Washington Becomes President Main Idea President Washington and other leaders tried to solve the new...

Washington Becomes President

Main Idea

President Washington and other leaders tried to solve the new nation’s economic problems. This led to the rise of

political parties.

Reading Focus

• What steps did Congress and the president take to organize the new government?

• What was Alexander Hamilton’s plan to settle the nation’s debts?

• What was the debate over the national bank?

• How did the first political parties form?

1- Organizing the Government

• February 1789—Washington was elected president; John Adams became vice president.

• Congress created the first executive department: state, treasury, and war. The department leaders became known as the president’s cabinet.

•Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson•Secretary of Treasury: Alexander Hamilton•Secretary of War: Henry Knox

•Federalists: led by Hamilton, wanted a strong central government

•Jeffersonian Republicans: led by Jefferson and Madison, wanted a smaller central government, more rural than urban, with powerful states

2- Organizing the Government

The first Congress• Only 10 states had joined the government;

presided over by Vice President Adams• Sent proposed amendments to the states (Bill

of Rights) • The Judiciary Act of 1789 organized the

judicial branch (Supreme court, District Courts and courts of appeal). It had a six-person Supreme Court with one chief justice and five associates.

• John Jay named as first chief justice

3- Settling the Nation’s Debts

Hamilton’s Plan to Pay Debt• Federal government should take on all the debt from the war• Find ways to bring revenue to government – secure

government. Greatest challenge.• Establish national bank to control credit and make loans

to government

New taxes• Tariff of 1789 taxed imported goods• Excise tax (tax on certain products), 1791, taxed the

production or sale of liquor, sugar, snuff, and carriages

• Hamilton compromised with Jefferson and James Madison, who led the opposition to his economic plan.

• The capital would be moved to the South by 1800. In return, the southerners would allow Hamilton’s debt bill to pass.

• Washington chose the area; Pierre L’Enfant planned the city.

4- Debating a National Bank

• Most controversial part of Hamilton’s plan was the national bank

• Two views of the Constitution:– Strict construction: the government should

do only what the Constitution specifically states it can do

– Loose construction: the government can take reasonable actions that are not outlined in the Constitution—as long as those actions are not specifically prohibited.

• Hamilton pointed to the “necessary and proper” clause of the Constitution when he proposed a national bank.

• That was a prime example of loose construction.

5- Debating a National Bank

• Jefferson was only lukewarm to the Constitution in its final form.

• He favored a smaller national government.• A strict constructionist, he felt that Hamilton’s

interpretation of the “necessary and proper” clause was going beyond the powers that the Constitution specifically allowed.

• Jefferson opposed a national bank.• Congress passed the bill, and Washington signed it

to charter the first Bank of the United States in February 1791.

6-First Political Parties Form

• Settlers in the western frontier felt their interests were ignored by the government.

• In 1794 farmers on the western Pennsylvania frontier objected to the excise tax on whiskey. Their livelihoods depended on turning surplus grain into rye whiskey.

• The excise tax led to a violent clash between supporters and opponents of strong government.

• A crowd of more than 2,000 angry farmers threatened Pittsburgh.

• There was talk of setting up an independent nation.

• Uprising known as the Whiskey Rebellion• Farmers attacked tax collectors and burned barns of people

who gave away the locations of their whiskey stills.

7-First Political Parties Form

• The farmers scattered in all directions instead of resisting the militia.

• They were caught and arrested; two were convicted of treason, but Washington eventually pardoned them.

• After the farmers ignored Washington’s orders to stop the rebellion, Washington and Hamilton led a force of 13,000 men into Pennsylvania. Federal government took action within a state.

• Federalists established local associations, gave political offices and other favors to their supporters.

• Jeffersonian Republicans influenced elections in various states by working together.

• A two-party system was on its way due to differences of opinion about the excise tax and the role of the federal government.

Challenges of the 1790s

Main Idea

The United States faced many challenges during the 1790s. It tried to remain neutral in European wars while dealing

with conflicts with Native Americans in the Northwest Territory.

Reading Focus

•Why did Washington want to remain neutral in response to events in Europe?

•What conflicts took place in the Northwest Territory?

•What challenges did John Adams face as president, and what was the XYZ Affair?

8-Remaining Neutral

• In 1789 the French monarchy was overthrown. Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Spain declared war on the new French government.

• Democratic-Republicans feared that if the French Revolution failed, republican governments everywhere would fail.

• Federalists had respect for French monarchy.

• France and Britain tried to draw the United States into their war and force it to take sides.

• Washington wanted to remain neutral. He issued the Neutrality Proclamation in April 1793. Committed to be friendly and impartial to “belligerent powers.”

• Edmund Genet, the new French ambassador to the United States, enlisted an American crew to fight on a French ship against the British.

• Washington demanded that Genet be replaced.

9-Remaining Neutral

• In early 1794 the British began seizing American merchant ships.

– British claimed the ships carried French goods or were sailing to a French port.

– American sailors were thrown into British prisons.• The British were stirring up trouble among the Native

Americans in the Northwest Territory.

• John Jay negotiated Jay’s Treaty with the British.– British would pay for damages to American ships.– British would leave their forts in the Northwest

Territory.– The United States would pay debts owed to Britain.

• Thomas Pinckney negotiated Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain and settled many border disputes between the United States and Spain. Gave U.S. the right to use the Mississippi River.

10-Conflicts in the Northwest Territory

• In 1790s violence broke out when Native American nations resisted white settlement.

• Little Turtle led Miamis, Shawnees, and Delawares against St. Clair’s army and won.

• American army returned in force and built forts and brought in supplies.

• Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794: American forces won over the Miamis

• Treaty of Greenville: the Miamis gave up large territories in Ohio and parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan

– The treaty also recognized the Miamis’ claim to the land they still had.

11-President Adams and the XYZ Affair

Presidential election of 1796• Washington retired after two terms.• Thomas Jefferson was the Democratic-Republican

candidate.• John Adams was the Federalist candidate.

• Though Adams became president, he did not have the full support of the presidential electors.

• Because of sectionalism, the southern Federalists preferred his running mate, Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina.

• Thomas Jefferson came in second with 68 votes to Adams’s 71 votes.

• Jefferson became vice president.


XYZ Affair• France had attacked

American merchant ships.

• French agents (referred to as X, Y, and Z) demanded bribes of the American diplomats who went to France to negotiate an end to the ship seizure.

As a result, Congress: • Cut off trade with

France• Canceled wartime

treaties it had made with France

• Authorized building warships

• Allowed the U.S. navy to capture French vessels at sea

The XYZ Affair brought a general resentment of foreigners, which led to passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.


• Alien Acts: three laws that allowed the president to order foreigners considered to be a threat to national security to be jailed or deported.

– Targeted French and Irish refugees, most of whom supported the French

– Increased the period of residency required for citizenship from 5 years to 14

– Required foreigners to register with the government– Allowed the president to jail or expel any foreigner thought

to be “dangerous to the peace and safety” of the country

• The Sedition Act outlawed any opposition to government policies by actions or by “false, scandalous, or malicious writing.”

– Targeted the Democratic-Republicans, who historically supported the French


• Nine Democratic-Republican newspaper editors and a member of Congress were convicted under the Sedition Act.

• Jefferson and Madison drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, where they argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional.

• They hoped states would nullify the laws.• Only Virginia and Kentucky passed the resolutions.

• In the end, there was a deeper and more bitter political divide in Congress and the country.

Jefferson’s Presidency

Main IdeaThe rise of political parties influenced the election of 1800,

bringing Thomas Jefferson and a new outlook to the presidency.

Reading Focus

•Why was the transfer of power in the election of 1800 significant?

•What changes did Jefferson make when he took office?

•What was the impact of the Louisiana Purchase?

•How did the role of the Supreme Court change?

15-The Election of 1800

• This contest marked the first time that power passed from one American political party to another.

• Democratic-Republican (Formerly Jeffersonian Republicans) Thomas Jefferson against Federalist John Adams

•The campaign was vicious.•Supporters of each side made their arguments in letters

and newspaper editorials, which often made wild accusations and spread scandalous stories.

The Election of 1800

Federalists claimed that • Jefferson was dangerously pro-French.• Jefferson wanted to destroy organized religion because

of his interest in science and philosophy.

Democratic-Republicans claimed that •Adams wanted to crown himself king. •The Federalists would try to limit Americans’ rights (using

the Alien and Sedition Acts as proof of their claims).

16-The Election of 1800

Problems• The election ended in a tie between Jefferson and Burr.• Political parties did not specify who was the party’s preferred

candidate for president. • The House of Representatives was deadlocked for 35 votes.• Hamilton urged Federalists to vote for Jefferson. On the 36th

vote, Jefferson was chosen president.

• These problems with the voting system led to the passage of the Twelfth Amendment (1804), which said that electors must cast separate ballots for president and vice president.

• Burr held a grudge against Hamilton for supporting Jefferson and for preventing him from winning the governor’s race in New York in later years. In 1804, Burr killed Hamilton in a duel.

17-Jefferson Makes Changes

Succeeded in reducing government

• Only customs duties and the sale of lands produced revenue for the government.

• Reduced the size of the executive department staff

Succeeded in reducing size of military

• Reduced the size of the army and navy

• However, built up navy to help merchant ships when attacked by pirates

18-The Louisiana Purchase

• General Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to build a French empire.

• Bonaparte to regain France’s former lands called the Louisiana Territory

• Those lands had gone to Spain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

• In 1800 Spain returned Louisiana to France.

• Spanish officials closed

the lower Mississippi and New Orleans to American shipping.

• Spain turned over control of the area to France.


• On April 30, 1803, they signed an agreement with France to buy the land—final price about 80 million francs, or $15 million

• Napoleon realized controlling a North America empire might be too difficult.

• Almost doubled the territory of the United States

• Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to try to purchase New Orleans and West Florida.

• At the meeting, France offered to sell the United States all of the vast Louisiana Territory.

• Jefferson and his fellow strict constructionists decided that the right to acquire territory was implicit in the president’s constitutional power to make treaties.

• The Constitution did not directly give Jefferson the authority to buy new territory for the nation.


• Jefferson sent the Corps of Discovery, usually called the Lewis and Clark expedition, to explore the land of the Louisiana Purchase.

• Led by Meriwether Lewis, Jefferson’s secretary, and William Clark, an experienced frontiersman

• Their ultimate goal was to reach the Pacific Ocean. • They mapped the country and surveyed its natural history,

including plants, animals, and landforms. • Were helped by their guide, a Shoshone woman, Sacagawea

• Zebulon M. Pike led an 1805 expedition that traveled 2,000 miles to explore the upper Mississippi Valley.

• In 1806 he explored the Southwest and gathered information about the economy and defenses of Spanish New Mexico and Texas.

21-The Role of the Supreme Court Changes

• Federalist legislators in Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created new positions in the judicial branch.

• Departing President John Adams hurried to fill them with Federalists.

• Adams’s signed documents had to be delivered to each man to make the appointments official.

• Not all were delivered before Jefferson took office the next day.

• James Madison, the new secretary of state, refused to deliver the remaining commissions.

22-The Role of the Supreme Court Changes

• William Marbury, one of the men who did not receive his commission, brought suit in the Supreme Court.

• He claimed that the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Court the power to force Madison to deliver the commission.

• The Court ruled that the Constitution gave the Supreme Court the power to hear only certain kinds of cases.

• The Constitution did not give the Court the power to force Madison to deliver Marbury’s commission.

• It ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional.• Marbury v. Madison established the Supreme Court’s

power of judicial review, to declare that a law violates the Constitution.

The War of 1812

Main IdeaIn the early 1800s, Americans unified to face Great Britain in

war once again and to battle resistance from Native Americans over attempts to seize their lands.

Reading Focus•What violations of American neutrality led to the

War of 1812?•How did Tecumseh resist American settlers?•How did the War of 1812 begin? How did the war affect the

new nation?

23-Violating Neutrality

• Unresolved tensions between the United States and Britain, on the northwest frontier and on the seas, caused the nations to war again.

•Napoleonic Wars affected American merchant shipping.•France and Britain tried to cut off each other’s access to

European ports.•Both nations ignored American neutrality.•The British were more of a threat because they

would impress American sailors, forcing them to serve in the British navy.

24-Violating Neutrality

• In 1807 the British ship Leopard stopped the American frigate Chesapeake and seized four Americans.

• Congress passed the Embargo Act, which prohibited exports to foreign countries.

• This ban was a disaster to the economy.• Goods piled up in warehouses, shops sat in the

harbors, people lost their jobs, and businesses failed.

• In 1808 James Madison was elected president.• A new law reopened all trade except that with Britain

and France.

25-Tecumseh Resists Settlers

• As anti-British feelings grew in the United States, the British tried to rebuild their old alliances with Native Americans.

• William Henry Harrison was governor of the new Indiana Territory and carried out Jefferson’s new Native American policy.

• Native Americans could choose either to become farmers and join white society or to move west of the Mississippi.

• As Harrison implemented the policy, Native Americans made treaties in which they lost millions of acres of tribal lands in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.

26-Tecumseh Resists Settlers

Native American leaders • One was a religious leader

called the Prophet, or Tenskwatawa.

• Thousands came to hear him speak against white culture at Prophetstown in present-day Indiana.

• He taught his followers to reject white culture.

Tecumseh• Also called Shooting

Star, he was the Prophet’s brother and an inspiring leader.

• He began to unite his brother’s followers in 1809.

• In 1811, while Tecumseh was away, Harrison’s army attacked, burning Prophetstown.

• The Battle of Tippecanoe made Harrison a national hero – Killed Tecumseh

27-The War of 1812 Begins

• The Chesapeake and Leopard neutrality incident had some American politicians calling for war.

• They were known as War Hawks. Hoped for a conquest of Canada.

• The United States declared war on Great Britain in 1812.

• The war was fought on land and sea, from Canada to Louisiana.

• Much of the war took

place along the U.S.-Canadian border.

• The British staged a massive blockade of the American coast and New Orleans.


• The Americans made several unsuccessful invasions of Canada.

• Tecumseh joined the British in a campaign to capture Detroit and invade Ohio.

• Battle of the Thames: Harrison’s army met British and Indian forces and was victorious

• Tecumseh was killed in the battle, ending the British-Native American alliance.

• Tennessee militia leader Andrew Jackson led a force against the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend where women, children, and warriors were massacred.

• In August 1812 the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) sank the British Guerriére.

• The naval war moved into the Great Lakes; the United States won the Battle of Lake Erie.


• A British force landed near New Orleans in December 1814.• Andrew Jackson and a militia were waiting for them. He

became the hero of the Battle of New Orleans.

• Treaty of Ghent: peace treaty between the United States and Great Britain, signed in December 1814 in Ghent, Belgium

• In August 1814 the British fleet sailed into Chesapeake Bay. • Their soldiers marched to Washington, where they burned

several major buildings, including the White House.• Then they bombarded Fort McHenry at Baltimore Harbor. After

an overnight battle, the American flag was still flying. The sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Washington Becomes President Main Idea President Washington and other leaders tried to solve the new...

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