Important events in 1788-1824
Presidents
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1789: George Washington
1792: George Washington
1796: John Adams
1800: Thomas Jefferson
1804: Thomas Jefferson
1808: James Madison
1812: James Madison
1816: James Monroe
1820: James Monroe
1824: John Q. Adams
Desire for a Stronger Central
Government
• Flaws in Articles of Confederation
• In 1787, delegates from 13 states went to
Philadelphia to amend Articles of Confederation
– Feared too much power in small stats
– Smaller states favored model provided by Articles (One
vote per state)
– Larger states wanted population to represent
representation
Government Under New Constitution
• Virginia Plan (Larger States): James Madison proposed a
bicameral legislature with number of reps determined by
proportional representation
• Madison also proposed 3 branches of gov’t
• New Jersey Plan (Smaller States): favoring a strong central
gov’t; unicameral legislature where every state received
one vote
• Great Compromise: Plan included upper house Senate (2
reps/state) and lower house, House of Reps based on
population
• Electoral College: chief executive elected by Electoral
College; senators elected by state legislatures not by voters.
Issue of Slavery
• Decided that the new national gov’t could not
regulate slavery for 20 yrs
• 3/5 Compromise: stated that 3/5 of stat’s pop.
Would be counted when determining House
of Reps.
Presidency of George Washington
• 1st term was uncertain
• Crucial to establish respect for office of the president of the
United States
• Believed it was his job to administer laws and not to make
them
• Cabinet Departments (War: Henry Knox, State: Jefferson, and
Treasury: Hamilton)
• Limited role of VP (head of Senate)
• Executive privilege
– President is not obliged to share info to public
• Judiciary Act of 1789
– Established federal courts and added 6th member judge
Washington’s Cabinet
• Alexander Hamilton: Treasury Secretary
– “Loose Constructionist”: Constitution has room for
interpretation
– Tariffs and Taxes: Wants to repay bond holders
– National Debt
• Assumption: to assume states’ debts after Revolutionary
War; South upset- had the least amount of debt
• Compromise of 1790: the national capital would be built on
the banks of the Potomac River (which would please the
South) if the federal government assumed war debts (which
would please the North).
– Established National Bank
• “Necessary and proper”
• Thomas Jefferson: Secretary of State
• “Strict Constructionist”: Believed in exact
interpretation of the Constitution
• Argued with Hamilton
– Did not want National Bank for the weathly; plan
would only benefit upper class
– Wanted states to hold power
Emergence of Political Parties
Hamiltonians:
Federalists
Vs.
Jeffersonian:
Democratic
Republicans
The Bill Of Rights 1791
• Proposed by James Madison; proposed 12
amendments to the Constitution
• Contains the basic protection for Americans
– i.e. freedom of speech, ensured freedom of
worship, right to bear arms, forbid quartering of
troops in private homes, warrants before
searches, rights in a civil case, “due process of
law”, trial by jury
The French Revolution
• 1789: French Rev. during Washington’s reign
• Washington issued Declaration of Neutrality
allowing American merchants to prosper by
trading with both sides
• Pennsylvania farmers who supported the
Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 were inspired by
French Rev.
– Opposed excised tax by Hamilton
– Washington sent army to stop rebellion
Foreign Policy and Jay’s Treaty
• War between France and Britain continued
– US period of “neutrality”
• Jay’s Treaty: 1794 treaty between US and
Britain designed to ease tensions between
both nations
– Britain agreed to abandon forts occupied in
interior of continent
– Did not agree over rights of American ships
– Case of the War of 1812
Washington’s Farewell Address
• Did not run for 3rd term
• Spoke against party politics
• Warned that America should not enter into
alliances that would cause them to get
involved in foreign wars
Presidency of John Adams 1796-1800)
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Washington’s VP
Had 4 largely unsuccessful years in office
Federalists vs. Republicans
Foreign Policy
– XYZ Affair
– France was his biggest problem
• Undeclared war with France (Trying to stay neural;
Washington’s farewell address; opted for peace for 2
years.)
The Alien and Sedition Acts
• Alien Act: gave the president the right to
deport any immigrant who was felt to be
“dangerous to the peace and safety of the
U.S”
• Sedition Act: stated that the administration
cold prohibit any attacks on the president or
Congress that were deemed to be “malicious”
Elections of 1800
• Jefferson (Republican candidate) and Burr (VP)
each received 73% of electoral votes
• Threw election to House of Reps, where each
state received one vote
• Thomas Jefferson wins
– Alien and Sedition Acts were not renewed
– Taxes such as Whiskey tax eliminated
– Opposed further expansion of national debt
– Supported National Bank
Reform of Courts
• Congress passed Judiciary Act creating a large number
of federal courts “
• Midnight appointments”
• Marbury v. Madison
– Marshall increased power of the Supreme Court in
this 1803 decision
• Judicial Review:
– Marshall stated that the US Supreme Court
ultimately had the power to decide on the
constitutionality of any law passed by US Congress
or by the legislature of any state
Westward Expansion
• Jefferson encouraged westward expansion
(Area between Appalachian Mts. And
Mississippi River)
• Over 1 million lived there in 1800
• Louisiana Purchase Napoleon offered to sell to
US for $15 million
– Double the size of the US
European Wars Sill Over to America
• Napoleonic wars of European (1802-1815) had a
powerful impact on US
– US had neutral stance on war
• Embargo Act of 1807: American ships could not
enter the seas until England and France stopped
their harassment of American shipping;
unpopular act by Jefferson
• Non-Intercourse Act : Introduced by Madison in
1808, opened trade with all except England and
France
Madison’s Presidency
• Henry Clay’s American System
• Relationships between Britain, France & US
– Chesapeake
– Napoleon's War
– Jay’s Treaty
• All leading up to the War of 1812
War of 1812
• Reasons for War
US frustrated by the continued British policies of
impressments and seizure of ships
Madison formally asked Congress to declare war in
June of 1812
Connections with Britain and Native Americans
The American System
• Proposed by Henry Clay and other nationalists
• American System: to make US less
economically dependent on Europe by
encouraging production of goods in the US
that had been previously imported
• Led to 2nd National Bank; credit readily
available
• Tariff of 1816: raised tariff rates to nearly 22%
The Growth of the Factory 1820s
• Economic growth was a key component of Henry
Clay ‘s American System
• Putting-out system: merchants would buy raw
materials, recruit dozens-hundreds of farm families
to do work, and then sell finished product
• Late 1780s: textile industry started to use powerdriven machines and interchangeable parts
• Lowell System: young women brought into
workforce
“Era of Good Feelings”
• James Monroe (1817-1825)
– Panic of 1819
• high unemployment as well as increased foreclosures
and bankruptcies. Some critics derided Monroe for not
responding more forcefully to the depression
– Tallmadge Amendment
• Question whether Missouri should be free or slave
state
– Missouri Compromise
• Henry Clay and Westward Expansion
Missouri Compromise 1820
• By 1819 there were 11 slave and 11 free states
• In 1820, Speaker of the House Henry Clay
engineered the Missouri Compromise
– Maine entered Union as a free slave, Missouri
entered as a slave state
– In the Louisiana Territory, any state north of 36
degrees had to come in as free states
The Monroe Doctrine 1823
• Stated that countries in the Western
Hemisphere were no off-limits to European
control
– Noncolonization: not to interfere wih affairs
– Nonintervention: not to colonize Latin American
countries
• US cannot support not strong enough army/navy but
had Britain’s great navy, but will not abide by document
Election of 1824
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William Crawford
Henry Clay
John Q. Adams (wins)
Andrew Jackson: Won most of popular votes;
only 38% of electoral votes
– Election turned towards House of Reps.
– Speaker of the House Clay threw support to Adams
– Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State
– Jackson tried to corrupt Adams’ presidency
• “corrupt bargain” between Adams and Clay
Significance of JQA’s presidency
• supported internal improvements including
the extension of the Cumberland Road
• In 1828, the so-called "tariff of abominations"
was passed
• Its goal was to protect domestic manufacturing
• strongly opposed in the South
• led Vice President John C. Calhoun to argue again for
the right of nullification - to have South Carolina nullify
it by ruling it unconstitutional.