Chapter 8 Beginning - The Impact of the French Revolution

What were the 1790's referred to as?

"An age of passion"

What did Washington say regarding political parties?

"they serve to organize faction" and substitute the aims of "a small but artful minority" for the "will of the nation"

What were Hamilton's long-term goals?

To make the US a major commercial and military power, modeling Great Britain

Why was John Jay sent to Britain?

To present objections of Britain's actions as the chief justice. He negotiated an agreement in 1794 that produced the greatest public controversy of Washington's presidency

How many parts did Hamilton's plan have? What were they?

5 parts

How many electors voted for Washington?

69 electors - all of the electors

Edmond Genet

A French envoy who was welcomed to America by admirers of the French revolution, and was seeking support for his government. He commissioned American ships to attack British vessels under the French flag before the Washington Administration asked for his recall. he remained in the US, deeming it safer than France, and married the daughter of George Clinton (gov. of NY)

How did the permanent alliance between the US an France since 1778 complicated the US involvement in European affairs?

America wanted to remain neutral in the European affairs

What day did Washington become the new president?

April 30, 1789

What were the original methods of electing the president?

Assumes that candidates will run as individuals, not on a party ticket. The second place candidate would be VP

Who did Hamilton's whiskey act appear to single out and why?

Backcountry farmers who distilled their grain into whiskey to be more easily carried to the market. The plan seemed to single them out to enrich bondholders

Who surveyed for the capitol city?

Benjamin Banneker

Who did America draw close to as a result of the division over the French revolution?

Britain

Major Pierre Charles L'enfant

Capitol city planner and French-born war vet who designed the city based on the great urban centers of Europe with wide boulevards, parks, and fountains

What caused political divisions to deepen?

Events in Europe such as the french revolution

What did Washington's speech express?

Expressed the revolutionary generation's conviction that it had embarked on an experiment of enormous historical importance, and that the outcome was by no means certain. The success depended on the American experiment in self-government. He said, "preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government,"

In what was was Washington a model of self-sacrificing Republican virtue?

He retired to private life after the Revolutionary War, despite some army officers suggestion that he set himself up as a dictator

What did Jefferson think of Hamilton's system?

He thought it originated in principles adverse to liberty and was calculated to undermine and demolish the republic Hamilton's plans for a standing army seemed to be a bold threat to freedom, and the national bank and assumption of state debts they feared would introduce into American politics the same corruption that had undermined British liberty and enrich those already wealthy at the expense of ordinary Americans

What did the House of Representatives observe in a resolution congratulating Washington on his inauguration

He was chosen by the freest people on earth

What was the general perception of Washington's VP, John Adams?

He was widely respected as one of the main leaders in the drive for independence

Where did Washington deliver his inaugural address? In front of who?

Inside the federal hall in front of members of Congress and other dignitaries

what did John jay's treaty say?

It contained no British concessions on impressment or the rights of American shipping. Britain did agree to abandon outposts on the western frontier which it was supposed to have done in 1783, but had not. In return The US guaranteed favored treatment to British imported goods.

What did Jay's treaty mean for america's alliances?

It in effect canceled the American-French alliance and recognized British and economic and naval supremacy

What was the significance of Patterson, NJ?

It was Hamilton's failed private effort to build an industrial city

What was significant about Washington's suit?

It was a plain suit of American cloth, not a fancy European suit

Who supported Hamilton's financial plan? Who did not?

It won support from American financiers, manufacturers, and merchants, but alarmed those who believed the new nation's destiny lay in charting a different path of development

Which influential Americans did not support Hamilton's plan? What did they want for the future of the country?

James Madison and Thomas Jefferson; they thought that the future lay in westward expansion, not connections with Europe. They had little desire to promote manufacturing or urban growth or to see economic policy shaped in the interests of bankers and business leaders. Their goal was a republic of independent farmers marketing grain, tobaccos, and other products freely to the entire world. They believed that free trade, not a system of government favoritism through tariffs and subsidies, would promote American prosperity while fostering greater social equality

Why did events in France become a bitter source of conflict in America?

Jefferson and his followers believed that despite its excesses, the revolution marked a historic victory for the idea of popular self government which must be defended at all costs, while to Washington, Hamilton, and their supporters, the revolution raised the specter of anarchy

Why did Jefferson see the new bank as unconstitutional?

The right of Congress to create a bank was not mentioned in the Constitution

What did American leaders believe the success of the new government depended on?

Maintaining political harmony

What did Washington serve as a symbol to?

National unity

What was the nation's temporary capital in 1789?

New York City

Where did Washington take his oath of office?

On balcony of federal hall in front of a large hall

What behind-the-scenes negotiations occurred to convince the south to accept Hamilton's plan?

Plans that culminated a famous dinner in 1790 where Jefferson brokered an agreement where southerners accepted Hamilton's fiscal program (with exception of subsidies to manufacturers) in exchange for the establishment of the permanent national capital on the Potomac river between MD and VA

What did Congress decide to put on the nation's first coins?

Rather than the head of state (as European monarchies often did) they put an impression emblematic of liberty with word itself prominently displayed

What did southerners hope the location of the new capital would do for them?

Southerners hoped that the location would enhance their own powers in the government while removing it from the influence of the northern financiers and merchants whom Hamilton seemed to be allied with

What did most Americans agree with Washington about?

That freedom was a special genius of American institutions

What did critics of Jay's treaty claim?

That it aligned the US with monarchical Britain in its conflict with republican France

What did the British do during the French Revolution?

The British seized hundreds of American ships trading with the French West Indies and resumed the hated practice of impressment ( kidnapping sailors, including American citizens of British origin, to serve in their navy)

What did Jefferson and Madison conclude that the greatest threat to American freedom was?

The alliance of a powerful central government with an emerging class of commercial capitalists that Hamilton appeared to envision

What were American leaders anxious to avoid?

The emergence of organized political parties which had already appeared in states; parties were considered divisive and disloyal

What did opposition in Congress threaten?

The enactment of Hamilton's plans

what region did opposition to Hamilton's plan arise from?

The south, the region that had the least interest in manufacturing development and the least diversified economy. They also had fewer holders of federal bonds than the middle states and New England

What was the general American opinion of the French Revolution in 1789?

They welcomed it, inspired by their own recent revolution

Which influential leaders did Washington bring into his cabinet?

Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton as the head of the treasury department. he also appointed a 6 member supreme court headed by John Jay

What were Hamilton's immediate aims

To establish the nation's financial stability bring to the government support the country's most powerful financial interests and encourage economic development

How did political divisions first surface?

Upon difference of opinions over Hamilton's financial plan in 1790-1791

Why did VA in particular dislike Hamilton's plan?

VA had paid off its war debt, and did not see why it should be taxed to benefit states like MA that had failed to do so

John Marshall

Virginian who would become chief justice of supreme court believed that human liberty depended in a great measure on success of french revolution

What caused many southerners who had supported the new constitution to be strict constitutionalists?

When Hamilton insisted that all his plans were authorized by the constitution's ambiguous clause empowering congress to enact laws for the general welfare, they insisted that the federal government could only exercise powers specifically listed in the document

Part 5 of Hamilton's plan?

imposition of a tariff ( a tax on imported foreign goods) in a reports on manufactures delivered to congress 12/1791 Government subsidies were to encourage the development of factories that could manufacture products currently purchased from abroad

What did American leaders fear?

being divided into parties swayed by rival European powers, in the words of John Quincy Adams

What were the goals of the Hamilton's bank of the US?

hold public funds, issue bank notes that would serve as currency and make loans to the gov't when necessary all while returning a tidy profit to its stockholders

How did the crowd react to Washington's inauguration?

With large repeated shouts of approval

How did the French Revolution take a more drastic turn in 1793?

With the execution of King Louis XVI along with other aristocrats and foes of the new government, as well as war breaking out between France and GB

Were did political parties originate?

Withing Congress; they then spread to the general public

What did Hamilton's financial plans hinge on?

close ties with Britain as a trading partner

Part 3 of Hamilton's plan?

creation of a bank of the US modeled on bank of England to serve as the nation's main financial agent It would be a private corporation rather than a branch of the government

Part 2 of Hamilton's plan?

creation of a new national debt old debts would be replaced by the new interest bearing bonds issued to the government's creditors This would give men of economic substance a stake in promoting the new nation's stability since the stronger and more economically secure the federal government, the more likely it would be to pay off debts

How did "speculators" seem to reap a windfall under Hamilton's plan?

during the 1780's, speculators had bought up government bonds and paper notes at lower prices that had been used to pay those who fought in the revolution or supplied the army from these very people. Under Hamilton's plan speculators would reap a windfall by being paid at face value while the original holders received nothing.

Part 1 of Hamilton's plan?

establish the new nation's creditworthiness- create conditions where persons would loan money to the gov't by purchasing its bonds confident that they would be repaid. Hamilton proposed that the federal government assume responsibility for paying off at its full face value the national debt inherited from the war of independence as well as outstanding debt in the states

What did the Constitution say regarding political parties?

nothing was mentioned

Part 4 of Hamilton's plan?

raise revenue through a tax on producers of whiskey

When it came to constructing public buildings in the nation's new capital, who did most of the labor?

slaves

Why did Hamilton propose a national army?

to deal with uprisings like Shay's rebellion