabinet with three departments:
1. the State Department to handle relations with other nations, headed by Thomas
Jefferson
2. the Treasury Department to deal with financial matters, headed by Alexander
Hamilton
3. the War Department to provide for the national defense, headed by Henry Knox
D. Congress created the office of attorney general to handle the government’s legal affairs. Edmund Randolph was the first attorney general. Congress also established the office of postmaster general to direct the postal service.
E. Washington met regularly with the three department heads, or secretaries, and the attorney general, which together became known as the cabinet.
F. Congress was divided as to how much power the president should hold over the executive departments. The president appointed the department heads with the Senate’s approval. Congress gave the president authority over hiring and firing cabinet officers so that he did not need the Senate’s approval to dismiss someone. This strengthened the president’s position and created a major separation between the legislature and the executive branches.
G. The Judiciary Act of 1789 was actually a compromise act. One group in Congress favored a national legal system, and a second favored state courts. The act established a federal court system with 13 district courts and 3 circuit courts. State laws would remain, but federal courts would have the power to reverse state decisions.
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H. The Supreme Court was to be the highest court with final authority. John Jay was appointed chief justice.
I. Many people felt the Constitution needed a guarantee of personal liberties. In fact, some states supported the Constitution because a bill of rights was to be added to it.
1. James Madison presented a list of amendments to Congress.
2. Congress passed 12 amendments.
3. The states ratified 10 of them.
4. These 10 amendments became known as the Bill of Rights and were added to the
Constitution in December 1791.
(Pages 260 –261)
A. Hamilton, as secretary of the treasury, tried to find a way to strengthen the country’s financial problems. He proposed the Hamilton Plan. It said that the new government should pay off the millions of dollars in debts owed by the Confederate government to other countries and to individual citizens.
1. The nation should pay for the cost of their help.
2. Further, by the federal government assuming the states’ debts, this would give the states a strong interest in the success of the new government.
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B. There was opposition to Hamilton’s plan. Congress agreed to pay money to other

nations, but they could not agree to pay off the debt to American citizens.
C. When the government borrowed money during the war, it issued bonds, or paper notes, promising to repay the money in a given period of time. Speculators bought many of the original bonds for less than their value. Hamilton’s plan proposed paying off these bonds at their original value, and opponents said this would make the speculators rich.
D. The original bond owners were also opposed because they had lost money on their bonds and the new bond owners had made money, only to make more if Hamilton’s plan was enacted.
E. The Southern states also presented opposition because their state debt was less than the Northern states, and they would have to pay more than their share under
Hamilton’s plan.
F. Hamilton proposed a compromise plan. He agreed to a proposal by Southern leaders to move the nation’s capital from New York City to a special district in the South between Virginia and Maryland. This became Washington, D.C. The Southerners then agreed to support his plan to pay off the state debts.
(Page 262)
A. Hamilton also proposed the creation of a national bank, the Bank of the United States; a tariff, or tax, on imports; and national taxes to help the nation’s economy.
B. Before the bill to create a national bank was proposed, only state banks existed.
Madison and Jefferson opposed the idea of a national bank, saying that it would benefit the wealthy and was unconstitutional. Hamilton said that Congress had the power to create a bank even though the Constitution had no provision. The president signed the bill, creating the Bank of the United States.
C. Hamilton proposed a protective tariff on imports. He hoped this would protect
American industry from foreign competition and encourage people to buy American goods.
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1. The South opposed this tax because they had little industry to protect.
2. Hamilton did win support in Congress for some low tariffs to raise money.
D. Hamilton’s economic program also called for creating national taxes. The government could have additional funds to operate and use to make interest payments on the national debt. Congress approved a variety of taxes, including one on American whiskey.
E. Hamilton’s economic program gave the country new financial powers, but it split
Congress and the nation. His opponents, including Madison and Jefferson, feared a national government with strong economic powers to protect the wealthy.

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
(Pages 263
–264)
A. Farmers resisted paying a tax on the whiskey they made. They usually exchanged whiskey and other items for goods they needed rather than buy goods with cash.
They did not have money to pay a tax.
B. In July 1794, federal officers came into western Pennsylvania to collect a tax. The resistance turned into an armed protest that was called the Whiskey Rebellion. A mob of about 500 people attacked tax collectors and burned buildings.
C. President Washington sent an army to quiet the rebellion. His actions showed people that the government would use force to maintain social order.
(Page 264)
A. The Native Americans who lived between the Appalachian Mountains and the
Mississippi River had troubles with the new government over this land. They felt the land belonged to them and the new settlers were taking away their land. They looked to Britain and Spain for help to prevent American settlers from moving onto these lands. Washington hoped that treaties signed with the Native American tribes would keep the British and Spanish out.
B. American settlers ignored the treaties and moved onto the lands that were promised to the Native Americans. When fighting broke out, Washington sent an army led by
General Arthur St. Clair to restore order. His troops were beaten badly in November
1791. The Miami, Shawnee, and Delaware tribes allied and continued to resist
American settlers moving onto their land.
C. The Native Americans demanded that all settlers north of the Ohio River leave.
Washington sent in another army led by Anthony Wayne. At the Battle of Fallen
Timbers in August 1794, Wayne’s army defeated 800 Native Americans.
D. The Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795 to settle the issue. Native Americans agreed to surrender most of the land in present-day Ohio.
(Pages 264 –266)
A. The French Revolution began in 1789, just after Washington took office, and in 1793,
Britain and France went to war. Washington hoped that America could remain neutral, but as time went on, this became difficult.
B. The French tried to involve the United States. In April 1793, the French diplomat
Edmond Genêt came to the United States to recruit American volunteers to attack
British shipping. His plan failed, but he did sign up a few hundred Americans to serve on French ships that took British vessels and stole their cargoes.
C. Washington announced a Proclamation of Neutrality on April 22 that prohibited
Americans from fighting in the war and prohibited British warships from American ports.
D. The British began capturing American ships that traded with the French. They also stopped American merchant ships, took their crews, and forced them into the British navy, or impressed them.
E. Washington, so as to avoid war with Britain, sent John Jay to negotiate a peaceful solution. The British listened to Jay’s proposal. They knew that a war with the United
States would make things more difficult, as they were already at war with France.
Besides, the United States bought their products.
F. Jay’s Treaty said that Britain shall
1. withdraw from American soil
2. pay damages for ships they seize urn
3. allow some American ships to trade with British colonies in the Caribbean

Jay’s treaty also provided for settlements of debts from before 1776.
E. Jay’s Treaty was controversial. Many Americans disapproved of it because it did not deal with British impressment or the British interference with American trade.
Washington sent it to the Senate even though he, too, did not favor it. He saw it as an end to a crisis. It was narrowly approved.
F. To settle their differences with the United States, Spain also signed a treaty. Thomas
Pinckney went to Spain in 1795. The Pinckney Treaty gave Americans the right to freely navigate the Mississippi River and also the right to trade at the port of New Orleans.
(Page 266)
A. Washington had served two terms as president and chose not to seek a third term.
This set a precedent for later presidents to follow. He looked forward to retiring at
Mount Vernon. He was greatly troubled by the divisions in American politics and political parties.
B. In his farewell address, he spoke about the evils of political parties and the problems of foreign affairs. His parting words influenced the nation’s foreign policy for more than 100 years.
C. Washington’s speech is read aloud in the Senate each year on his birthday.

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
(Pages 267
–270)
A. Most Americans in the late 1700s considered political parties harmful and to be avoided.
Political parties were not mentioned in the Constitution. Washington also denounced them.
B. By 1796 Americans were beginning to divide into opposing groups and form political parties. It was natural for people to disagree about issues and also for people who held similar views to group together. In Washington’s cabinet, Hamilton and Jefferson often took opposing sides. Washington was partisan also, favoring one side of an issue.
C. Two distinct political parties emerged––the Federalists and the Republicans, also called the Democratic-Republicans.
D. The Federalists generally supported policies of Alexander Hamilton. Its policies favored
1. a strong federal government
2. banking and shipping interests
3. rule by the wealthy
4. a national bank
5. representative government in which elected officials ruled in the people’s name
6. a loose interpretation of the Constitution or implied powers
7. a British alliance
8. protective tariffs
E. The Republicans, or Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison, favored
1. strong state governments and limited federal government powers
2. emphasis on agricultural products
3. rule by the people
4. state banks
5. government in which people participate
6. a strict interpretation of the Constitution
7. a French alliance
8. free trade
F. By 1793 Jefferson resigned as secretary of state and Hamilton resigned as secretary of the treasury because of their differences.
G. In the 1796 presidential election, candidates were members of a political party. At caucuses, or political-party meetings, members of Congress and other leaders chose their party’s candidates.
1. The Federalists nominated John Adams for president and Charles Pinckney for vice president.
2. The Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice president.
3. Adams won the election with 71 electoral votes. Jefferson received 68 votes.
Jefferson became the vice president, because at the time, the person with the second- highest number of electoral votes became vice president. Jefferson and Adams were of different political parties.
(Pages 270 –272)
A. John Adams served as vice president under Washington for two terms before becoming the second president of the United States. He spent most of his life in public service.
B. Adispute with France over the terms of Jay’s Treaty ended in an incident known as the XYZ affair.
1. The French saw the treaty as the United States helping the British in the war with

France, so they seized American ships carrying cargo to Britain.
2. To avoid war with France, Adams sent a delegation to Paris to resolve the issue.
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3. Charles de Talleyrand, the French foreign minister, refused to meet with the
Americans and sent three agents who demanded a bribe and a United States loan for France.
4. The Americans refused the terms, and when Adams heard about the incident, he referred to the three agents as X, Y, and Z.
C. Adams urged Congress to prepare for war. Congress strengthened the armed forces, established the Navy Department in May 1798, and allotted money to build warships.
George Washington was appointed commanding general.
D. This undeclared sea war between American and French naval forces between 1798 and
1800 saw more than 90 French armed ships seized. France now became the enemy for many Americans.
E. In 1798 Congress passed a group of measures called the Alien and Sedition Acts.
These laws were passed to protect the nation’s security.
1. Americans became more suspicious of aliens, or people living in the United States who were not citizens, especially Europeans who came in the 1790s and who supported the ideals of the French Revolution. People were concerned that if the
United States and France went to war, these aliens might not remain loyal to the
United States.
2. Sedition refers to activities aimed at weakening established government. Americans were suspicious of the aliens and concerned that they might engage in unlawful activities such as speaking out against the United States government.
F. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 were resolutions written by
Madison and Jefferson on states’ rights. The resolution said that the Alien and
Sedition Acts could not become effective because they violated the Constitution.
1. They also said that the people of each state had the right to nullify, or cancel, a federal law within that state.
2. They showed that many Americans feared a strong central government that could interfere with their rights. The issue of states’ rights would continue, and in time lead to civil war.
G. The undeclared war with France needed resolution. Federalists urged Adams to step up the war with France. They hoped to benefit politically from a war. Adams refused to rush a war and appointed a commission to seek peace with France. In 1800 the
French agreed to a treaty and stopped attacks on American ships.
H. This agreement hurt Adams’s chance for reelection. Hamilton and his supporters now opposed their own president. Because of this rift in the Federalist Party, the
Republicans now had a good chance to win the 1800 presidential election.