The Federalist Era 17881800

1
The Federalist Era1788-1800

• Teaching American History
• Year II, Lecture 3

2
Major Themes

• Hamiltons three-point program for harnessing the
  state to the economy, and the conflict this
  brought about
• Washingtons troubles with Indians, Whiskey
  Rebels, and European wars
• Political parties, their characteristics, and
  their emergence in the context of domestic and
  international crises
• The wild and crazy election of 1800

3
Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• Debt elimination and assumption
• The national debt
• Report on Public Credit
• The debate over Hamiltons program
• Compromise Pass Hamiltons plan, move capitol to
  VA/MD

4
Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• The national bank
• Will stabilize and expand currency, capital
• The Constitutional issue strict vs. loose
  constructionism
• Washington supports Hamiltons position

5
Hamiltons Fiscal Program

• Tariffs and Manufacturing
• Report on Manufacturers (1791)
• Protective tariffs rejected by Congress
• Hamiltons legacy

6
The Washington Administration Crises Foreign and
Domestic

• Managing the western territory
• Triple threat British in Canada, Spanish in
  AL/MS, Indians in Ohio
• U.S. Indian policy contradictory
• As established under ordinances of 1785 and 1787
• Sham treaties and other problems
• Intercourse Act (1790)

7
The Washington Administration Crises Foreign and
Domestic

• Settlement pressures lead to war
• Initial victories by Indian confederation under
  Little Turtle
• Battle of Fallen Timbers (1793) and Treaty of
  Greenville (1795)

8
The Washington Administration Crises Foreign and
Domestic

• Diplomacy and Trade
• War between Britain and France disrupts trade
• Jays Treaty (1795) makes concessions to British
  at French expense
• Pinckneys Treaty (1795) cedes southwest to U.S.
• Deepens political divisions

9
The Washington Administration Crises Foreign and
Domestic

• Whiskey Rebellion
• Hamiltons excise tax to retire national debt
• Class and sectional conflict result
• Rebellion suppressed by Washington

10
Washingtons Farewell Address

• Beware of political parties and entangling
  alliances with European powers
• Can you separate trade and politics?

11
The Birth of Political Parties in the 1790s

• Despite warnings and fears, parties formed
• Initially parties develop around key leaders
• Full-blown political organizations by 1796

12
Hamiltonians/Federalists

• Hamiltons economic program
• Retire debt with Whiskey Tax
• National bank
• Protective tariffs
• Strong central government for strong national
  economy
• Tied national government to monied class

13
Jeffersonians/Democratic Republicans (later
Democrats)

• Vision of yeoman, agrarian republic
• Small federal government, geographic expansion,
  common people

14
Parties by 1796

• Federalists
• Vision trade and manufacturing
• Merchants, artisans, commercial interests
• Strong central government
• Pro-British
• Northeast
• View of other mobocracy

• Democratic-Republicans
• Vision agrarian republic
• Farmers
• Limited central government
• Pro-French
• South and west
• View of other monarchy/aristocracy

15
Election of 1796
16
The Crisis of the Adams Presidency, 1796-1800

• Rooted in fears of France
• French Revolution spinning out of control
• French anger over Jays Treaty
• XYZ Affair and fears of French invasion

17
The Crisis of the Adams Presidency, 1796-1800

• Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
• Alien act targeted French radicals
• Sedition Act outlawed criticism of government
• Response Kentucky and Virginia Resolves

18
Election of 1800 and Triumph of
Democratic-Republicans

• The Election of 1800
• The electoral system
• Jefferson wins popular vote by huge margin,
  electoral vote by very narrow margin
• Electoral snafu throws election into House, where
  Federalists have a field day
• 35 votes later, Hamilton swings election to
  Jefferson, a fateful and perhaps fatal decision
• The End of the Federalist Era