The Early National Period

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The Early National Period

• 1789-1824

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1789-96
The First President, George Washington

• He was a Virginian (surveyor, farmer, soldier)
• Lieutenant colonel in the French Indian War
• Commander in Chief of the Continental Army
• VA delegate to the Continental Congress, and
  Constitutional Convention

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• George Washington was the countrys first
  president. He created a Cabinet of advisors to
  assist with the executive decision making.

Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of War
Attorney General
Secretary of State
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During the Washington Administration

• Alexander Hamilton proposed a financial plan that
  would create a National Bank. He felt this was
  necessary for the US to effectively manage its
  revenue and expenditures.
• The Federal government would also assume the
  debts of each state from the Revolutionary War.

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Jays Treaty

• Designed to resolve issues left over from the
  Treaty of Paris of 1783 including
• withdrawal of units of the British Army from
  forts
• wartime debts
• arbitration over the the American Canadian
  boundary
• trade rights with British colonies
• Jeffersons Anti-Federalist party HATED this
  treaty, fearing it would strengthen the
  Federalists.
• It did secured peace for 10 years, removed the
  British from forts in the US, and gave the
  British most favored nation status
• BUT.the French were very MAD!

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Washington issued a Neutrality Proclamation in
1793 which he restated in his Farewell Address in
1796. In it he warned against joining into
entangling alliances with European powers, giving
the new nation time to stabilize, and avoid
creating political parties.
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Which Party will win?

• The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas
  Jefferson and James Madison. believed in a weak
  national government and an agricultural economy.
  They were supported by farmers, artisans, and
  frontier settlers in the South.
• The Federalists, led by John Adams and Alexander
  Hamilton, typically believed in a strong national
  government and commercial economy. They were
  supported by bankers and business interests in
  the Northeast. They supported protective tariffs
  to encourage industrial growth in the US.

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1796-1800
The Second President, John Adams

• Adams was a highly educated man serving as an
  attorney, diplomat and statesman from
  Massachusetts.
• He was a member of the Federalist party who
  believed in a strong central government.
• He supported the Bank of the United States
  created during Washingtons administration.

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During the Adams Administration

• He was responsible for the passage of the Alien
  and Sedition Acts which made it illegal to
  criticize the president or the federal
  government. It was determined that these laws
  violated the First Amendment to the Constitution.
• He also exercises his executiveduties when
  appointing JohnMarshall to the US Supreme Court.
  Marshall is a federalist who changed the way
  the court participated in the system of
  checksand balances.

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The States React to the Alien and Sedition Acts!

• The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions 1798-1799
• States had the right and the duty to declare
  unconstitutional any acts of Congress that were
  not authorized by the Constitution.
• Written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

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The XYZ Affair and the Quasi-war

• The French, who have just finished their own
  Revolution, were intercepting US ships bound for
  Great Britian as they were mad at the terms of
  Jays treaty!
• When US statesmen arrived to negotiate the French
  had three agents named X, Y, and Z demand
  concessions (bribes) in exchange for diplomatic
  discussions.
• And so..Quasi-War begins.

• There is no formal declaration of war, but both
  the French and Americans seize the other nations
  ships
• Hostilities finally end with the Convention of
  1800, and the US starts building a navy for
  future situations!.

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1800-1808
The Third President, Thomas Jefferson

• Jefferson was also a Virginian!
• A very educated planter, writer, and statesman.
• Rememberhe was the primary writer of the
  Declaration of Independence!
• The election of 1800 was the first American
  presidential election in which power was
  peacefully transferred from one party to
  another.from the Federalists to the newly formed
  Democratic Republicans.
• Jefferson called it the Revolution of 1800.

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12th Amendment to the Constitution

• Provides the procedure for electing the President
  and Vice President.
• It was needed to fix problems that had occurred
  during the 1796 and 1800 elections
• Note unlike today, President and Vice President
  ran separately.
• Also, before this amendment, it was possible that
  the president and vice president were from
  opposing political parties! Not fun!!!
• Proposed on Dec. 9, 1803, and ratified by June
  15, 1804

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The Louisiana Territory was purchase from France!
During the Jefferson Administration
When Jefferson purchased the huge Louisiana
Territory in 1803 it doubled the size of the
United States.
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Jefferson assembled the Corps of Discovery to
examine his new purchase!

• He authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition to
  explore the new territories that lay west of the
  Mississippi River. Sacajawea, a Shoshone Indian
  woman, served as their guide and translator.

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John Marshall and the Supreme CourtPart I
In 1803, the Supreme Court case Marbury v.
Madison, creates a new power for the Court
Judicial Review.
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The Embargo Act of 1807

• In an effort to prevent a war with Great Britain,
  the Embargo Act of 1807 was passed by president
  Thomas Jefferson and later added to in the
  Non-intercourse Acts by James Madison.
• The Acts restricted American ships from engaging
  in foreign trade, particularly with the British.
• It was meant to punish Britain for its violation
  of American rights on the high seas, specifically
  with the seizure of 6,000 American sailors who
  were forced to work for the British navy.
• Unfortunately, it simply hurt the USeconomy as
  shipping was a greatsource of income!

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1808-1816
The Fourth President, James Madison
Madison inherited the tense situation between the
United States, Great Britain, and France.
Washington, Adams, and Jefferson had all barely
avoided war with one of these great nations.
Federalists opposed Madisons war resolution,
talked of secession, and proposed constitutional
amendments, which were not acted upon. By 1812,
this was no longer possible and the US declared
war on Great Britain.
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The War of 1812, aka - The Second War for
Independence

• There were several causes of the war
• The British had a policy of intercepting US ships
  that were trading with France
• The British impressments of American sailors
• The British encouraged Native Americans on the
  frontier to fight against USsettlers.
• American Western Expansionism
• War hawks (Congressmen from the South and West)
  strongly pushed for war with the British!

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During the war, Francis Scott Key was inspired by
flag he saw waving over Ft. McHenry in Baltimore,
Maryland
so he wrote a poem. that poem eventually
became our national anthem!
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Treaty of Ghent, 1814

• The last battle of the War of 1812 was the Battle
  of New Orleans where General Andrew Jackson was
  victorious. He became a national hero as a
  result (and a future president!).

This war resulted in the British finally
evacuating their forts in American territory. It
also produced an American claim to the Oregon
Territory and increased migration into Florida.
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Madisons Treaties and Territorial Gains

• The Convention of 1818 allowed for joint
  occupation of the Oregon Territory by the US and
  Great Britain.
• The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 added Florida to
  the US. It also set the western border of the
  Louisiana Territory.

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John Marshall and the Supreme CourtPart II
In the 1819 case of McCulloch v. Maryland,
Marshall reaffirmed the doctrine of implied
powers by reinforcing the right of the Congress
to create and maintain a National Bank.
This new power made the Court an equal partner in
the Federal government.
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John Marshall and the Supreme CourtPart III
In the 1823 case of Gibbons v. Ogden, Marshall
reaffirmed the power of the Federal government as
the lone regulator of interstate trade.
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1816-1824
The Fifth President, James Monroe

• James Monroe was the last of the Revolutionary
  era presidents and the fourth of the Virginia
  Presidents!
• His presidency is often referred to as The Era
  of Good Feelings as there was only one political
  party, the Democratic Republicans, and very
  little conflict or controversy.

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The Monroe Doctrine, 1823

• The American continents should not be considered
  for future colonization by any European powers.
• Nations in the Western Hemisphere were inherently
  different from those of Europei.e., they were
  republics by nature rather than monarchies.
• The United States would regard as a threat to her
  own peace and safety any attempt by European
  powers to impose their system on any independent
  state in the Western Hemisphere.
• The United States would not interfere in European
  affairs.

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