Introduction: George Washington ’ s Inauguration

1. Introduction: George Washington’s Inauguration A colorful image from around the time of the War

2. Politics in an Age of Passion • Hamilton’s Program • As secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton’s long-range goal was to make the United States a major commercial and military power.

3. Politics in an Age of Passion • Hamilton’s Program • His program had five parts: • Create creditworthiness by assuming state debts • Create a new national debt • Create a bank of the United States • Tax producers of whiskey • Impose tariffs and provide government subsidies to industries

4. Liberty and Washington

5. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Emergence of Opposition • Opposition to Hamilton’s plan was voiced by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. • Hamilton’s plan depended on a close relationship with Britain. • Opponents believed the United States’ future lay westward, not with Britain.

6. Venerate the Plough

7. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Jefferson-Hamilton Bargain • At first, opposition to Hamilton’s program arose almost entirely from the South. • Hamilton argued the “general welfare” clause of the Constitution justified his program.

8. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Jefferson-Hamilton Bargain • Jefferson insisted on “strict construction” of the Constitution, which meant the federal government could only exercise powers specifically listed in that document. • Jefferson agreed southerners would accept Hamilton’s plan in exchange for placing the national capitol on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia.

9. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Impact of the French Revolution • The French Revolution became very radical by 1793, and France went to war with Britain. • George Washington declared American neutrality. • Jay’s Treaty abandoned any American alliance with France by positioning the United States close to Britain.

10. Politics in an Age of Passion • Political Parties • The Federalist Party supported Washington and Hamilton’s economic plan and close ties with Britain. • Freedom rested on deference to authority. • The Whiskey Rebellion • The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 proved to Federalists that democracy in the hands of ordinary citizens was dangerous.

11. A 1794 painting by the Baltimore artist

12. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Republican Party • Republicans were more sympathetic to France and had more faith in democratic self-government. • Political language became increasingly heated. • An Expanding Public Sphere • The political debates of the 1790s expanded the public sphere.

13. Politics in an Age of Passion • An Expanding Public Sphere • Newspapers and pamphlets were a primary vehicle for political debate. • Supporters of the French Revolution and critics of the Washington administration formed nearly fifty Democratic-Republican Societies in 1793–1794. • The societies argued that political liberty meant not only voting at elections but also constant involvement in public affairs.

14. A print shop in the early republic

15. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Rights of Women • The expansion of the public sphere offered women an opportunity to take part in political discussions, read newspapers, and hear orations. • Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women • Judith Sargent Murray

16. Politics in an Age of Passion • The Rights of Women • A common call was for greater educational opportunities. • Women and the Republic • Although politics was a realm for men, the American Revolution had deepened the democratization of public life.

17. An engraving from The Lady’s Magazine

18. The Adams Presidency • The Election of 1796 • Adams won with seventy-one electoral votes and Jefferson became vice president with sixty-eight electoral votes. • His presidency was beset by crises. • Quasi-war with France • Fries’s Rebellion

19. The Adams Presidency • The “Reign of Witches” • The Alien and Sedition Acts limited civil liberties. • The main target was the Republican press. • The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions • The Sedition Act thrust freedom of expression to the center of discussions of American liberty. • No other state endorsed the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions.

20. The Adams Presidency • The “Revolution of 1800” • Jefferson defeated Adams in the 1800 presidential campaign. • A constitutional crisis emerged with the election. • Twelfth Amendment • Hamilton-Burr duel • Adams’s acceptance of defeat established the vital precedent of a peaceful transfer of power from a defeated party to its successor.

21. An 1800 campaign banner

22. Map 8.1 The Presidential Election 1800

23. The Adams Presidency • Slavery and Politics • Jefferson’s election as president was aided by the three-fifths clause, which gave a disproportionate number of electoral votes to southern states. • The First Congress received petitions calling for emancipation, which set off a long sectional debate in that body. • In 1793, Congress adopted a law to enforce the Constitution’s fugitive slave clause.

24. The Adams Presidency • The Haitian Revolution • Events during the 1790s underscored how powerfully slavery defined and distorted American freedom. • A successful slave uprising led by Toussaint L’Ouverture established Haiti as an independent nation in 1804.

25. The Adams Presidency • Gabriel’s Rebellion • A slave rebellion was attempted in Virginia in 1800. • The conspiracy was rooted in Richmond’s black community. • Gabriel spoke the language of liberty forged in the American Revolution and reinvigorated during the 1790s. • Virginia’s slave laws became stricter.

26. Jefferson in Power • Jefferson’s inaugural address was conciliatory toward his opponents. • However, he hoped to dismantle as much of the Federalist system as possible.

27. Jefferson in Power • Judicial Review • John Marshall’s Supreme Court established the Court’s power to review laws of Congress and of the states (judicial review). • Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the precedent of the Court’s power of judicial review relative to federal laws. • Fletcher v. Peck (1810) extended judicial review to state laws.

28. Jefferson in Power • The Louisiana Purchase • To purchase Louisiana, Jefferson had to abandon his conviction that the federal government was limited to powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution. • Jefferson’s concern with the territory was over trade through New Orleans. • Jefferson asserted that the additional territory would allow the republic to remain agrarian and therefore virtuous.

29. White Hall Plantation

30. Map 8.2 The Louisiana Purchase

31. Jefferson in Power • Lewis and Clark • Lewis and Clark’s object was both scientific and commercial. • Their journey from 1804 to 1806 brought invaluable information and paved the way for a transcontinental country. A page from William Clark’s journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition (right)

32. New Orleans in 1803, at the time of the Louisiana Purchase.

33. Jefferson in Power • The Barbary Wars • Jefferson hoped to avoid foreign entanglements. • Barbary pirates from North Africa demanded bribes from American ships. • Because Jefferson refused to increase payments to the pirates, the United States and Tripoli engaged in a naval conflict that ended with American victory in 1804.

34. Jefferson in Power • The Embargo • War between France and Great Britain hurt American trade. • The Embargo Act resulted in a crippled U.S. economy. • Replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act

35. Jefferson in Power • Madison and Pressure for War • Macon’s Bill no. 2 allowed trade to resume. • The War Hawks called for war against Britain. • Wished to annex Canada

36. The “Second War of Independence” • The Indian Response and Tecumseh’s Vision • The period from 1800 to 1812 was an “age of prophecy” among Indians. • Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa tried to revive a pan-Indian movement and unite against white Americans. • William Henry Harrison destroyed Prophetstown at the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811).

37. The “Second War of Independence” • The War of 1812 • Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war. • The government found it difficult to finance the war. • Americans enjoyed few military successes. • Andrew Jackson achieved the war’s greatest victory at New Orleans in January 1815. • Peace officially came with the Treaty of Ghent in December 1814, although news of it did not arrive until after the Battle of New Orleans.

38. Map 8.3 The War of 1812

39. The bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort

40. The “Second War of Independence” • The War’s Aftermath • The war confirmed the ability of a Republican government to conduct a war without surrendering its institutions. • The End of the Federalist Party • A casualty of the war was the Federalist Party. • Hartford Convention