Early America (1789-1860)
Main Ideas
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Washington & the new national government
Managing national debt & banks
Political parties
Expanding west
Conflict & change
Washington & the New National
Government
• Question to consider:
– What steps did Washington take to make the new
government work?
Washington & the New National
Government
• Washington inaugurated April 30, 1789
• Setting up an executive office
– Congress created three Cabinet departments to
help the President:
– Members of the Cabinet advised the President
and directed their departments. Washington set a
precedent by choosing well-known leaders to
serve in the Cabinet:
• Thomas Jefferson = Sec. of State
• Alexander Hamilton = Sec. of Treasury
• Henry Knox = Sec. of War
Washington & the New National
Government
• Setting up a judicial branch
– The Constitution created a judicial branch but did not
specify its format
– Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Supreme Court,
along w/ a circuit of federal and district courts
• Appeal process:
– decisions made by a state court could be appealed to a federal
court on constitutional issues
• Federal supremacy:
– federal laws > state laws
– Marbury v. Madison  judicial review (S. Court can
declare laws & acts of Congress “unconstitutional”)
Managing National Debt & Banks
• Questions to consider:
– What was Hamilton’s plan to reduce the nation’s
debt and build the economy?
– What were the causes and results of the Whiskey
Rebellion?
Managing National Debt & Banks
• The problem
– The U.S. had a huge national debt—the total amount of
money that a government owes to others.
– The national & state governments had borrowed by
issuing bonds—certificates that promise to repay the
money loaned, plus interest, on a certain date.
• Hamilton’s plan
– Establish a national bank funded by the gov’t AND
private investors
– Buy up old bonds, issue new ones to keep trust of
investors & have money for debt repayment
Managing National Debt & Banks
• The Debate
– Madison argued that Congress could not make a national
bank if the Constitution didn’t set one up; plus many
southern states had already paid THEIR debts
– Strict vs. loose interpretation of the Constitution
• Strict: if the Constitution doesn’t say it, you can’t do it
• Loose interpretation: How does the “necessary and
proper” clause fit in?
– Congress can make any laws or set up institutions that
are “necessary and proper” for the country
• The compromise
– Hamilton promised to support putting the nation’s capital in
the South if southerners agreed to his plan for repaying state
debts.
Managing National Debt & Banks
• Whiskey Rebellion
– Causes
• To raise money for the Treasury, Congress approved an
excise tax – tax on a product’s manufacture & sale – on
whiskey
• Farmers who grew corn said was easier to get their product
to market & make a profit if they turned their corn into
whiskey.
– What did they do?
• They rebelled, marching in protest and tarring and
feathering tax collectors.
– How did the federal gov’t respond?
• Sent 13,000 militiamen (national army) to squash the
rebellion
Political Parties
• Many competing views in early America led to
creation of separate parties – groups with
similar ideologies and political goals
• Federalists – called for a strong central gov’t
(Hamilton)
• Democratic-Republicans – wanted strong
state gov’t (Jefferson)
– Theory of this party is called “Jeffersonian
republicanism”
Political Parties
• Election of 1800 – 1st time P & VP had the same
number of votes – tie-breaker
• Election of 1824 – rift in the Republican party
– “Jacksonians” accused another republican, Henry Clay,
of helping the other party win (he was appointed Sec.
of State by Adams); corruption scandal
– Clay & his faction became the National Republican
Party
– Jackson & his faction became the Democratic Party
• Spoils system = hiring supporters and friends to
government positions
• Presidents
– Jefferson (pg. 75, 113-114)
– Madison (pg. 114)
– Monroe (pg. 116-117)
– Jackson (pg. 123-126)