Presidential
Candidate
George Washington
John Adams
John Jay
Robert Harrison
John Rutledge
Other
Electoral votes not cast
Total Number of
Electors
Total Electoral Votes
Cast
Number of Votes for a Majority
Home State
Virginia
Massachusetts
New York
Maryland
South Carolina
69
138
35
Political Party
No Party
No Party
No Party
No Party
No Party
Electoral Vote
69
34
9
6
6
14 17.3%
24 29.6%
85.2%
42.0%
11.1%
7.4%
7.4%

GEORGE
WASHINGTON:
THE MOST RESPECTED
MAN IN AMERICA
Americans revered
Washington for winning their War of Independence and his role in presiding over the Constitutional
Convention. The picture is of Washington as the commanding general of the
Continental Army, 1780.

THE EXPERIMENT IS
LAUNCHED
A contemporary engraving of George
Washington’s first inauguration as
President of the
United Sates at
Federal Hall in New
York City, April 30,
1789.

 Inauguration portrait: Gilbert
Stuart
 Washington: important for president to dress and act in a dignified manner,
 ended up modeling official conduct after King George III

 Shocked republican-minded congressmen; suggested
President Washington and other federal officials be given aristocratic-sounding titles
 Critic suggested Adams be called “His Rotundity”

British George III American George I

 Secretary of War-
Henry Knox
 Secretary of Treasury-
Alexander Hamilton
 Secretary of State-
Thomas Jefferson
 Attorney General-
Edmund Randolph
 Postmaster General-
Samuel Osgood

 Issued three reports in 1790
 Public Credit


National Bank
Manufacturing




US DEBT (1790)



Owed foreign nations
$11.7 million
“Assumed” state debts
($21.5 million)
Took on $42.4 million domestic debt (under
Articles)
TOTAL DEBT OWED BY
THE U.S. = $75.6
MILLION
INTEREST ON DEBT =
$4.6 MILLION PER YEAR




US ASSETS (1790)


Customs revenue = $4.4 million
Excise and other revenues
(tariffs and taxes) = $1.2 million
TOTAL YEARLY REVENUE
= $5.6 MILLION
LEFT OVER REVENUE = $1
MILLION
Can government pay off national debt?



Hamilton’s Plan





Redeem debt with new government bonds
Eliminates debt
Gives country credit
Government assumes state debt
Bond holders tied to debt
Problems
 Speculators bought up bonds; made LOTS of money


Asst. Sec. of Treasury included
Corruption?
 Opposition



Virginia Representative
James Madison



Speculators only get highest market value original owners get the rest
Problems?
Many southerners saw corruption!
CAPITAL COMPROMISE

THE CAPITAL MOVES SOUTH
Hamilton needs congressional support for
Assumption plan
Makes a deal with
Jefferson and
Madison
Hamilton agreed to national capital in the south
A new city on the
Maryland -Virginia border

 20 Year Charter
 1/5 Stock owned by
Congress
 4/5’s Private stock
 Monopoly on ALL government transactions
 Bank could



Loan to merchants
Handle government money
Issue bank notes



Hamilton based ideas on
Adam Smith’s Wealth of
Nations
Smith believed




State supported mercantilism bad
Favored laissez-faire (leave alone) system
No government involvement
Market determines price
(supply and demand)

Strict constructionalists
 If not specifically stated in Constitution, then government can’t do it!
 Proponents feared too much central control
 Followers included
 Thomas Jefferson
 James Madison
Loose constructionalists



Article I: gives government right to make “all laws necessary and proper” to carry out duties
 “elastic” clause
Puts flexibility in
Constitution
Followers included



Alexander Hamilton
George Washington
John Adams

 part of Hamilton’s economic plan


Taxes increased
Included whiskey
 1792: Pennsylvania farmers protested
 Challenged constitutionality

 Mobs attacked tax collectors
 Washington sent army
(he commanded)
 Mobs broke up first
 Showed states subject to federal law
 Jefferson supported rebels

 “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing”
 “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural
manure.”

 French Revolution
 French Revolutionary Wars
 Washington’s Proclamation of
Neutrality
 Citizen Genet’s Mission to U.S.
 Jay’s Treaty
 Pinckney’s Treaty

 French monarchy overthrown 1792
 Replaced with Republic
 1793: King Louis XVI executed
 Compare to American revolution?
 Should the Americans support the French?




 Who tended to support
French?
 Jefferson and supporters
 Why?
 French supported
Americans during our revolution


Revolution against tyranny! It was just!
FRANCOPHILES!
 Who tended to support
British?
 Hamilton and supporters
 Why?
 British trade vital to
American economic success


French Revolution too violent
ANGLOPHILES!

 Washington’s reaction
 Proclamation of
Neutrality
 Said
 U.S. wouldn’t take sides
 U.S. allowed trade with all sides
 Results


Europe needed



American farm production
American cotton
Cotton replaces tobacco as chief export
American economy
SOARS!







Threatens American neutrality
French Ambassador Edmund
Genet raised militia to fight
Spanish in Florida
Ignored Washington’s request to stop
Stops when recalled to
France (worried about head)
Washington grants asylum
Genet lives rest of life in
America

 British seizing American ships; confiscating cargo
 Violation of Neutrality Acts
 John Jay to Britain to negotiate treaty
 Jefferson opposed treaty –
“too conciliatory” toward
British
 Senate ratified 20 to 10
(needed 2/3)

U.S.
 Must submit claims of illegal seizures
 Compensate British for pre-Revolutionary War debts
Britain
 Couldn’t aid Indians against Americans
 Must leave forts in
Northwest
 Can confiscate property of France

 Negotiated by Thomas
Pinckney
 Settled southern boundary with Spain
 Britain lost in war
 Allowed for



Navigation of Mississippi
Southern border between
Georgia and Florida
Mississippi River: border between America and
Spanish Louisiana

 No Third Term
 Walks away from power
 No Permanent Military
Alliances
 Keep Public Credit Sound
 Avoid Political Parties, especially geographical

Alexander Hamilton Thomas Jefferson








Scottish ancestry
Born in West Indies
Raised by mother (father abandoned family)
Moved to mainland in 1772; attended Kings
College (Columbia University)
Aide to Washington during Revolutionary War
Married into New York wealth
Lawyer in New York City




Beliefs:
 STRONG national government



Trade is key
Favor Mercantile & Financial Interests
Pro-Britain
Supported by the:
 Well-to Do


Well-Born
North & East
Why?




Enlightenment Man
Into




Architecture
Natural history
Scientific farming
Politics
Wealthy Virginia planter




Beliefs:






Against speculation
Against urban industrialism
For agricultural interests
American agriculture and trade to Europe would support the U.S.
States rights over federal government
Pro-France
Supported by the:




Yeoman farmers
Rural areas
South and West
James Madison close ally
Why?