Unit Seven: The Federalist Era

Unit Seven: The Federalist Era Washington to Adams

Indian Problems • The next major domestic issue that Washington had to deal with was the relationship between the new government and the Indians. • After the Revolutionary War, American pioneers began moving west passed the Appalachian Mountains settling in Indian territories. • The Native American tribes of the Northwest territory (Ohio river region) did not like the encroachment on their ancestral lands by the American settlers on the grounds that they never signed a treaty giving them any rights to the land.

Northwest Indian War • The tribes of the Northwest Territory (Miami, Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot (Huron), and etc.) joined together into the Western Confederacy led by Little Turtle (Michikinikua) to fight against the Unites States, which became known as the Northwest Indian War. • To protect the settlers in the region Washington sent General Josiah Harmer with a small military unit to stop the Indians. • Harmer was quickly defeated by Little Turtle, who stepped up raids on settlers.

Northwest Indian War • The next year Washington sent Major General Arthur St. Clair to defeat the confederacy, but were defeated because of poor defensives and training for the men. (half of his men were killed or wounded) • In 1792 Washington sent General “Mad Anthony” Wayne with over 3,600 men to defeat the Indians. • Wayne developed a new war strategy starting from Fort Washington on the Ohio River, moving northward attacking each tribe individually and establishing forts as he went.

Northwest Indian War • Little Turtle wanted to make a treaty, but the war continued due to the urging of the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket. • Even though Blue Jacket was able to defeat Wayne in a couple of battles he could not stop his advance and was defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near Lake Erie. • The Western Confederacy signed the Treaty of Greenville giving the Northwest Territory to the United States.

Effect of the War • To deal with the Indian issue Washington established the Office of Indian Affairs as part of the War Department. • Washington assigned Indian agents to handle issues with specific tribes and give them annuities (government money and goods for land use). • Most agents were swindlers (people who cheat others of property or money) because they sold off Indian goods or made up fake tribes. • The Native Americas were also placed in territorial boundary areas that later became known as reservations. • The war also placed distrust between the Americans and British because they were supplying the Indians with guns and ammunition.

Foreign Affairs • Washington not only had to deal with issues at home, but also with problems abroad (foreign affairs) that directly affected American interests. • The three main foreign affairs problems were: • 1.) The French Revolution • 2.) The British disrespect of American maritime rights. • 3.) The Spanish refusal to allow right of deposit in New Orleans and the use of the Mississippi River.

The French Revolution • Inspired by the American Revolution in 1789 the French people rose up against their absolute monarch Louis the XVI starting the French Revolution by taking the Tennis Court Oath, storming the Bastille (debtors prison) July 14, 1789, and then forming of the National Constituent Assembly. • The motto of the revolution was “Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality”. • Most people in America supported the French people’s want for a democratic nation until the second and more violent stage of the revolution began.

The French Revolution • The second phase of the French Revolution also known as the Reign of Terror was a movement led by Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins to purge the French government of the nobility through means of execution by a device called the Guillotine. (This was sparked by the execution of Louis XVII and his wife Marie Antoinette) • During this time Great Britain with the aid of other European nations launched a war against the new radical government in France.

Scenes from the Revolution IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- Charles Dickenins “A Tale of Two Cities”

The French Revolution • The question in America was who to side with the French or the British? • To sway Washington in the direction of France, the French diplomat Edmond Genet was sent to America. Instead of meeting with Washington he went through the countryside trying to recruit Americans to fight for the French, this became known as the Citizen Genet Affair. (Some American merchants did fight as privateers for the French navy) • Washington chose to side with neither and issued the Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 stating that America would be “friendly and impartial” toward both.

War? • The British did not want the Americans to trade with France, so the British navy began to openly board American vessels and impress (force one nation’s sailors to serve for another country) American sailors into the British Navy. • This act of disrespect made many Americans mad and pushed Congress to almost declare war on Britain, but before this happened Washington sent John Jay on a diplomatic mission to London.

Jay’s Treaty • John Jay was sent to England to make a treaty (an agreement between two or more nations) to stop the impressment of American sailors and to get England to respect American maritime rights. • The British signed Jay’s Treaty which stated that they would leave the Northwest Territory (evacuate their forts) and gave America the most-favored nation title as a trading partner. • Most Americans did not like the treaty because it did nothing about the issue of impressment or compensating American merchants for their losses.

The Spaniards • Jay’s Treaty did have a surprising twist with American relations with Span. • The Spanish government like the British did not live up the Treaty of Paris of 1783 because they would not allow American farmers to use the Mississippi River or give right of deposit (ability to use a port for trade) for the port of New Orleans. • The Spanish and the Americans also disputed over the southern boundary of America and the colony of Florida.

Pinckney's Treaty • Thomas Pinckney was sent to Spain to negotiate a treaty with the Spanish diplomat (a formal representative of a country) Don Manuel de Godoy which was called Pinckney's Treaty or the Treaty of San Lorenzo. • The treaty gave America the use of the Mississippi River, New Orleans, and recognized the 31st Parallel as the boundary with Florida. • The American public happily accepted the treaty because it gave frontier farmers finally a means to quickly transport their goods abroad.

Effects of the Treaties • The Treaty of Greenville, Jay’s, and Pinckney's all encouraged American settlers to push past the Alleghenies and Appalachian Mountains and settle the frontier lands. • In 1800 Congress passed the Land Act developed by William Henry Harrison which allowed pioneers to acquire public domain lands at a cheap rate ($2 an acre) and to purchase it on credit.

Washington’s Farwell • After Washington’s eight years in office, he decided that a President should only serve two terms and declined to run again for office going home to Mt. Vernon. • Before Washington left he gave the new government two warnings for the future in his Farwell Address: • 1.) Unity- that special interest groups (lobbyists), sectional discrimination, and political parties would cause the people to fractionalize (split). • 2.) Neutrality – that America should not make permanent ties with foreign powers or the country may be dragged into others conflicts.

Mt. Vernon & Washington Click on George Washington Did not have wooden false teeth myth Cherry tree myth, just a story

Unit Seven: The Federalist Era