New Nation

1
The New Nation

• 1786-1800

2
Economic Crisis

• Articles of Confederation (1777) would not
  suffice.
• Shortage of goods
• British blockade
• Demand by army and militias
• Flood of paper currency
• Inflation that became Depression by 1784.
• State and Federal debt worsened the situation.
• Confederate Congress unable to tax
• Turned to states to raise money
• States taxed their people

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Economic Crisis

• States dealt with the problem in different ways
• Some issue legal tender laws requiring creditors
  to accept state money for private and public
  debts.
• Some issued high tariff barriers to reduce
  British imports.
• British got goods to states via land trade.
• Local sentiment had to give way to the unity of
  the nation.

4
The Annapolis Convention

• 1786 The Virginia Legislature called the
  Annapolis Convention to be held in Annapolis,
  Maryland.
• Poorly attended.
• Agreed that the nation needed a stronger
  national government.
• Passed a resolution calling on states to send
  delegates to a national convention.
• May 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The New Constitution

• Pennsylvania State House
• Agreed that republican rule would be best
• government must rest on the consent of the
  governed
• the authority of rulers must be conditional on
  popular support
• Feared the power of ordinary people (democracy)
• George Washington elected to chair the
  Constitutional Convention.

6
The New Constitution

• James Madison (VA) took notes and helped draft
  the Virginia Plan.
• Called for
• Scrapping the Articles of Confederation
• Installing a government with the power to tax.
• National legislature
• House of Representatives elected by popular vote
• Senate elected by state representatives
• President elected by the Senate

7
The New Constitution

• William Paterson (NJ) put forward an alternative
  plan The New Jersey Plan.
• Increased federal power
• Allowed for only one House of Congress in which
  the states would be equally represented
• A heated and public debate followed.

8
The New Constitution

• The Great Compromise of 1787.
• Two House Legislature
• House of Representatives By Population
• Senate Each state equally represented
• Slavery and the Great Compromise
• Southern delegates wanted protection for the
  slave trade.
• Southern delegates wanted to count slaves in
  order to get more representation in the House of
  Representatives.

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The New Constitution

• Northern (free) states opposed both.
• The two sides agreed
• Five slaves would be counted as three free men
  (The Three-Fifths Clause)
• Prevented slave states from gaining too much
  power.
• The Constitution would not mention the slave
  trade (or slavery) and would prevent its demise
  until 1808 (Art. 1 Sec. 9)

10
The New Constitution

• Single Person Executive (President)
• Elected (not by popular vote)
• States would select electors who would vote for
  the President.
• Delegates approved the new constitution Sept.
  17, 1787.
• It needed to be ratified by at least 9 states to
  become law.

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The New Constitution

• Federalists Supported the new constitution and
  gained early momentum.
• Anti-Federalists Believed the new constitution
  gave the federal government too much power.
• Public and nasty debate (1787-1788).

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The New Constitution

• June 21, 1788 Constitution became law after
  being ratified by 9 states
• Maryland, South Carolina, Massachusetts,
  Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, New
  Hampshire, and Connecticut
• North Carolina and Rhode Island rejected the new
  constitution.
• 1789 Finally ratified in North Carolina
• 1790 Finally ratified in Rhode Island

13
The New Constitution

• In Virginia, the Federalists had to agree to a
  Bill of Rights to protect the people from
  potential abuses of the federal government.
• Bill of Rights The first ten amendments to the
  constitution.
• Ratified on June 15, 1790.

14
The Washington Years

• 1789 George Washington became first President of
  the United States (under the Constitution).
• John Adams became Vice-President.
• Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson
• Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton
• Attorney General Edmund Randolph

15
Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• Report on Public Credit (1790)
• Federal Government to settle its debt.
• Federal Government to assume Revolutionary State
  debt.
• Congress, and some states, disliked the idea.
• Ex Virginia had already paid off its war debts.

16
Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• Hamilton argued
• It was necessary in order for the Federal
  Government to have credit to finance projects and
  defense.
• Congress passed Report on Public Credit.
• Hamilton proposed, Bank of the United States
• Public corporation funded by private capital
  (money).
• Serve as the depository for the Federal
  Government.
• Some questioned the Constitutionality of the
  Bank.
• President Washington signed it into law in 1791.

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Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• Rise of political parties.
• Washington determined to resign.
• Federalists and Anti-Federalists
  (Democratic-Republicans) agreed that he needed to
  serve a second term.
• He was re-elected.

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Foreign Policy

• France and England went to war in 1793
• Both appealed to the United States for support.
• Washington believed American neutrality would be
  the best policy.
• Proclamation of Neutrality signed by Washington
  on April 22, 1793
• Washington wanted a friendly and impartial policy
  towards both nations.
• End of 1793 Thomas Jefferson resigns.

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Domestic Policy

• The American West (West of Appalachian Mountains
  and East of Mississippi River).
• After the Revolution, Indians who lived here were
  considered a conquered people.
• Resulted in war.

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Domestic Policy

• 1787 Confederate Congress Northwest Ordinance
• Indian lands, shall never be taken from them
  without their consent.
• 1790 Intercourse Act
• Regulated trade and intercourse with Indian
  tribes.
• Declared public treaties between the U.S. and
  Indian nations to be the only means of obtaining
  Indian land.
• Treaties became the procedure for establishing
  and maintaining relations with the Indian
  nations.
• Federal licensing system to restrict who could
  trade with Indians.

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Domestic Policy

• Federal government could not control flow of
  settlers.
• Villages of Delaware Indians, Shawnee Indians,
  and others associated with the Miami (under war
  Chief Little Turtle) sought to defend their
  homeland.
• Tribes defeated the Americans in 1790 and 1791.

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Domestic Policy

• There were also problems with Spain (far South
  and Florida) and Canada (British).
• 1794 The biggest crisis yet.
• Administration had been unable to
• Subdue Indians
• Get British out of the fur trade
• Get Spain to allow the Unite d States free access
  to Mississippi River.
• Resulted in protests among frontiersmen.
• Some protests got violent.

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Domestic Policy

• Summer 1794 Western Pennsylvania
• Rebellion breaks out among farmers.
• Congresss excise tax on distillation of whiskey.
• Many family farms produced whiskey from corn
  surplus.
• Farmers launched protest. Claimed the excise tax
  violated the principles of the American
  Revolution.
• Mingo Creek militia attempted to seize tax
  collectors.
• Violence erupted and several militia were killed.

24
Domestic Policy

• The Whiskey Rebellion
• Washington called up 13,000 troops.
• Ordered military occupation of Western
  Pennsylvania.
• Militia men charged with treason. Pardoned by
  Washington.
• Showed Washington was going to preserve the Union.

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Domestic Policy

• American forces defeated the western Indian
  Confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
• Treaty of Greenville (1795) Indians ceded most
  of Ohio to the United States.
• America settled disputes with Spain and England
  (for now).

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Domestic Policy

• The Jay Treaty
• 1794
• John Jay (Chief Justice) sent to England.
• Treaty avoided war with England over Englands
  seizing American ships.
• Treaty called for British troops to be removed by
  1796.
• Treaty called for limited trade with England.

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Domestic Policy

• The Jay Treaty was very unpopular.
• The Treaty was ratified and signed by Washington.
• 1796 George Washington retires
• Farewell Address

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The Adams Presidency

• President John Adams (Federalist)
• Vice-President Thomas Jefferson (Democratic
  Republican)

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The Adams Presidency

• The XYZ Affair
• France angered by Jay Treaty.
• Suspended diplomatic relations with the U.S.
• Cracked down on American shipping.
• Adams sent delegation to France.
• Delegation met with demand for bribe.
• Democratic-Republicans demand proof and Adams
  publishes letters.
• French officials named X, Y, Z.

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The Adams Presidency

• The Alien and Sedition Acts
• Congress prepared for war with France.
• Washington came out of retirement to command
  army.
• U.S. v. France Quasi-War (1797-1800)
• Democratic-Republican stance looked treasonous to
  the Federalists.
• Summer, 1798 Congress passed the Alien and
  Sedition Acts.

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The Adams Presidency

• The Alien and Sedition Acts
• The Alien Act authorized the President to
  imprison or deport suspected aliens during times
  of war.
• The Sedition Act provided fines for anyone
  convicted of writing, publishing, or speaking out
  against the government or its officers.
• Acts meant to defeat Democratic-Republicans.
• Some fined and put in prison.
• 1799 French released ships and offered to
  negotiate.
• Adams agreed.

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Fall of the Federalists

• Election of 1800
• Federalists John Adams (P) Charles Pinckney (VP)
• Democratic-Republicans Thomas Jefferson (P)
  Aaron Burr (VP)
• Jefferson/Burr ran on states rights.
• Jefferson attacked personally.
• Jefferson/Burr victorious.
• First transfer of power.

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End of Lesson