Americans saw a central authority as something to be distrusted, but necessary. In order to have the Ship of America stay afloat, it needed a captain which would be brave enough to face the storm
George Washington - 1789 - first unanimously elected president. Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson, Treasury: Alexander Hamilton, War: Henry Knox
Bill of Rights - Created because antifederalists criticized Constitution for its failure to guarantee individual rights such as freedom of religion and trial by jury. Organized the Supreme court. First Chief Justice - John Jay
Alexander Hamilton - "Father of National Debt," eager to shape policies to favor wealthy for economic and political support. Assumed debts of states. Assumption would shift attachment of wealthy creditors from states to government. Debt swelled to 75 mil. Thought a debt was what kept the country together and vitalized the financial system and government. Import and whiskey tariff.
Bank of the United States - Private, modeled after Bank of England. Deposit box for government's surplus money. Seen as unconstitutional by Jefferson (strict construction), but seen as proper and necessary by Hamilton(implied powers, loose construction). Commercial and financial centers of the North liked it, agricultural South opposed it.
Whiskey Rebellion - When troops reached Pennsylvania, the guys who started rebellion came apart or were captured. Very miniscule. New respect for government.
Democrat Republicans: Jefferson and Madison first organized their oppposition to Hamilton(National Republicans, Federalists). Founders at Philadelphia did not envision the existence of permanent political parties. Balances out the government.
French Revolution - 26 years, affected American political and social life. Louis XIV executed. French vs. Austria(Britain). At first the Democrat-Republicans were overjoyed at the second revolution, but they regretted the bloodshed.
Neutrality Proclamation 1793 - Franco-American alliance 1778 still valid. Had to help French defend west indies from British ships. Washington wanted to avoid the fight. Strategy of delay in order to grow. Told Americans to be impartial to both sides. Did not consult congress. French ambassador Citizen Edmon Genet thought Americans really wanted the neutrality to end. Recruited armies to invade Spanish Florida, Louisiana, and British Canada. Proclamation illustrated that self-interest was the basic cement of alliances.
British did not abide the peace treaty of 1783 and retained northern frontier posts on U.S. soil. British agents sold firearms and firewater to the Miami Confederacy(8 indian nations who terrorized American invaders)
"Mad Anthony" Wayne beat Miamis at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Britain abandoned them. Indians offered peace.
Treaty of Greenville - 1795, confederacy gave up a lot of Old Nothwest, and recieved 20,000 and annual 9,000, the right to hunt in the ceded lands, and indians hoped it was recognition of indian's sovereign status
The beginning of 1763 marked one of the major events that would contribute to the end of British colonial relations. On February 3, 1763 the French and Indian War finally ended in British victory, but while the British celebrated the French’s defeat, colonists feared the oncoming reverberations the war would have on them. The main motive behind the war was for possession over the French fur trade territory in North America. To the colonists, the war was being fought by and for Britain not the colonies. The benefits of the victory only pertained to Britain. The after effect of the war for the colonies was the trampling on their need for expansion. During the war, Native Americans had fought with the French because of how well they treated them. Britain was notorious for abusing the Native Americans, therefore once the French were defeated; they began attacking western settlements of colonists. To avoid confrontation, the Proclamation of 1763 was passed by Parliament. The Proclamation established a limit to the greatly needed colonial expansion. Specifically, the Proclamation forbid settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The passing of the Proclamation of 1763 infuriated colonists ...
During the early 1800s, two parties were developed having different perspectives on government and the Constitution. The Democratic Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were always characterized by following the strict construction of the constitution. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, were characterized by following the broad construction of the constitution. The presidencies of Jefferson and Madison proved this characterization to be somewhat accurate. Although the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists did support their own ideas and views, they also did many things that contradicted them.
The creation of political parties originally caused some conflict. Many people thought that they were evil. As time went on, the people warmed up to the idea, and characterizations of the Republican and Federalist parties began. The Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, strictly interpreted the Constitution, but eventually, they loosened their views on the interpretation of the Constitution. On the other hand, Federalists held views on a loose interpretation of the Constitution, until they realized that a more strict interpretation could be a good thing.
The Federalists were in favor of a strong central government, while the anti-federalists opposed most of their ideas. Over time, the gradual development of political parties resulted in the Democrat and Republican parties we have today. The Whiskey Rebellion and the differences between the Federalists and Antifederalists were a couple of the main causes that led to the rise of political parties in the 1790’s. The conflict between the Antifederalists and the Federalists had a tremendous impact on the formation of political parties. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were both members of President George Washington's Cabinet, but had completely different views on politics.
The Jeffersonian-Republicans (also known as the Democratic-Republicans) were opposed to the Federalists from before 1801-1817. Leaders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison created the party in order to oppose the economic and foreign policies of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republicans supported the French, whereas the Federalists supported the British. Each party had its set of views. The Federalists supported a loose interpretation of the Constitution, a strong central government, high tariffs, a navy, military spending, a national debt, and a national bank (all ideas of the Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton). The Democratic-Republicans opposed all of the said ideas and fought for states' rights and the citizens to govern the nation. Originally, each of these parties stuck to their own views and ideas, but eventually would accept eachother's views and use them as their own.
The differing opinions on how the government in the post-Revolutionary war period should be run ultimately created the first rise in political parties. The Federalist belief in a government run by wealthy men and opposing Republican support for and agrarian society split the nations people in support of a government most beneficial to them. Differing reactions to the French Revolution showed the distinct difference in Federalist and Republican belief of who the government should be run under. The National Bank and the excise tax on liquor revealed differing views on how strictly the Constitution should be interpreted and the Alien and Sedition Acts reveal an attempt of one party to dissolve another. The contrasting views of Hamilton's Federalism and Jefferson's Republicanism were the ultimate contributors to splitting the nation on views and establishing the first political parties.
During his term as secretary of the treasury, he acted with the power and commanding force of a Prime Minister. None of the other founding fathers contributed as much to the economy’s growth, and the shape of the country in general, as he did. Alexander Hamilton was the most influential of the United States’ early politicians in the development of the country’s economy. One of the earliest examples of Hamilton’s power was his role in the national assumption of state debts. After the Revolutionary War, individual states had varying amounts of debt.
One such issue was that of the National debt and creating a National Bank. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed that Congress should establish a national bank, in which private investors could buy stock, could print paper money, and keep government finances safe. Washington signed the bill establishing a national bank and started a strong foundation for a thriving economy and a stable currency.
In today's day in age, the Democratic and Republican parties seem to be completely diverse. These two parties have completely opposing views on topics ranging from social issues, health care, tax policy, labor and free trade, foreign policy, crime and capital punishment, energy and environmental issues, and even education. Once upon a time however, these two groups were not as polarized as they have become. Both were once a single party known as the Democratic-Republican Party, formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791. This sole party favored the idea of a decentralized, democratic government. They despised the idea of the U.S government becoming anything similar to England's monarchy system at the time. They also supported states’ rights as well as the literal and strict interpretation of the U.S Constitution. The group's purpose was to stand against the Federalists who were
The Bill of Rights was created as a listing of the rights granted to citizens, the Bill of Rights serves to protect the people from a powerful government. These civil rights granted to U.S. Citizens are included in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Locke’s ideas about checks and balances and the division of church and state were later embodied in the U.S. Constitution as well. The Constitution replaced a more weakly organized system of government as outlined under the Articles of Confederation. John Locke was an English philosopher who lived during 1632-1704.
After the first War for Independence, The United States was approximately $52 million in debt. Due to having such bad financial problems, the United States created a national Bank to create one unified currency, to take away all state debts, and to issue loans to the people to promote growth. This National Bank was created by Alexander Hamilton who was a Federalist, and once Jefferson came to be the President, he continued the idea of the national bank because it was helping to reduce the national debt. The primary reason for the National Bank being a representation of a Federalist idea was because since it was issuing loans to people it was able to promote industrial growth which was one of the main goals of the Federalist party. From Jefferson continuing the use of the National Bank thru his presidency he demonstrates his need to continue a loose constructionist idea.
Even before the eve of the Revolution, the colonists constantly had the image of independence lingering in the back of their heads. The colonists felt that they were first on a loose leash, and as that leash tightened over the years, the colonists began to understand their true culture and identity. As time passed, the colonists developed a greater sense of their identity and unity as Americans and by the eve of the Revolution, even though at first the colonists were unorganized and had problems with being united, they remained determined to gain their identity and unity as Americans.
Set in the middle of the Chickamauga Wars between 1776 and 1794 in which the Native American Tribes attempted to halt the expansion of American settlers into their territories, the Battle of Wabash took place in the fall of 1791. Just two years after the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, there were challenges the United States faced. The challenges were taking place in the area of the Old Northwest Territory. This territory was occupied by the Western Confederacy, comprised of the Native American Tribes; Ottowa, Ojibwe, Pottawatomi, Miami, Shawnee, Delewares, Wyandot, Mingo and Cherokee. The vital goal of the Native Tribes was to stop the westward expansion of the American settlers. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1786 ending the American War of Independence where the United States gained the territories where the Indians occupied. The natives in this territory, however, did not recognize this treaty and were greatly opposed to the incoming ...
Jefferson’s beliefs in local self government created differences between himself and Alexander Hamilton which created the Federalists (Hamilton followers) and the Democrat Republican’s (Jefferson followers).
The Great Pueblo revolt of 1680 all started with the droughts of 1660 when the Southwest had severe drought that brought famine and disease. During this, hungry Apaches who couldn’t find food on plains attacked the pueblos. This angered the people on the pueblos, but there new leader Pope’, a mysterious medicine doctor, tried to keep the Indian beliefs around and resisted the Christian religion. The Spaniards hated this, so they captured his older brother. This enraged Pope’ against the Spaniards so he held meetings to tell everybody that the Spaniards must leave. The Spaniards found out about this and arrested Pope, publicly flogged him and released him back to the pueblos. When he was captured, the pueblo people set fires in the Indian villages in New Mexico. To take care of the fires, the Spaniards sent troops to halt the ritual of setting the fires by pueblo people, and they arrested all of the medicine doctors, killing several of them. The people believed that the doctors protected them from evil, so all of the pueblo towns wanted to unite against the Spaniards. The group from the pueblos went to the governor of Santa Fe and told him that if the doctors that were imprisoned weren’t released by sundown, all of the Spaniards in New Mexico would be killed. They released the prisoners because the Indians outnumber the Spaniards by a huge amount.