Chapter 6 - Section 1
Washington Heads the New Government
Main Idea – Disagreements between President Washington’s Secretary of Treasury,
Alexander Hamilton, and his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, led to the
development of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties.
The New Government Takes Shape
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Executive Branch:
o President – George Washington
o Vice-President – John Adams
o Cabinet – department heads who advise the president
 Secretary of the Treasury (economy) – Alexander Hamilton
 Secretary of State (foreign affairs) – Thomas Jefferson
 Secretary of War (defense) – Henry Knox
Judicial Branch:
o Judiciary Act of 1789 – def. – defined the Supreme Court as chief justice
and 5 associate judges, and established a lower federal court system
Hamilton and Jefferson Debate
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Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of the Treasury)
o Believed in a strong central government
o Favored the wealthy upper class elites, despised commoners
o Favored commerce and industry for the future of the nation’s economy
o Favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution
o Popular in the North, especially New England
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Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State)
o Preferred a weak central government with strong state governments
o Favored the common man, distrusted the rich
o Favored agriculture for the future of the nation’s economy
o Favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution
o Popular in the South and the West
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Hamilton’s Economic Plan – controversial, led to the creation of political parties
o Funding at Par – plan to pay off old bonds with new bonds
 Upset Revolutionary War veterans who had sold their old bonds
o Assumption of state debts by the federal government
 Upset states that had already paid off their debts
 Compromise to Southern states - new capital = Washington DC
o Bank of the United States – designed to issue paper money, hold federal
tax funds, and link wealthy investors to the success of the U.S.
government
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Jefferson and James Madison argued it would favor the wealthy
classes, and that it was unconstitutional
 SIG – debate erupted over interpretation of the Constitution
o Jefferson and Madison = strict
o Hamilton = loose
o Excise tax – def. – tax on a product’s manufacture, sale, or distribution
 Passed on manufacture of whiskey
The First Political Parties and Rebellion
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Washington tried to avoid party politics but almost always sided with Hamilton
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Federalists = followers of Alexander Hamilton
Republicans (Democratic-Republicans) = followers of Thomas Jefferson
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The Whiskey Rebellion (1794) – farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay
the excise tax on whiskey in defiance of federal law
o Put down by the federal militia
o SIG – demonstrated the power of the new central government