Introduction

1. Introduction • George Washington left pubic life in 1783 to manage his plantation, astonishing European observers but bolstering the authority of elected Patriot leaders. • “’Tis a Conduct so novel… inconceivable to People [here],” reported John Trumbull an American painter from London.

2. The Political Crisis of 1790s • Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson offered contrasting visions of the future. • Would the U.S. remain an agricultural nation governed by local officials, as Jefferson hoped? Or would Hamilton’s vision of a strong national government and an economy based on manufacturing become a reality?

3. The Federalists Implement the Constitution • The Constitution expanded the dimension of political life by allowing voters to choose national leaders as well as local and state officials. • George Washington elected – political father • Judiciary Act of 1789 • Bill of Rights – Madison submits 19 amendments, ten of which are approved

4. Hamilton’s Financial Program • Secretary of the treasury under Washington • Wanted to enhance national authority and to assist financiers and merchants • Public credit, national bank, and manufacturing • Program of national mercantilism – government-assisted economic development

5. Public Credit: Redemption and Assumption • As an underdeveloped nation, U.S. needed good credit to secure loans from Dutch and British financiers • Proposed national government further enhance public credit by assuming the war debts of the states

6. Creating a National Bank • Bank of the United States – would be jointly owned by private stockholders and the national government • Would provide stability to economy by making loans to merchants, handling government funds, and issuing bills of credit • Arguments ensue between strict constructionists and loose constructionists

7. Raising Revenue through Tariffs • Revenue to pay annual interest on the national debt • Excise taxes, including duty on whiskey distilled in the United States – $1 million/year • Higher tariffs on foreign imports • Did not support high protective tariffs, advocated for revenue tariffs • As American trade increased, customs revenue rose steadily and paid down the national debt

8. Jefferson’s Agrarian Vision • Hamilton’s financial measures had split Federalists into bitterly opposed factions • North and South division (south Jefferson and Madison – Democratic Republicans, Republicans for short) • Jefferson embraced optimism of Enlightenment, having seen the poverty of laborers in British factories, doubted wage-workers had the economic and political independence needed to sustain a republican polity • Yeoman farm families • Drew from Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

9. Turmoil in Europe • French Revolution in 1789 • First French Republic (1792-1804) goes to war against a British-led coalition of monarchies • Wheat prices leaped from 5 to 8 shillings a bushel, remain high for 20 years • Substantial profits in Chesapeake and Middle Atlantic farms (bread basket) • George and South Carolina profits go up as cotton industry blooms with invention of the cotton gin and mechanization of cloth production in Britain

10. The French Revolution • Proclamation of Neutrality during Washington’s term • Ideology – Jacobins “citizen” political clubs, distaste of church closures for rational religion based on “natural morality” • Wealthy Americans fearful of revolution condemned execution of King Louis XVI and 3000 aristocrats • Whiskey Rebellion

11. Important Terms • Jay’s Treaty • XYZ Affair • “Revolution of 1800”

12. The Westward Movement and Jeffersonian Revolution • Expanding Republic and Native American Resistance • Conflict over Land Rights • U.S. Army doubles under Washington in case of alliance between Western Confederacy and the British in Canada • Assimilation is rejected

13. Migration and Changing Farm Economy • Southern migrants – yeomen families flocked into Kentucky and Tennessee leaving Maryland and the planter-controlled society • Widespread landlessness and opposition to slavery sparked migration to Ohio River into future states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois • Carolinas to Gulf of Mexico

14. Jefferson’s Presidency • Marbury v. Madison 1803 • The Louisiana Purchase • Secessionist Schemes • Lewis and Clark Meet the Mandan and Sioux

15. War of 1812:Transformation of Politics • The Embargo of 1807 • Western War Hawks • Near disaster both militarily and politically • Federalists oppose the War

16. Chief Justice John Marshall • Marshall’s Federalist Law • Asserting National Supremacy Court Cases • McCulloch v. Maryland – interprets Constitution to give broad powers to the national government • Gibbons v. Ogden- give national government jurisdiction over interstate commerce

17. Monroe • Monroe Doctrine • “Era of Good Feelings”

18. Summary • 3 interrelated themes: public policy, westward expansion, and party politics • Alexander Hamilton v. Thomas Jefferson • Westward movement that transformed the agricultural economy and sparks new wars with the Indian peoples • Expansion shaped American diplomatic and military policy: Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, and the treaties negotiated by John Quincy Adams • First Party System • Federalists’ Sedition Act, the Republicans’ Embargo Act, and War of 1812