chapter 6- a new nation
1789, news had arrived in America that the French had revolted against their king
Most Americans imagined that liberty was spreading from America to Europe, carried there by the returning French heroes who had taken part in the American Revolution. Initially, nearly all Americans had praised the French Revolution towns all over the country hosted speeches and parades on July 14 Women had worn neoclassical dress to honor republican principles, and men had pinned revolutionary cockades to their hats John Randolph, a Virginia planter, named two of his favorite horses Jacobin and Sans-Culotte after French revolutionary factions
There was much the Bill of Rights did not cover
Women had no special protections or guarantee of a voice in government Many states continued to restrict voting only to men who owned significant amounts of property And slavery not only continued to exist; it was condoned and protected by the Constitution.
extended republic
a republican form of government required a small and homogenous state: Citizens who were too far apart or too different could not govern themselves successfully Conventional wisdom said the United States needed to have a very weak central government, which simply represents the states on certain matters they had in common power should stay at a local state level But Madison's research had led him in a different direction believed it was possible to create "an extended republic" encompassing a diversity of people, climates, and customs
Governor James Bowdoin
saw the Shaysites as rebels who wanted to rule the government through mob violence called up militiamen to disperse them former Revolutionary general, Benjamin Lincoln, led the state force, insisted that MA must prevent "a state of anarchy, confusion and slavery." In January 1787, Lincoln's militia arrested more than one thousand Shaysites and reopened the courts.
Second
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson helped organize opposition from state governments both had supported the Sedition Act ironically Jefferson had written to Madison in 1789 that the nation should punish citizens for speaking "false facts" that injured the country both men now opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts on constitutional grounds in 1798, Jefferson made this point in a resolution adopted by the Kentucky state legislature the Virginia legislature adopted a similar document written by Madison.
For Federalists, this treaty was a significant accomplishment
Jay's Treaty gave the United States the ability to stay officially neutral in European wars preserving prosperity by protecting trade. For Jefferson's Republicans, the treaty was proof of Federalist treachery The Federalists had sided with a monarchy against a republic, and submitted to British influence in American affairs without even ending impressment In Congress, debate over the treaty transformed the Federalists and Republicans into two distinct political parties.
November 1794, despite their misgivings, John Jay signed a "treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation" with the British
Jay's Treaty required Britain to abandon its military positions in the Northwest Territory (especially Fort Detroit, Fort Mackinac, and Fort Niagara) by 1796 Britain agreed to compensate American merchants for their losses The United States agreed to treat Britain as its most prized trade partner, which meant supporting Britain in its current conflict with France Unfortunately, Jay had failed to secure an end to impressment.
delegates deciding on the form of the national executive branch
Should executive power be in the hands of a committee or a single person? How should its officeholders be chosen? On June 1, James Wilson moved that the national executive power reside in a single person but it conjured up images of an elected monarchy delegates also worried about how to protect the executive branch from corruption or undue control early September decided the president would be elected by a special electoral college
the process of disestablishment had started before the creation of the Constitution
South Carolina had been nominally Anglican before the Revolution but it had dropped denominational restrictions in its 1778 constitution allowed any church consisting of at least fifteen adult males to become "incorporated," or recognized for tax purposes as a state-supported church Churches needed only to agree to a set of basic Christian theological tenets, which were vague enough that most denominations could support them
In 1776, none of the American state governments observed the separation of church and state
all thirteen states either had tax-supported state churches required their officeholders to profess a certain faith to protect morality and social order 1833, Massachusetts, stopped supporting an official religious denomination Historians call that gradual process disestablishment.
The Alien Act
allowed the federal government to deport foreign nationals, posed as a national security threat the Sedition Act allowed the government to prosecute anyone found to be speaking or publishing "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government
Led by a fellow veteran named Daniel Shays
armed men "Shaysites" resorted to tactics like the patriots had used before the Revolution forming blockades around courthouses to keep judges from issuing foreclosure orders protesters saw their cause and their methods as an extension of the "Spirit of 1776"; they were protecting their rights and demanding redress for the people's grievances.
convention voted to send its proposed Constitution to Congress
congress which was sitting in New York proposed with a cover letter from George Washington plan for adopting the new Constitution required approval from special state ratification conventions, not just Congress During the ratification process, critics of the Constitution organized to persuade voters in the different states to oppose it
South Carolina continued its general establishment law until 1790
constitutional revision removed the establishment clause and religious restrictions on officeholders other states continued to support an established church The federal Constitution did not prevent this religious freedom clause in the Bill of Rights limited the federal government but not state governments not until 1833 that a state supreme court decision ended Massachusetts's support for the Congregational Church.
The first part of Hamilton's plan involved federal "assumption" of state debts
debt mostly left over from the Revolutionary War The federal government would assume responsibility for the states' unpaid debts totaled about $25 million Second, Hamilton wanted Congress to create a bank—a Bank of the United States.
Daniel Shays and other leaders were indicted for treason
eventually Shays and most of his followers received pardons Shays' Rebellion, generated intense national debate some Americans, like Thomas Jefferson, thought "a little rebellion now and then" helped keep the country free others feared anarchy and complained that the states could not maintain control For nationalists like James Madison of VA, Shays' Rebellion was an example of why the country needed a strong central government "Liberty," Madison warned, "may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power"
the Constitutional Convention had voted down a proposal from Virginia's George Mason
george mason was the author of Virginia's state Declaration of Rights, for a national bill of rights his omission became a rallying point for opponents of the document Many Anti-Federalists argued that without such a guarantee of specific rights, American citizens risked losing their personal liberty to the powerful federal government The pro-ratification Federalists argued a bill of rights was redundant and dangerous; by limiting future citizens from adding new rights
At the federal level, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 easily agreed that the national
government should not have an official religion, principle was upheld in 1791 when the First Amendment was ratified, guarantee of religious liberty limits of federal disestablishment discussed federal government supported Native American missionaries and congressional chaplains debate over whether the postal service should operate on Sundays, and whether non-Christians could act as witnesses in federal courts Americans continued to struggle to understand what it meant for Congress not to "establish" a religion.
July 1794
groups of armed farmers attacked federal marshals and tax collectors, burning down at least two tax collectors' homes an armed force led by the radical attorney David Bradford, robbed the U.S. mail and gathered about eight miles east of Pittsburgh President Washington responded quickly.
the Sedition and Alien Acts expired in 1800 and 1801.
ineffective at suppressing dissent. they were much more important for the loud reactions they had inspired helped many Americans decide what they didn't want from their national government.
James Madison had no intention of simply revising the Articles of Confederation
intended to produce a completely new national constitution worked on project on the history of government in the United States the other on the history of republics around the world He used this research as the basis for a proposal he brought with him to Philadelphia named Virginia Plan, after Madison's home state
The ban on the slave trade
lacked effective enforcement measures and funding instead of freeing illegally imported Africans, the act left their fate to the individual states states simply sold intercepted enslaved people at auction the ban preserved the logic of property ownership in human beings new federal government protected slavery as much as it expanded democratic rights and privileges for white men
many Americans' feelings toward France had changed dramatically
many Americans now feared the "contagion" of French-style liberty Debates over the French Revolution in the 1790s gave Americans opportunities to articulate what it meant to be American Did American national character rest on a radical and universal vision of human liberty? was America supposed to be essentially pious and traditional, an outgrowth of Great Britain? It was on this cracked foundation that many conflicts of the nineteenth century would rest.
Jefferson and Madison strongly opposed these negotiations
mistrusted Britain and saw the treaty as the American state favoring Britain over France French had recently overthrown their own monarchy, and Republicans thought the United States should be glad to have the friendship of a new revolutionary state suspected that a treaty with Britain would favor northern merchants and manufacturers over the agricultural South.
The Marbury case seemed insignificant at first
night before leaving office in early 1801, Adams had appointed several men to serve as justices of the peace in Washington, D.C. By "midnight appointments," Adams had sought to put Federalists into vacant positions at the last minute On taking office Jefferson and his secretary of state, James Madison, had refused to deliver the federal commissions to the men Adams had appointed Several of the appointees, including William Marbury, sued the government, and the case was argued before the Supreme Court.
election of 1800, Republicans defeated Adams in presidential race.
one Federalist newspaper article predicted that a Republican victory would fill America with "murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest." A Republican newspaper flung sexual slurs against President Adams, saying he had "neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman." Both sides predicted disaster and possibly war if the other should win
In his first inaugural address, however, Thomas Jefferson offered an olive branch to the Federalists
pledged to follow the will of the American majority, Republicans, and respect the rights of the Federalist minority Adams accepted his electoral defeat and left the White House peacefully "The revolution of 1800," Jefferson wrote years later, did for American principles what the Revolution of 1776 had done for its structure the revolution was accomplished "by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people" the Twelfth Amendment changed the rules for presidential elections to prevent future deadlocks designed to accommodate the way political parties worked.
In 1786 and 1787, farmers in western MA struggling with debt
problems made worse by weak local and national economies political leaders saw the debt and struggling economy as a consequence of the Articles of Confederation federal government had no way to raise revenue and did little to create a cohesive nation out of the various states The farmers wanted the MA government to protect them from their creditors, but the state supported the lenders instead As creditors threatened to foreclose on their property, many of these farmers, including Revolutionary War veterans, took up arms.
virgina plan
proposed that the United States should have a strong federal government three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial—with power to act on any issues of national concern The legislature, or Congress, would have two houses, in which every state would be represented according to its population size or tax base The national legislature would have veto power over state laws
Genêt's intuition was correct
radical coalition of revolutionaries had seized power in France they initiated a bloody purge of their enemies, the Reign of Terror as Americans learned about Genêt's impropriety and the mounting body count in France, many began to have second thoughts about the French Revolution.
President George Washington's cabinet choices
reflected continuing political tensions over the size and power of the federal government vice president was John Adams, and Washington chose Alexander Hamilton to be his secretary of the treasury Both men wanted an active government to promote prosperity by supporting American industry Washington chose Thomas Jefferson to be his secretary of state Jefferson was committed to restricting federal power and preserving an economy based on agriculture Washington struggled to reconcile the Federalist and Republican (or Democratic-Republican) factions within his own administration
the Alien and Sedition Acts caused a backlash in two ways
shocked opponents articulated a new and expansive vision for liberty The New York lawyer Tunis Wortman demanded an "absolute independence" of the press Virginia judge George Hay called for "any publication whatever criminal" to be exempt from legal punishment Many Americans began to argue that free speech meant the ability to say virtually anything without fear of prosecution.
Citizens debated the merits of the Constitution in newspaper articles, letters, sermons, and coffeehouse
some of the most famous arguments came from Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in the Federalist Papers published in various New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788. first crucial vote came at the beginning of 1788 in Massachusetts At first, the Anti-Federalists at the Massachusetts ratifying convention had the upper hand but after weeks of debate, enough delegates changed their votes to narrowly approve the Constitution But they also approved a number of proposed amendments, which were to be submitted to the first Congress. This pattern—ratifying the Constitution but attaching proposed amendments—was followed by other state conventions.
By 1798, the people of Charleston feared the arrival of the French navy at any moment
southerners were sure that this force would consist of Black troops from France's Caribbean colonies would attack the southern states and cause their slaves to revolt Americans worried France had covert agents in the country In Charleston, armed bands of young men searched for French disorganizers
problem the convention needed to solve was the federal government's inability to levy taxes
that weakness meant that the burden of paying back debt from the Revolutionary War fell on the states states found themselves beholden to the lenders who had bought up their war bonds part of why Massachusetts sided with its wealthy bondholders over poor western farmers
laws reflected common assumptions about the nature of the American Revolution and the limits of liberty
advocates for the Constitution and the First Amendment accepted that free speech meant a lack of prior censorship it was not a guarantee against punishment "licentious" or unruly speech made society less free, not more James Wilson, architect of the Constitution, argued that "every author is responsible when he attacks the security or welfare of the government."
the contest came down to a tie between two Republicans, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia and Aaron Burr of New York
each had seventy-three electoral votes. (Adams had sixty-five) Burr was supposed to be a candidate for vice president, not president under the Constitution's original rules, a tie-breaking vote had to take place in the House of Representatives It was controlled by Federalists bitter at Jefferson House members voted dozens of times without breaking the tie On the thirty-sixth ballot, Thomas Jefferson emerged victoriou
Washington dispatched a committee of three distinguished Pennsylvanians
to meet with the rebels and try to bring about a peaceful resolution he gathered an army of thirteen thousand militiamen in Carlisle, Pennsylvania On September 19, Washington became the only sitting president to lead troops in the field he quickly turned over the army to the command of Henry Lee, a Revolutionary hero and the current governor of Virginia.
the Constitutional Convention proposed a government unlike any other
combined elements copied from ancient republics and English political tradition but making some limited democratic innovations maintain balance between national and state sovereignty
unity after revolution
On July 4, 1788, Philadelphians turned out for a "grand federal procession" in honor of the new national constitution
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions argued that
national government's authority was limited to the powers expressly granted by the U.S. Constitution they asserted that the states could declare federal laws unconstitutional these resolutions were simply gestures of defiance Their bold claim would have important effects in later decades
Roger Sherman suggested a compromise
Congress would have a lower house, the House of Representatives, according to each state's population upper house, Senate, in which each state would have one vote This proposal was adopted in a slightly altered form as the Great Compromise: - each state would have two senators, who could vote independently this compromise also counted three-fifths of a state's slave population for representation and tax purposes
By 1800 President Adams had lost the confidence of many Americans
In 1798 he issued a national thanksgiving proclamation. Adams and his family had been forced by rioters to flee the capital city of Philadelphia until the day was over his prickly independence put him at odds with Alexander Hamilton, the leader of his own party, who offered him little support After four years in office, Adams found himself widely reviled.
New Englanders were some of the most outspoken opponents of France
In 1798, they found a new reason for Francophobia Massachusetts minister, Jedidiah Morse, announced to his congregation that the French Revolution had originated in a mysterious anti-Christian organization called the Illuminati rumors of Illuminati infiltration spread throughout New England adding a new dimension to the foreign threat
the French Quasi-War
was fought on the Atlantic, mostly between French naval vessels and American merchant ships anxiety about foreign agents ran high, and members of Congress took action to prevent internal subversion most controversial of these steps were the Alien and Sedition Acts these two laws, passed in 1798, intended to prevent French agents from compromising America's resistance attacked Americans who criticized the president and the Federalist Party.
In the fall of 1791
16 men in western Pennsylvania, disguised in women's clothes, assaulted a tax collector named Robert Johnson They tarred and feathered him, and the local deputy marshals seeking justice met similar fates robbed and beaten, whipped and flogged, tarred and feathered, and tied up and left for dead rebel farmers also adopted other protest methods from the Revolution and Shays' Rebellion, writing local petitions and erecting liberty poles For the next two years, tax collections in the region dwindled.
compromise over the slave trade
Americans perceived the transatlantic slave trade as more violent and immoral than slavery itself northerners opposed it on moral grounds But they understood that letting southern states import more Africans would increase their political power Constitution counted each Black individual as three fifths of a person for purposes of representation in districts with many slaves, the white voters had extra influence the states of the Upper South also welcomed a ban on the Atlantic trade because they already had a surplus of slaves Banning importation meant enslavers in Virginia and Maryland could get higher prices when they sold their slaves to states like South Carolina and Georgia that were dependent on a continued slave trade.
One reason the debates over the French Revolution became so heated
Americans were unsure about their own religious future Illuminati scare of 1798 was just one manifestation of this fear profound shift in attitudes toward religion and government began.
Republicans believed they had saved the United States from grave danger
An assembly of Republicans in New York City called the election a "bloodless revolution" thought of their victory as a revolution in part because the Constitution made no provision for political parties The Republicans thought they were fighting to rescue the country from an aristocratic takeover
Hamilton did not believe the state should ensure an equal distribution of property
Inequality was understood as "the great & fundamental distinction in Society" Hamilton saw no reason why this should change Hamilton wanted to tie the economic interests of wealthy Americans, or "monied men," to the federal government's financial health If the rich needed the government, then they would direct their energies to making sure it remained solvent Hamilton believed that the federal government must be "a Repository of the Rights of the wealthy" As the nation's first secretary of the treasury, he proposed an ambitious financial plan to achieve just that
Other delegates agreed with Madison that the Articles of Confederation had failed
But they did not agree on what kind of government should replace them disagreed about the best method of representation in the new Congress Representation influenced deciding how the national executive branch should work, what specific powers the federal government should have, and even what to do about the divisive issue of slavery.
Washington's election as president cemented the Constitution's authority
By 1793, the term Anti-Federalist would be essentially meaningless debates produced-- Ten amendments were added in 1791, Bill of Rights James Madison supported these amendments as an act of political compromise and necessity He had won election to the House of Representatives only by promising his Virginia constituents such a list of rights.
april 1793, a new French ambassador, "Citizen" Edmond-Charles Genêt
During his tour of several cities, Americans greeted him with wild enthusiasm Citizen Genêt encouraged Americans to act against Spain, a British ally, by attacking its colonies of Florida and Louisiana When President Washington refused, Genêt threatened to appeal to the American people directly In response, Washington demanded that France recall its diplomat Genêt's faction had fallen from power in France. Knowing that a return home might cost him his head, he decided to remain in America.
convention was held in Richmond, Virginia, in June 1788
Federalists like James Madison, Edmund Randolph, and John Marshall squared off against equally influential Anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry and George Mason Virginia was America's most populous state, had country's highest-profile leaders the success of the new government rested upon its cooperation After nearly a month of debate, Virginia voted 89 to 79 in favor of ratification
This part of his plan, however, was controversial for two reasons.
First, taxpayers objected to paying the full face value on old notes, fallen in market value current holders had purchased them from the original creditors for pennies on the dollar To pay them at full face value would mean rewarding speculators at taxpayer expense Hamilton countered that government debts must be honored in full, or else citizens would lose all trust in the government Second, southerners objected that they had already paid their outstanding state debts federal assumption would mean forcing them to pay again for the debts of New Englanders President Washington and Congress both accepted Hamilton's argument By the end of 1794, 98 percent of the country's domestic debt had been converted into new federal bonds
In response to Jay's Treaty
French government authorized its vessels to attack American shipping President Adams sent envoys to France in 1797 French insulted these diplomats officials, X, Y, and Z in their correspondence, hinted that negotiations could begin only after the Americans offered a bribe When the story became public, this XYZ Affair infuriated American citizens Dozens of towns wrote addresses to President Adams, pledging him their support against France Many seemed eager for war "Millions for defense," toasted South Carolina representative Robert Goodloe Harper, "but not one cent for tribute"
another national issue also aroused fierce protest.
Hamilton also had a vision of a nation busily engaged in foreign trade that meant pursuing a friendly relationship with one nation in particular: Great Britain.
As the federal army moved westward, the farmers scattered
Hoping to make a dramatic display of federal authority, Alexander Hamilton oversaw the arrest and trial of a number of rebels Many were released because of a lack of evidence, and most of those who remained were soon pardoned by the president Whiskey Rebellion had shown that the federal government was capable of quelling internal unrest But it also demonstrated that some citizens, especially poor westerners, viewed it as their enemy
Hamilton's plan had another highly controversial element
In order to pay what it owed on the new bonds, the federal government needed reliable sources of tax revenue In 1791, Hamilton proposed a federal excise tax on the production, sale, and consumption of a number of goods, including whiskey.
Grain was the most valuable cash crop for many American farmers
In the West, selling grain to a local distillery for alcohol production was more profitable than shipping it over the Appalachians to eastern markets Hamilton's whiskey tax thus placed a special burden on western farmers It seemed to divide the young republic in half— geographically between the East and West, economically between merchants and farmers culturally between cities and the countryside.
The new president
John Adams, Washington's vice president Adams was less beloved than the old general he governed a deeply divided nation foreign crisis presented him with a major test.
New England and the Deep South agreed to what was called a "dirty compromise" at the Constitutional Convention in 1787
New Englanders agreed to include a constitutional provision that protected the foreign slave trade for twenty years in exchange, South Carolina and Georgia delegates had agreed to support a constitutional clause --- easier for Congress to pass commercial legislation Atlantic slave trade resumed until 1808 reasons for outlaw: - Britain was also in the process of outlawing the slave trade in 1807, and the United States did not want to concede any moral high ground to its rival - the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), a successful slave revolt against French colonial rule in the West Indies, image of thousands of armed Black revolutionaries terrified white Americans - the Haitian Revolution had ended France's plans to expand its presence in the Americas, so in 1803, the United States purchase the Louisiana Territory massive new territory put the question of slavery's expansion at the top of the national agenda Many white Americans, President Thomas Jefferson, thought that ending the external slave trade and dispersing the domestic slave population would keep the United States a white man's republic and even lead to the disappearance of slavery
On July 2, 1788, Congress announced that a majority of states had ratified the Constitution and that the document was now in effect
North Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island had not completed their ratification conventions Anti-Federalists still argued that the Constitution would lead to tyranny The New York convention would ratify the Constitution by just three votes finally Rhode Island would ratify it by two votes—a full year after George Washington was inaugurated as president.
South Carolina tried to balance religious freedom with the religious practice that was supposed to be necessary for social order
Officeholders were still expected to be Christians, compelled by their religious beliefs to tell the truth, and called to live according to the Bible This list of minimal requirements came to define acceptable Christianity in many states As new Christian denominations proliferated between 1780 and 1840, more Christians fell outside this definition.
Alexander Hamilton believed that self-interest was the "most powerful incentive of human actions"
Self-interest drove humans to accumulate property, and that effort created commerce and industry government had important roles to play in this process - state should protect private property from theft - state should use human "passions" and "make them subservient to the public good" a wise government would harness its citizens' desire for property so that both private individuals and the state would benefit
1791 Congress approved 20yr charter for the Bank of the United States
The bank's stocks with federal bonds, created over $70 million in new financial instruments spurred the formation of securities markets allowed the federal government to borrow more money and underwrote the rapid spread of state-charted banks and other private business corporations in the 1790s For Federalists, this was one of the major purposes of the federal government For opponents who wanted limited gov and those who lived on the frontier and lacked access to capital, Hamilton's system seemed to reinforce class boundaries and give the rich inordinate power over the federal government.
uprising in Massachusetts convinced leaders around the country to act
years of James Madison and other nationalists complaining, delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met at the Pennsylvania state house in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 Only Rhode Island declined to send a representative The delegates arrived at the convention with instructions to revise the Articles of Confederation
America's relationship with Britain since the end of the Revolution had been tense, partly because of warfare between the British and French
Their naval war threatened American shipping, and the impressment of men into Britain's navy terrorized American sailor American trade could be risky and expensive, and impressment threatened seafaring families. President Washington was conscious of American weakness and was determined not to take sides In April 1793, he declared that the United States would remain neutral Hamilton's political ally John Jay, currently serving as chief justice of the Supreme Court, sailed to London to negotiate a treaty that would satisfy both Britain and the United States.
Hamilton's plan for a Bank of the United States won congressional approval despite strong opposition.
Thomas Jefferson and other Republicans argued that the plan was unconstitutional; the Constitution did not authorize Congress to create a bank Hamilton argued that the bank was constitutional and important for the country's prosperity The Bank of the United States would fulfill several needs - act as a convenient depository for federal funds - print paper banknotes backed by specie (gold or silver) - help control inflation by periodically taking state bank notes to their banks of origin and demanding specie in exchange limiting the amount of notes the state banks printed give wealthy people a vested interest in the federal government's finances government would control just 20 percent of the bank's stock; the other owned by private investors "intimate connexion" between the government and wealthy men would benefit both, and this connection would promote American commerce.
Americans who feared that the French Revolution was spiraling out of control tended to become Federalists
Those who remained hopeful about the revolution became Republicans Thomas Jefferson declared that he would rather see "half the earth desolated" than see the French Revolution fail the Federalists sought closer ties with Britain.
In 1798 Federalists were inclined to agree
Under sedition Act, they indicted and prosecuted several Republican printers although the Adams administration never enforced the Alien Act, it convince some foreign nationals to leave the country For the president and Federalists, the Alien and Sedition Acts represented a continuation of a conservative rather than radical American Revolution.
goal of these proposals was to link federal power and the country's economic vitality
Under the assumption proposal, the states' creditors (people who owned state bonds or promissory notes) would turn their old notes in to the treasury and receive new federal notes of the same face value Hamilton foresaw that these bonds would circulate like money, acting as "an engine of business, and instrument of industry and commerce."
each state had enjoyed a single vote in the Continental Congress
William Patterson's New Jersey Plan proposed to keep things that way Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman, argued that members of Congress should be appointed by the state legislatures not ordinary voters Large states preferred the Virginia Plan, which gave their citizens more power over the legislative branch James Wilson of Pennsylvania argued that since the Virginia Plan would vastly increase the powers of the national government, representation should be drawn as directly as possible from the public
Marshall used Marbury's case to make a clever ruling
the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Jefferson administration on issues of commissions Chief Justice Marshall ruled that the Supreme Court reserved the right to decide whether an act of Congress violated the Constitution the court assumed the power of judicial review blow to the Republican agenda, after 1810, when the Supreme Court extended judicial review to state laws Jefferson was particularly frustrated by the decision, arguing that the power of judicial review "would make the Judiciary a despotic branch."
in late 1796 there came one sign of hope
the United States peacefully elected a new president as Washington stepped down and executive power changed hands, the country did not descend into the anarchy that many leaders feared.
Despite Adams's and Jefferson's attempts to tame party politics
the tension between federal power and the liberties of states and individuals would exist long into the nineteenth century Jefferson's administration attempted to decrease federal influence Chief Justice John Marshall, an Adams appointee, worked to increase the authority of the Supreme Court competing agendas clashed most famously in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, which Marshall used to establish a major precedent.
the Federalists were turning toward Britain
they feared the most radical forms of democratic thought. In the wake of Shays' Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, and other internal protests, Federalists sought to preserve social stability The course of the French Revolution seemed to justify their concerns
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, favored disestablishment
they saw the relationship between church and state as a tool of oppression Jefferson proposed a Statute for Religious Freedom in the Virginia state assembly in 1779 but his bill failed with the Anglican legislature Madison proposed it again in 1785, and it defeated a rival bill that would have given equal revenue to all Protestant churches Virginia would not use public money to support religion
