A New Nation

1. A New Nation Kassiday Blevins 6th Hour 11/13/2008

2. George Washington – First President George Washington was the first president under the United States Constitution. On April 30, 1789 he promised to be the first president of the United States. He only served two terms as president. Washington was the one who started the way we address the president. He was the one who established the very first cabinet. Those are two ways he influenced today's government. During the Whiskey Rebellion he showed that it was not okay to not assemble peacefully. To stop this he sent out troops and it worked. Now, during the French Revolution he didn’t want to start anything with any other country because we had just gotten out of war. So, he decided to remain neutral. In 1796 Washington announced that he will no longer serve any terms as president. He urged the citizens to “observe good faith and justice toward all nations… Tis our policy to steer clear of all permanent alliances.

3. The Whiskey Rebellion In July of 1794 many farmers of western Pennsylvania rebelled against taxes and tax collectors. A very large group of people assembled and attacked the tax collectors. They also burnt down their buildings to. This scared the government and the leaders. Washington and the cabinet decided to send the army to stop all the madness. When the army reached the Appalachian Mountains the rebellion diminished. By the government sending out the Army they sent a message to al American citizens . If you assemble you must do it peacefully or the government will use force to stop you.

4. Struggle in the West The problem in the west was caused by the conflict between the Native Americans and the white settlers. One problem was that the Native Americans think they don’t have to listen to the US government because they aren’t really considered American citizens. Another problem is that the Native Americans are siding with Britain and Spain , Americas enemies. Also the British are building forts along the Ohio River Valley. The last problem is the white settlers and Native Americans start fighting. This fighting is known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers. This battle was won by the white settlers and took away any chance for the Native Americans keeping their land in the Ohio River Valley. To stop all of the problems the Native Americans and the white settlers signed the Treaty of Greenville. It states how the Native Americans gave up most of their land in the Ohio River Valley to keep peace between the two of them.

5. Jefferson vs. Hamilton Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had many different views about how to run America. Jefferson thought that the government should be ruled by the people and have a strong state government. But Hamilton, on the other hand, thought it should be ruled by the wealthy class and have a strong federal government. Jefferson wants you to side with the French, but Hamilton wants you to side with the British. Hamilton believed that we should have a loose interpretation of the Constitution, but Jefferson thinks it should be a strong interpretation. Hamilton believed in the National Bank, but Jefferson believed in state banks. Jefferson thought we should emphasize on agriculture . But Hamilton want us to focus on manufacturing. Hamilton favored the tariffs because it was making him money. But, Jefferson thought that free trade was a good idea because it gave the lower class a chance to by imported goods. Many of the citizens of the United States picked sides and this is how political parties were started.

6. Second President- John Adams Adams had spent most of his life in the national spotlight. He was one of Massachusetts’ most active patriots. Adams later became the ambassador to the French and Great Britain. He also helped with the “Treaty of Paris. Adams also served as George Washington’s vice president. He finally became president but when he did he inherited the disputes between the French and the US. When Adams tried to settle the dispute the French to it as an attempt to help the British. The French punished us by captured our ships and forced the sailors to fight in the war. When he heard about this it made in furious. So, he sent representatives to talk with the French but they refused unless he gave them a bribe or a loan. President Adams refused and this now made the French angry too. So, we went into undeclared war.

7. Election of 1800- President of Thomas Jefferson The Election of 1800 was an exciting one. The Federalist candidates were John Adams and Charles Pinckney. The Republican candidates were Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. This election made the twelfth amendment which states that the electors had to vote for president and vice president on separate ballots. This election also had a tie so the House of Representatives stepped in to break the tie by picking a candidate. They picked Thomas Jefferson. He had many ideas about how to make the government a success. He wanted to have the strength of the country relied on independent farmers, keep federal government small, allow people to own their own property, reduce the size of the military, and expand the nation west, He also accomplished many of these things in office like allowing the alien and sedition acts to expire, reducing the national debt, reduced the size and expenses of the military, repeal the whiskey tax, and reduced the number of government workers.

8. Louisiana Purchase and Expansion Westward The Louisiana Territory was first owned by Napoleon Bonaparte from France. France needed money for the war and had no need for this land. So, they put it up for sale. Thomas Jefferson didn’t know if it was against the constitution to buy new land but he ended up buying it anyways. Finally, they decided on a price of 15 million dollars. Jefferson thought the territory would provide cheap and abundant farmland for generations to come. It was finally approved in October 1803 and doubled the size of the United States. The territory was explored by Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike Lewis and Clark explored along the Missouri River to find a way to the Pacific Ocean . Zebulon Pike explored present-day Colorado.

9. Lewis and Clark When Jefferson wanted to know more about the Louisiana Territory so he chose two very knowledgeable men. One was Meriwether Lewis, a 28 year old man who served in the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion. The other man was William Clark who was a friend of Meriwether Lewis . Together they both explored the Louisiana Territory. A group of expert river men, gunsmiths, carpenters, scouts, and a cook all went with them. The two of them also took mixed Native American and French interpreters. The group left St. Louis in the spring of 1804and slowly went up the Missouri River to gather information. Along the way, they met a Shoshone women named Sacagawea who joined the group as a guide. After traveling 4000 miles they finally reached the Pacific Ocean. The group spent the winter their then went back to St. Louis on separate routes. They returned in September 1806. On the trip they collected information about the people, animals, plants, and geography of the west.

10. Battle at Sea There were many battles that took place at sea. One battle was the War with Tripoli. We refused to pay Tripoli money to leave us alone. Finally, Tripoli agreed to stop demanding money and the United States paid a ransom of 60,000 dollars to release American prisoners. Another problem at sea is when America’s neutral rights were violated. At first Britain threatened to search all ships trading with France. When France heard of this they also started searching ships that were trading with Britain. Then, Britain begins capturing American sailors. Then, this problem lead to the attack of the Chesapeake when they were carrying cargo. When the British demanded to search the ship the sailors refused so then they attacked the ship and destroyed it. All of these problems lead to the War of 1812.

11. War of 1812 The War of 1812 is fought against the British and doesn’t start out very well for the Americans. The American army was not very well prepared for this war. They had to few of troops, had poor leadership, troops were poorly trained, and the British were much stronger than they thought. Finally, on October 5 the war began to get better for the U.S. They had killed a great Native American leader Tecumseh. This set the Native Americans and the British back a great deal. But then the British attacked the capital, Washington D.C. when they entered the city they destroyed everything in sight. The British headed to the city of Baltimore next but they did not win there. As the fires burned in Washington a thunderstorm came and put out the fires and saved the city from even more destruction. When the British finally ended the war they felt that the war was not worth the effort and they would gain little. Before word spread that the war was over one more battle was fought. This battle was the Battle of New Orleans. The U.S. won the battle and hundreds of British were killed. This battle is how Andrew Jackson became a national hero. Also the “Star Spangled Banner” was wrote during this war.