Launching the
New Ship of
State
The Federalist Era
1789-1800
America Circa 1790
•Roughly 4 million people
•Doubling every 25 years
•90% rural
•95% east of Allegheny Mts.
•Precarious finances
Domestic Policy
Issues
George
Washington
The President of
Precedents
Washington
Administration
•Unanimously elected the
first president under the new
Constitution
•Served from 1789 - 1797
•John Adams – Vice President
•New federal government first
established in New York City
•later moved to Philadelphia in
1790
•Congress created the
executive branch departments
of…
•State
•Treasury
•War
•Postmaster General.
•The Cabinet:
•Washington sets precedent of
consulting the department
heads in order to make
decisions
•Part of “unwritten
constitution”
•Thomas
Jefferson
appointed as
the first
Secretary of
State
•Alexander
Hamilton was
Secretary of
the Treasury
•Henry Knox
became the
first
Secretary of
War
Judiciary Act of 1789
•Supreme Court created by
the Constitution
•A Chief Justice
•5 Associate Justices
•Washington
appointed John
Jay to be the
first Chief
Justice
•Judiciary Act expanded the
Judicial Branch by creating
•federal district courts
•circuit court of appeals
•Act also created
the office of
Attorney
General
•Edmund
Randolph
The Bill of Rights
•James Madison
drafted the first
amendments &
sent them to
Congress
•The first ten
amendments
adopted in
1791
The Bill of Rights
st
•1
– freedom of speech, press,
assembly, petition, & religion
•2nd – right to bear arms
•3rd – forbade quartering
troops
•4th – forbade unreasonable
searches & seizures
th
•5
– rights during trial & life,
liberty, property
•6th – right to fair & speedy
trial
•7th – right to trial in civil cases
•8th – forbade excessive fines
& unusual punishments
• 9th Amendment:
•Certain rights “shall not be
construed to deny or
disparage others retained by
the people”
•People retain rights not
enumerated here
• 10th Amendment
•so-called “state’s rights
amendment”
•all rights not explicitly
delegated or prohibited were
reserved to the states or the
people
Hamilton’s Financial Plan
•Hamilton:“Father of National
Debt”
•“Funding at par”
•“Report on Public Credit”
•Rev. War debt certificates paid
at full face value (“at par”)
•Purpose: bolster national credit
•Assumption of State Debts
•“Report on Manufactures”
•Would tie states & creditors to
federal government
•North-South struggle ensued
Massachusetts – large debt
Virginia – small debt
•Compromise reached
•South agreed to assume the
debt if North agreed to allow
the new Capital to be built in
the South
•“log rolling”
•Washington, D.C. would be
built on the Potomac River on
land donated by Maryland
and Virginia
•Tariffs (customs duties)
•Revenue Act of 1789
•8% tariff on imports
•Also attempt at helping infant
American industries
•Whiskey Excise Tax (1791)
The B.U.S.
•National Bank
•Foundation of Hamilton’s
plan
•Private institution in which
the government held a
majority interest
•Government deposited its
surplus money in the bank
•Deposits would then be the
source of loans & allow for
the printing of a national
currency
•Bank issue sparks public
Hamilton-Jefferson debates
•Jefferson argued that the bank
would favor northern bankers
over the western & southern
farmers
•“Strict Construction”
•Jefferson also argued that
the Constitution said nothing
about creating a bank &
therefore it was
unconstitutional
•“Loose Construction”
•Hamilton argued that the
bank was “necessary &
proper” and permitted by the
elastic clause
Gave Congress “implied
powers”
•Hamilton won over
Washington
•The Bank of the United
States was founded in 1791
& chartered for twenty years
•More N-S friction!
Foreign Debt
$11,710,000
•Pay off $80 million debt
Federal Domestic Debt
$42,414,000
•Excise tax: Taxes placed on
manufactured products
•Tariff: a tax on imports
•Establish good credit with
foreign nations
State Debt
$21,500,000
•Create a national bank with a
national currency
•Raise money for gov’t backed
by gold silver
Misc.
Revenue
Excise
Tax
on Whiskey
Custom
Duties
(Tariffs)
•Assumption Act passed as a
compromise with Thomas
Jefferson placing the US Capital
in the South (Virginia)
BUS
HAMILTON
JEFFERSON
•Safe place to deposit and
transfer money
•Went against the Constitution
•Provide loans to government
and state banks
•A national currency---$$$$$
•An investment by people to buy
stock into US bank
•State banks would collapse
•Only wealthy could invest in
bank and would control bank
than control the government
•Hurt the common man
•Constitution did not forbid a
national bank….Loose
construction of Constitution
•Strict construction…If it is not
mentioned in the Constitution
than there can’t be a national
bank
•National debt good for country
•Against a national debt
Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
•SW Pennsylvania farmers
hated Hamilton’s whiskey
tax
•“Liberty and No Excise”
•Major challenge to new
national government
Whuppin’ Revenooers
•Washington summoned the
militia of several states to put
down the insurrection
•“Rebels” were dispersed
without bloodshed
President
Washington reviews
13,000 troops of the
Western Army
assembled at Fort
Cumberland,
Maryland, to crush
the Whiskey
Rebellion.
•Swift & decisive action of
President gave the new
government badly needed
respect
•Federal Government could
ensure domestic tranquility!
Emergence of Political
Parties
 Factionalism, fueled by
newspaper editorials,
developed into organized
political parties
•Political duels of Jefferson &
Hamilton =
the beginning of the political
party system
•Jefferson and Hamilton were
at completely opposite poles
in the political spectrum.
•Jefferson, an Anti-Federalist,
opposed a strong central
government.
•Hamilton, a Federalist, was
suspicious of giving power
to the people.
•Jefferson was a friend of
France and believed in their
revolution.
•Hamilton was a friend of
England and wanted close
ties for trade.
•Jefferson distrusted
commerce and industry, he
believed in a rural
population of farmers and
an economy of agriculture.
•Hamilton wanted a strong
commercial economy based
on trade and commerce and
an urban population.
 Federalists (1790s)
Gov’t by “best people”
Distrusted common people
Strong central government
Gov’t should encourage
business
Pro-British foreign policy
 Jeffersonians
aka Democratic-Republicans
Rule of the people (literate)
Appealed to middle class &
underprivileged
Gov’t that governed best,
governed least
State’s rights should prevail
National Debt was a curse
Primarily agrarians
Freedom of speech to expose
tyranny
Pro-French foreign policy
political
Leader
Appealed
to
Ideas of
Government
Domestic
Policy
Foreign
Policy
(former Anti-Federalists)
Federalist Beliefs
Democratic-Republicans
Alexander Hamilton
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Manufacturers, merchants,
wealthy, and educated
Favored seaboard cities
Farmers and Planters
common man
Favored the South and West
Strong government over states
Loose Construction of Constitution
•Implied powers
Wealthy and educated involved
Limit freedoms of speech & press
Preferred govt. similar to a king
State’s rights over National Govt.
Strict construction of Constitution
•Expressed/Enumerated powers
Common man but educated
Bill of Rights is sacred
Lesser government the better
Supported National Bank—BUS
Supported excise tax
National debt good for country
National govt. assume state debts
Tariffs should be high
Opposed French Revolution
Wanted war with French
Favored the British
Against National Bank—BUS
Against excise tax
Against National debt
States pay their own debts
Tariffs should be low
Supported French Revolution
Opposed war with French
Favored the French
1792 Election Results
1792 Election Results
(16 states in the Union)
George Washington
Virginia
Federalist
132
97.8%
John Adams
Massachusetts
Federalist
77
57.0%
George Clinton
New York
DemocraticRepublican
50
37.0%
Thomas Jefferson
Virginia
DemocraticRepublican
4
3.0%
Aaron Burr
New York
Federalist
1
0.7%
6
4.4%
Electoral Votes Not
Cast
---
-----
Total Number of Electors
132
Total Electoral Votes Cast
264
Number of Votes for a
Majority
67
Foreign Policy Issues
The French Revolution
 Single most important issue
separating Federalists &
Republicans
 1789 - Republicans cheer the
Revolution as an extension
of their own
 Conservative Federalists
feared “mobocracy”
 “Reign of Terror”
Jeffersonians became less
favorable
 1793 - France and Britain go
to war
U.S. bound to aid French
shipping in West Indies by
the Alliance of 1778
 Washington believed in
avoiding war at all cost:
militarily weak
economically unstable
politically disunited
 Hamilton & Jefferson agreed
 Washington makes
Neutrality Proclamation
government & the people to
be neutral
 Jeffersonians mad he didn’t
consult Congress
 Federalists happy
Washington’s Neutrality Speech
“Whereas it appears that a state of war exists
between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain
and the United Netherlands, of the one part and
France on the other; and the duty and interest of
the U.S. require, that they should with sincerity
and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly
and impartial toward the belligerent powers. I have
therefore thought fit by these presents to declare
the disposition of the U.S. to observe the conduct
aforesaid towards those Powers respectfully; and to
exhort and warn the citizens of the U.S. carefully to
avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which
may in any manner tend to contravene such
disposition…” (April 1793)
 Citizen Genet Affair (1793)
Envoy from France arrives
and recruits army & privateers
to aid France
Washington warns him to
stop, Genet goes over his
head to the people
Genet is withdrawn
People are outraged
 Proclamation was in the
self-interest of both the US
and France
British Problems
 British harassment of US
shipping & French trade in
the West Indies
British hoped to provoke the
US to defend the French
alliance
Britain impressed US sailors
Impressment = the act of kidnapping a ship, its contents,
men and forcing them into your navy
British seized 300+ US
merchant ships in West Indies
Jeffersonians called for war
against Britain
Hamilton’s economic plan was
tied to British trade
 Britain continued to hold
fur-trading forts on US soil
Violation of Peace Treaty of
1783
Britain used Indians as a
buffer against US expansion
Jay’s Treaty (1794)
 Washington’s motivations
He sought to avoid war while
US was weak
Sent John Jay to London
 Hamilton gave British
information that weakened
Jay’s position
 Jay’s Treaty:
British agree to abandon forts
& pay damages for seized
ships
British would not agree to
halt future seizures &
impressments nor stop selling
arms to Indians
Jay agreed to help force
Americans to pay debts
 American public response:
Jeffersonians declared Jay a
traitor
South held the most debts
Federalist north got damages
for shipping
John Jay is
burnt in effigy
because
Americans
believed he
sold out to the
British.
 Significance:
War with Britain averted
Increased factional
differences between 2 parties
Origins of DemocraticRepublican party
Victory in Old Northwest
 St. Clair defeated in Ohio
“Worst military
defeat ever!”
Left US with 300
troops total
1st Congressional
Investigation
 General “Mad
Anthony’
Wayne defeats
Indians at the
Battle of Fallen
Timbers August 20,1794
The Battle of Fallen Timbers
 Treaty of Greenville (1795)
Indians cede 2/3
of land in the Ohio
country
British abandon
forts in Old NW
Indians abandon British allies
Pinckney’s Treaty (1795)
 Spain feared an AmericanBritish alliance & signs
Pinckney’s Treaty
US got disputed territory
north of Florida
US got free navigation on
Miss. River
3 year right of deposit in
New Orleans
Spain cut off our
farmers right to use
the Mississippi River
and deposit their crops
in New Orleans.
Washington’s Farewell
Address
 Washington served a
nd
reluctant 2 term
 Verbal abuse wore on him
 A warning to Americans
against disunity
Washington’s Farewell
“Europe has a set of primary interests which to
us have none or a very remote relation…Our
detached and distant situation invites and
enables us to pursue a different course…It is
our true policy to steer clear of permanent
alliances with any portion of the foreign
world…Taking care always to keep ourselves
by suitable establishments on a respectable
defensive posture, we may safely trust to
temporary alliances for extraordinary
emergencies…” (1796)
 Major Points:
Avoid political factionalism
Avoid permanent foreign
alliances
Follow our own self-interest
Did not advocate isolationism
Washington’s Legacy
 Kept young nation from war
 Chose & consulted Cabinet
 2-term office limit
 Went outside Supreme Court
for Chief Justice
 Hamilton’s financial program
Election of 1796
 Domestic & Foreign Policy
issues widened factional
differences
 Federalists chose John Adams
over Hamilton
“monarchist; his Rotundity”
 Democratic-Republicans
chose Jefferson
“lackey of the French; coward”
 Main Issues:
Jay’s Treaty
Whiskey Rebellion
 Outcome:
Adams wins 71-68
Jefferson becomes VP
1796 Election Results
1796 Election Results
(16 states in the Union)
John Adams
Massachusetts
Federalist
71
51.4%
Thomas Jefferson
Virginia
DemocraticRepublican
68
49.3%
Thomas Pinckney
South Carolina
Federalist
59
42.8%
Aaron Burr
New York
DemocraticRepublican
30
21.7%
Samuel Adams
Massachusetts
Federalist
15
10.9%
Oliver Ellsworth
Connecticut
Federalist
11
8.0%
George Clinton
New York
DemocraticRepublican
7
5.1%
Other
-
-
15
10.9%
Total Number of Electors
138
Total Electoral Votes Cast
276
Number of Votes for a Majority
70
Problems with France
 US merchants getting rich off
war trade
 Britain violated Jay’s Treaty &
impressed US sailors
 French Directory, fearful of
Jay’s Treaty, ordered seizure of
American ships
 XYZ Affair (1797)
Adams sends John Marshall,
Elbridge Gerry, and Charles
Pickney to France to negotiate
3 French officials (X, Y, & Z)
want bribes to set up
negotiations with Talleyrand French foreign minister
 Negotiations end – Marshall
returns a hero
 War hysteria swept America
Navy Dept. created (3 ships!)
Marines established
10,000 man army authorized
“Millions for defense, not one
cent for tribute.”
 Adams suspend trade with
France & authorizes capture
of French ships
 Undeclared Naval War
1798-1800: “Quasi-War”
80 French ships captured
 “Convention of 1800”
Adam’s Finest Moment
Negotiated a peace with
Napoleon
Avoids war
Ends 22 year French alliance
Alien & Sedition Acts
 1798 – Federalists passed
laws to reduce power of
Jeffersonians & silence antiwar opposition
 Alien Acts
Raised requirements for
citizenship from 5 to 14 years
Allowed President to deport
“dangerous” aliens in
peacetime & imprison them
during war
 Sedition Act
Impeding the government or
defaming officials would lead
to fines or imprisonment
10 Jeffersonians convicted
including Matthew “spitting”
Lyon
Matthew “Spitting” Lyon
 Laws was never declared
unconstitutional & expired
in 1801
Virginia & Kentucky
Resolutions
 Kentucky Resolutions penned by VP Jefferson
 Virginia Resolutions written by James Madison
 Premise: States had right to
nullify unconstitutional laws
 Essentially campaign
documents against
Federalists
 Compact Theory of Government
 Sovereign states had entered into
a compact with federal
government
 States were the final authority on
the constitutionality of a law
 Doctrine of Nullification
 Last Kentucky resolution added
the premise that nullification
was “remedy” of unauthorized
acts
 Called for states to nullify the
laws - neither state did - others
would try later
 Significance:
Nullification would be used
later by southerners prior to
the Civil War
Federalist Legacy
 Hamilton’s financial plan
 Washington’s precedents
 Kept US out of wars
 Preserved gains of
Revolution & fended off
anarchy
 Two-Party system arises