Ch. 6 and 7 Study Guide
Jefferson's Embargo
(1807), Pres. Thomas Jefferson's nonviolent resistance to British and French molestation of U.S. merchant ships carrying, or suspected of carrying, war materials and other cargoes to the European belligerents. At Jefferson's request the two houses of Congress considered and passed the act quickly in December 1807. All U.S. ports were closed to export shipping in either U.S. or foreign vessels, and restrictions were placed on imports from Great Britain. The act was a hardship on U.S. farmers as well as on New England and New York mercantile and maritime interests, especially after being buttressed by harsh enforcement measures adopted in 1808. Its effects in Europe were not what Jefferson had hoped. French and British dealers in U.S. cotton, for example, were able to raise prices at will while the stock already on hand lasted; the embargo would have had to endure until these inventories were exhausted. Napoleon is said to have justified seizure of U.S. merchant ships on the ground that he was assisting Jefferson in enforcing the act. The Federalist leader Timothy Pickering even alleged that Napoleon himself had inspired the embargo. Confronted by bitter and articulate opposition, Jefferson on March 1, 1809 (two days before the end of his second term), signed the Non-Intercourse Act, permitting U.S. trade with nations other than France and Great Britain.
Key Players of the Constitution
Alexander Hamilton- most important contribution was the introduction and defense of the Hamilton plan on June 18, 1787, that argued neither the Virginia Plan nor the New Jersey Plan were adequate to the task at hand. Supported the ratification of the Constitution. President Washington nominated and the Senate confirmed Hamilton as the Secretary of the Treasury (1789 - 1796). He was the principle author of the Federalist Papers. Benjamin Franklin - James Madison -FATHER OF THE CONSTITUTION. He is best known for writing the Virginia Plan and defending the attempt to build a stronger central government. Attended the ratification convention of Virginia and supported the ratification of the Constitution. He also coauthored the Federalist Papers. Served as Virginia's U.S. Representative (1789-1797) where he drafted and debated the First Twelve Amendments to the Constitution; ten of which became the Bill of Rights; author of the Virginia Resolutions which argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were unconstitutional. Served as Secretary of State (1801-1809) Elected President of the United States of America (1809-1817). George Washington - Arrived May 25 and was present through the signing of the Constitution. He spoke only once near the end of the deliberations, but the record suggests that he had a profound influence on the scope and direction of the discussions. He supported ratification of the Constitution by the State of Virginia. He was unanimously elected by the Electoral College as President of the United States (1788 - 1796).
Early American Literature
American literature would rival that of Europe. Noah Webster believed students should be educated as patriots and wrote the American Spelling Book An American Dictionary of The English Language. Washington Irving wrote fables of society in the New World. The most influential was the 3 volume History of the Revolution by Mercy Otis Warren. Literature and history instilled a sense of unity and nationalism in the American people.
XYZ Affair
An American diplomatic commission was sent to France in July 1797 to negotiate issues that were threatening to break out into war. The diplomats, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, were approached through informal channels by agents of the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand, who demanded bribes and a loan before formal negotiations could begin. The Americans were offended by them, and eventually left France without ever engaging in formal negotiations. The failure of the commission led to an undeclared naval war called the Quasi-War (1798 to 1800), and caused a political firestorm in the United States when the commission's dispatches were published. Federalists who controlled the government took advantage of the national anger to build up the nation's military. They also criticized the Democratic-Republican Party for its pro-French stance.
Power with the People
Artisans and merchants wanted a single high national duty, national commercial policy, and people that owed money wanted states to stop issuing paper money and stop causing inflation, land owners wanted protection from mobs. The Great Compromise agreed that state taxation depends on population and agreed that a slave counts as 3/5 of a person. Constitution still didn't have rights for individual nor definition of citizenship. People believed that without protection the national government would abuse of its new authority. Antifederalists believed that society should remain predominantly rural and agrarian, it should have a central gov't of modest size and powers that would leave most power in the hands of the states and the people. Antifederalist demanded a bill of rights that protects individual natural rights from the government like freedom of speech and press in order for the new constitution to be passed. People believed that the Articles of Confederation should remove most power from the national government, placing more power in the hands of the people. In the early 19th century the republican vision was the opportunity of education and not only for people with money but for everybody, republicans wanted public schools. Although this vision only included all male citizens (the nations prospective voters), woman argued there right to an education. Woman only got female education that would serve them to be better wives and mothers.
Virginia and New Jersey Plans
As mentioned in the dossiers file, James Madison was one of the prominent delegates to the Constitutional Convention. However, he was thinking about the convention before he even got there. It was clear at the time that the current government under the Articles of Confederation was just not cutting the mustard, and something had to be done to remedy the situation. So, he drafted a plan for a new national government, which was presented at the convention as "The Virginia Plan" (see table for details). Essentially, the Virginia Plan proposed a strong national government that could make and enforce laws, and collect taxes. The people would be governed by two governments - the state and national. A system such as this is known as a Federal system of government. Additionally, both houses of the legislature would feature proportional representation; basically, this means that the more people a state has, the more representatives it gets in the legislature. Clearly, larger states favored this plan. The New Jersey Plan Branches Three - legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislature appoints people to serve in the executive branch, and the executive branch selects the justices of the Supreme Court. Legislature One house (unicameral). States would be represented equally, so all states had the same power. Other Powers The national government could levy taxes and import duties, regulate trade, and state laws would be subordinate to laws passed by the national legislature. Smaller states were pretty scared about it, though. If this plan passed, it would mean that smaller states would have almost no say in the government. The debate over the Virginia Plan grew quite heated, and finally the small states asked for time to draw up their own plan, known as the New Jersey Plan (see table for details). Its legislature only had one house which featured equal representation - each state gets the same number of representatives. This way, smaller states had the same power in the legislature as larger states. The Virginia Plan Branches Three - legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislature was more powerful, as it chose people to serve in the executive and judicial branches. Legislature Two houses (bicameral). The House of Representatives was elected by the people and the Senate was elected by the state legislatures. Both were represented proportionally. Other Powers The legislature could regulate interstate trade, strike down laws deemed unconstitutional and use armed forces to enforce laws. Ultimately, the New Jersey Plan was rejected as a basis for a new constitution. It was really a continuation of the old style of government under the Articles of Confederation. However, some ideas from it were used in the new constitution. The Virginia Plan was used, but many delegates felt that any new government would need new powers and a new organization to exercise those powers fully.
Education
By the late 1700s many states had adopted the idea of public education for all, (actually public and private education for the wealthy and inferior education for the poor). This concept was based on the Republican vision of America of a "virtuous and enlightened citizenry." Republicans believed in a nationwide system of public education in which all MALE citizens received FREE education (unfortunately most was not). Massachusetts's law of 1789 required each town to support a school. In Virginia, however, the statesmen ignored Jefferson's call on universal and advanced education. In 1819 since not a single state had a comprehensive education system, much of the schooling became the responsibility of PRIVATE (not free) institutions. In the south and Mid-Atlantic States schools were run by the church, and in New England private academies were more secular. Most of the new schools were aristocratic and were basically used to train the young wealthy MALE children to become members of the nation elite. However, in the early 19th century there were many advances in female education. During the years of the revolution 50% of women were illiterate, but during the 19th century many Americans began to put a new stress on the "republican mother" which suggested that if mothers remained ignorant, they could not raise enlightened children. This, therefore, led to the creation of a network of female academies (mainly for daughters of affluent families), & in 1789, Massachusetts required public schools to be both for male and female students, although this was manly for the purpose of creating better wives and mothers. Judith Sargent Murray was a feminist who believed that men and women were equal in intellect and potential, and had the same right to equal education, so therefore women were also capable of earning their own living, and establishing their own role in society. Murray became an inspiration for later generations but not her own. Many Americans, including Jefferson, believed that the "noble savages" should receive education, so that they could "tame" and "uplift" them. This was due to the reformers' belief that education served to reform "backward" and ignorant people. This became the job of missionaries. Unfortunately for the African Americans, white people did not share the same view of education for blacks as for the indigenous. Many of them saw no need to educate blacks since most of them were slaves, and they feared that knowledge could corrupt them and make them unhappy with their condition. Although some slave children received some education from their parents and many free African American children attended segregated schools. Although education became readily available with the establishment of many new schools, education was exceedingly narrow; most professors were clergyman which meant that there were few institutions that provided advanced training and specialization in other fields other than classics and theology, and it was mostly private (none of the schools were truly public), most required tuition fees.
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South
Whiskey Rebellion
Farmers who used their leftover grain and corn in the form of whiskey as a medium of exchange were forced to pay a new tax. The tax was a part of treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton's program to increase central government power, in particular to fund his policy of assuming the war debt of those states which had failed to pay. The farmers who resisted, many war veterans, contended that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution, in particular against taxation without local representation, while the Federal government maintained the taxes were the legal expression of the taxation powers of Congress. Throughout counties in Western Pennsylvania, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U.S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the fortified home of tax inspector General John Neville. Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, while at the same time calling on governors to send a militia force to enforce the tax. With 13,000 militia provided by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Washington rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, and there was no confrontation. About 20 men were arrested, but all were later acquitted or pardoned. The Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated that the new national government had the willingness and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws. The whiskey excise remained difficult to collect, however. The events contributed to the formation of political parties in the United States, a process already underway. The whiskey tax was repealed after Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party, which opposed Hamilton's Federalist Party, came to power in 1801.
Federalist and Anti-Federalist
Federalists: Statesmen and public figures supporting the proposed Constitution of the United States between 1787 and 1789. The most prominent of the advocates at that time were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay; they published the Federalist Papers, which documented the tenets of the (early) federalist movement—that is, to promote and adopt the proposed Constitution. [Capitalized] Statesmen and public figures supporting the administrations of presidents George Washington (1789-1797) and John Adams (1797-1801). Especially in the later years they were also called the Federalist Party, founded by Alexander Hamilton. During the 1790s and early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party and opposed the Federalists over issues of how broadly (or narrowly) to apply the provisions of the new Constitution. Centralized govt. Antifederalists - The Anti-Federalists were composed of diverse elements, including those opposed to the Constitution because they thought that a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, localities, or individuals; those that claimed a new centralized, disguised "monarchic" power that would only replace the cast-off despotism of Great Britain with the proposed government; and those who simply feared that the new government threatened their personal liberties. Some of the opposition believed that the central government under the Articles of Confederation was sufficient. Still others believed that while the national government under the Articles was too weak, the national government under the Constitution would be too strong. Another complaint of the Anti-Federalists was that the Constitution provided for a centralized rather than Federal Government (and in the Federalist papers James Madison admits that the new Constitution has the characteristics of both a centralized and federal form of the government) and that a truly federal form of government was a leaguing of states as under the Articles of Confederation
The Ten Constitutional Amendments
First Amendment: This amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and protects the right of assembly. Congress was not to make a law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or editing the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of complaints. Second Amendment: This amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms. A well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a Free State, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be encroached on. Third Amendment: This amendment guards against the forced quartering of troops. (In the years before the American Revolution, British officials forced the colonists to quarter British troops.) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner. Fourth Amendment: This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (Without a warrant) Fifth Amendment: This amendment guarantees a trial by jury and "due process of law," and guards against double jeopardy (being charged twice for the same offense) and self-accusation. Sets out rules for accusation by grand jury and renowned domain, protects the right to due process, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy Sixth Amendment: This amendment outlines the rights of the accused, including the right to have a "speedy and public" trial, the right to be informed of the charges made against him, the right to call witnesses in his defense, and the right to have an attorney in his defense. Seventh Amendment: This amendment lays out the rules of common law. Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according to common law Eighth Amendment: This amendment protects against "cruel and unusual punishments." Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Ninth Amendment: This amendment ensures that the individual rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution are secure—that is, that these rights should not be automatically trespassed upon because they are omitted from the Constitution. Tenth Amendment: This amendment limits the power of federal government by reserving for the states all powers that are not explicitly granted to the federal government by the Constitution, nor denied to the states. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
George Washington's view on foreign policy
George Washington's view of foreign affairs was that he didn't want to have anything to do with any foreign countries. He preferred neutrality. He said that he wasn't going to take part of Britain or France and that we shouldn't make alliances with other countries. He advised our countries to stay at isolationism, instead of involvement.
William Harrison
Harrison was a veteran Indian fighter who went to Washington as the congressional delegate from the NW territory in 1799, and he was a committed advocate of growth and development in Western lands that was responsible for the Harrison Law of 1800, which enabled white settlers to acquire farms from the public domain. In 1801, Jefferson appointed Harrison as governor of the Indiana territory to direct his solution to the "Indian problem," in which Jefferson gave the natives the option of assimilating to the American culture and become farmers, or migrate to the west of the Mississippi. Harrison set out to implement the law using trickery, the strategy of pinning tribes against one another, and basically any method no matter how immoral to help him conclude treaties. By 1807 Americans had reluctantly extracted treaties from tribal leaders. The Indians wanted to resist but the separate tribes were weak by themselves. Soon British authorities in Canada began to fear American invasions in Canada, so they began to renew their friendship with the Indians. Both Tecumseh and the Prophet joined forces to stop white expansion. Tecumseh persuading Indian tribes to join them and in his absence from Prophetstown, Harrison saw a chance to destroy the growing alliance of between the two leaders. In November 7, 1811 he provoked a fight and burned down Prophetstown in the Battle of Tippecanoe. This battle helped disillusion many of The Prophet's followers, who believed that his magical powers would protect them. The Native Americans responded to this with a voracious need for combat, and in 1812 they began terrorizing white settlers in the frontier from Michigan to Mississippi. This was mostly due to the Indians own wits, but also with the influence of British authority in Canada. Harrison decided that the only solution was to drive the British out of Canada and annex the province to the United States. Harrison continued to be a large influence in the war of 1812 as an American commander in the west, who pushed up the river Thames into Upper Canada and won a great victory in which Tecumseh died. This battle of Thames weakened and discouraged the Native Americans in the NW.
Horse Racing
Horses were and essential part of society. They were basically the only form of transportation other than walking; therefore it is not surprising that horse racing should become the greatest entertainment for the white settlers since their arrival, and by the American Revolution it had become popular in almost every colony. The first race track in North America was New Market established in 1655 in Long island, NY.(Andrew Jackson was a founder of the first track in Nashville, Tennessee) This race track along with many others were dominated by English military officers at first. People prided themselves in the beauty and speed of their horses so the fact that this became a sport manly for snobby white people isn't surprising. Like almost everything in the life of early America horse racing emphasized the boundary between class and race. In fact Horse racing became known as a sport only for "Gentlemen", aristocratic white males, therefore when a tailor named James Bullocke proposed a race he was trialed in Virginia because it was contrary to law for a LABOURER to make a race. Slaves became especially important in horse racing, because they often were trained by aristocrats to become jockeys. African Americans became the most talented jockeys. In fact, the best jockey of all time was one black man named Isaac Murphy, winner of 3 derbies and 44% of the races he rode in. Unfortunately for blacks harassment was common by white jockeys which in the 1890s caused many African Americans to leave the sport. Another change that occurred in the 1890s was the introduction to organized betting. Betting was already common in horse racing especially among the middle class, but now it was being sponsored by the race tracks. While the breeding at this time was done by rich aristocratic families the audience became mostly the working class, trying to get rich quick off of gambling.
New Orleans
Many American ship had been depositing their cargo at New Orleans for many years, even Spain signed a treaty the Pinckney treaty in 1795 that guaranteed America the right to use New Orleans. In the fall of 1802 New Orleans was effectively closing to American shippers. New American settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains depended upon river transport to get their goods to market since overland trade to the east was expensive and impractical. Blocking American access to New Orleans was such a grave threat to American interests that President Jefferson considered changing his traditional foreign policy stance to an anti-French alliance with the British only if Napoleon did not want to negotiate.
Zebulon Pike
Pike was sent to Minnesota by General James Wilkinson to search for the source of the Mississippi River in 1805. Pike led a crew of 20 men from St. Louis to upper Minnesota during the fall and winter. General Wilkinson then sent Pike to the Rocky Mountains and the southwest in 1806, but was officially told not to enter Spanish territory. Continuing south, Pike did enter Spanish territory, and was arrested and taken to Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico). Pike was one of the first Americans to see New Mexico. He was released by the Spanish in Louisiana. His notes about his journey mistakenly stated that the area he traveled in was mostly a desert, unsuitable for farming. This discouraged the settlement of the area for quite a while, but trade increased and Pike's information on the military weakness of the Spanish was quite important. When Pike returned to U.S, Burr, the former vice-president, had been charged with treason. Also implicated in the alleged plot was General James Wilkinson, the man who had sent Zebulon Pike on his expeditions. To the public, and many in the government, it appeared that Pike may have had some shadowy role in the Burr conspiracy. Was Pike really a spy for Wilkinson and Burr? Was he trying to provoke the Spanish in some way? Or was he secretly cooperating with the Spanish in some plot against his own country? After he proclaimed his innocence, government officials concluded that Pike had acted loyally. Zebulon Pike was promoted to major in 1808. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, Pike was promoted to general. General Zebulon Pike commanded American troops attacking York (now Toronto), Canada in the spring of 1813. Pike was leading the assault on the heavily defended town and the withdrawing British blew up a powder magazine during their retreat. Pike was struck by a piece of stone which broke his back. He was carried to an American ship, where he died on April 27, 1813.
Hamilton and his belief on debt
Secretary of Treasury. The federal government should pay off all Confederation (state) debts at full value. Such action would dramatically enhance the legitimacy of the new central government. To raise money to pay off the debts, Hamilton would issue new securities bonds). Investors who had purchased these public securities could make enormous profits when the time came for the United States to pay off these new debts. He proposed a Bank of the United States. Modeled along the lines of the Bank of England, a central bank would help make the new nation's economy dynamic through a more stable paper currency. The central bank faced significant opposition. Many feared it would fall under the influence of wealthy, urban northeasterners and speculators from overseas. In the end, with the support of George Washington, the bank was chartered with its first headquarters in Philadelphia. The third major area of Hamilton's economic plan aimed to make American manufacturers self-sufficient. The American economy had traditionally rested upon large-scale agricultural exports to pay for the import of British manufactured goods. Hamilton rightly thought that this dependence on expensive foreign goods kept the American economy at a limited level, especially when compared to the rapid growth of early industrialization in Great Britain. Hamilton wanted the United States to adopt a mercantilist economic policy. This would protect American manufacturers through direct government subsidies (handouts to business) and tariffs.
The Decline of the Federalists
The Alien and Sedition Acts were among the most controversial acts established by the Federalist Party. These acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalist Congress and signed into law by Adams. Defenders claimed the acts were designed to protect against alien citizens and to guard against seditious attacks from weakening the government. Opponents of the acts attacked on the grounds of being both unconstitutional and as way to stifle criticism of the administration. The Democratic-Republicans also asserted that the acts violated the rights of the states to act in accordance with the Tenth Amendment. None of the four acts did anything to promote national unity against the French or any other country and in fact did a great deal to erode away what unity there already was in the country. The acts in general and the popular opposition to them were all bad luck for John Adams. The Republicans were becoming more focused in their opposition and more popular with the general population. The years 1798-1800 corroded the prestige and authority of the Federalist Party. At both the national and local level the Federalists faced stiff Republican opposition. By mobilizing common voters, local republican insurgents built the popular constituency that the national leaders attached themselves to. Jefferson defeated Adams for the Presidency and the Republican Party made significant gains at all levels of the government with the election 1800. As the Federalist faded from the national spotlight a new political era would be ushered in with the Jefferson administration. The Federalist Party would continue to exist as a strong party in New England and the Northeast, but without any strong leaders it eventually weakened and faded out within the first decade of the 19th-century.
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by Congress in 1798 in preparation for an anticipated war with France. Interpreting the prominent participation of immigrants in the Republican opposition party as evidence of a relationship between foreigners and disloyalty, Federalists championed tighter restrictions for foreigners and critics of their policies.
"Rational Theologies"
The American Revolution helped weaken traditional ecclesiastical practices by making government secular and by inspiring ideas of individual liberty and reason that challenged religious traditions. In the 1790s less than 10% of white Americans attended formal churches, making ministers and traditional evangelicals confused, disorganized, and shrill about the "decay of vital piety." The emergence of "rational" theologies reflected the modern scientific method attitudes and diminished the importance of God in the world. Deism became very popular among Americans along with Unitarianism, and Universalism. In fact both Jefferson and Franklin were Deists, which common deistic arguments; for example, it highlighted what Paine saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticized its efforts to acquire political power. Rationalism also created both Unitarianism and Universalism, which emerged as the opposing views of the Congregational Church resulting in a permanent schism. Both of these religions were against the idea of predestination, and the idea of trinity. James Murray founded the Universalist church in Massachusetts in 1779, and the Unitarian Church was established in Boston in 1782. This was not the end of religious fervor; however it was the end of the traditional evangelistic religion, and commitment to organized church and values.
The Treaty of the War of 1812
The American victory on Lake Champlain led to the conclusion of U.S.-British peace negotiations in Belgium, and on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war. Although the treaty said nothing about two of the key issues that started the war--the rights of neutral U.S. vessels and the impressment of U.S. sailors--it did open up the Great Lakes region to American expansion and was hailed as a diplomatic victory in the United States. News of the treaty took almost two months to cross the Atlantic, and British forces were not informed of the end of hostilities in time to end their drive against the mouth of the Mississippi River. On January 8, 1815, a large British army attacked New Orleans and was decimated by an inferior American force under General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) in the most spectacular U.S. victory of the war. The American public heard of the Battle of New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent at approximately the same time, fostering a greater sentiment of self-confidence and shared identity throughout the young republic.
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, these amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. While originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been applied to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, a process known as incorporation. The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789, formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the states. While twelve amendments were proposed by Congress, only ten were originally ratified by the states. Of the remaining two, one was adopted 203 years later as the Twenty-seventh Amendment, and the other technically remains pending before the states. The Bill of Rights enumerates freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime"; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States. The Bill was influenced by George Mason's 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Bill of Rights 1689, and earlier English political documents such as Magna Carta (1215). The Bill of Rights had little judicial impact for the first 150 years of its existence, but was the basis for many Supreme Court decisions of the 20th and 21st centuries. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention[1]:31 (also known as the Philadelphia Convention,[1]:31 the Federal Convention,[1]:31 or the Grand Convention at Philadelphia) took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. The most contentious disputes revolved around the composition and election of the Senate, how "proportional representation" was to be defined (whether to include slaves or other property), whether to divide the executive power between three persons or invest the power into a single president, how to elect the president, how long his term was to be and whether he could stand for reelection, what offenses should be impeachable, the nature of a fugitive slave clause, whether to allow the abolition of the slave trade, and whether judges should be chosen by the legislature or executive. Most of the time during the Convention was spent on deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, and judiciary were not heavily disputed. Once the Convention began, the delegates first agreed on the principles of the Convention, then they agreed on Madison's Virginia Plan and began to modify it. A Committee of Detail assembled during the July 4 recess and produced a rough draft. Most of this rough draft remained in place, and can be found in the final version of the constitution. After the final issues were resolved, the Committee on Style produced the final version, and it was voted on and sent to the states.
Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party was the political party organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791-93. It stood in opposition to the Federalist Party and controlled the Presidency and Congress.The party was strongest in the South and weakest in the Northeast; it favored states' rights and the primacy of the yeoman farmers. Republicans were deeply committed to the principles of republicanism, which they feared were threatened by the supposed monarchical tendencies of the Hamiltonians/Federalists. The party came to power with the election of Jefferson in 1801. The Federalists—too elitist to appeal to most people—faded away, and totally collapsed after 1815.
Early Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the 18th to 19th centuries, was a period during which predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the late 1700s, manufacturing was often done in people's homes, using hand tools or basic machines. Industrialization marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries (Eli Whitney-cotton gin, Samuel Slater-spinning mill), along with the development of the steam engine (Oliver Evans-high pressure engine, Robert Fulton& Robert Livingston-steamboat called The Clermont), played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved systems of transportation, communication and banking. While industrialization brought about an increased volume and variety of manufactured goods and an improved standard of living for some, it also resulted in often grim employment and living conditions for the poor and working classes.
Bank of the U.S.
The President, Directors and Company, of the Bank of the United States, commonly known as the First Bank of the United States, was a National Bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. Establishment of the Bank was included in a three-part expansion of federal fiscal and monetary power (along with a federal mint and excise taxes) championed by Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton believed a national bank was necessary to stabilize and improve the nation's credit, and to improve handling of the financial business of the United States government under the newly enacted Constitution.[2] Officially proposed to the first session of the First Congress in 1790, Hamilton's Bank faced widespread resistance from opponents of increased federal power. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the opposition, which claimed that the bank was unconstitutional, and that it benefited merchants and investors at the expense of the majority of the population.
"Report on Public Credit"
The Report on Public Credit was issued by Alexander Hamilton as a means to encourage order in the American economy for the benefit of commercial and industrial interests. Specifically, Hamilton argued for full funding of the national debt (approximately $11 million) and assumption of state debts incurred during the War of Independence (approximately $40 million). Some interest groups had recommended repudiation of the debt and others partial repudiation, but Hamilton argued that the young nation's good credit could be assured only by proper treatment of all creditors. The issue was especially critical in the South: State governments there had worked hard to begin paying off their obligations, but Hamilton's plan pledged them to assist other states that had let their debts languish. A compromise was finally achieved in which the South reluctantly accepted Hamilton's financial plans in return for Northern support of the eventual establishment of a permanent capital on the Potomac. (This turned out to be a good deal for the North and a poor one for the South; the fact that the capital was located in a mosquito-infested swamp between Virginia and Maryland in the end meant little to the South over the years.)
Republican Vision
The Republicans believed in a republic, as form of government, and equality of political opportunity, with a priority for the "yeoman farmer", "planters" and the "plain folk". They were antagonistic to the aristocratic elitism of merchants and manufacturers, distrusted factory workers, and were on the watch for supporters of the dreaded British system of government. Above all, the Jeffersonians were devoted to the principles of Republicanism, especially civic duty and opposition to privilege, aristocracy and corruption. Agrarian, decentralization.
The Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800, and after 1820 membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist (John Wesley) congregations whose preachers led the movement. It was past its peak by the 1840s. It has been described as a reaction against skepticism, deism, and rational Christianity, although why those forces became pressing enough at the time to spark revivals is not fully understood. It enrolled millions of new members in existing evangelical denominations and led to the formation of new denominations. Many converts believed that the Awakening heralded a new millennial age. The Second Great Awakening stimulated the establishment of many reform movements designed to remedy the evils of society before the anticipated Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The election of 1800
The United States Presidential election of 1800 was the 4th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 31 to Wednesday, December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800,"[1][2] Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party in the First Party System. It was a long, bitter re-match of the 1796 election between the pro-French and pro-decentralization Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson and Aaron Burr, against incumbent Adams and Charles Pinckney's pro-British and pro-centralization Federalists. The chief political issues included opposition to the tax imposed by Congress to pay for the mobilization of the new army and the navy in the Quasi-War against France in 1798, and the Alien and Sedition Acts, by which Federalists were trying to stifle dissent, especially by Democratic-Republican newspaper editors
Medical Treatments
The University of Pennsylvania created the first American medical school in the early 19th century, under Benjamin Rush. Before doctors practiced under the hand of a practitioner as apprentices, but with the new applying of the scientific method to medical treatment education was necessary. Age-old prejudice and superstition impeded many efforts to teach anatomy, because of public hostility against the dissection of cadavers. Many people were against such practices, because of religious beliefs in the literal raising of the body, that the souls of dismantled bodies could not be accepted into heaven. Therefore doctors received much hostility from the church, and they also received hostility from municipal authorities. These hostilities lead to the practice of grave snatching in which many early anatomists stole corpses from tombs for the use of education. The little support from the public led to ignorance about disease and major epidemics. Patients at the time had more to fear from their doctors than from their illness because advocates of the scientific medicine tried new useless and dangerous treatments such as bleeding and purging. Many doctors used the excuse of the "scientific" method to justify their authority over traditional kinds of care, like midwives used for the delivering of babies. Physicians began to handle deliveries themselves, and this diminished the role of women in society, and restricted the access to childbirth care for poor women, who could not afford physicians.
War of 1812 (opposition)
The War of 1812 started because Britain was intruding the American trade and was taking their ships and merchants to serve on the war against France, the United States thought that Britain was still not treating it as an independent nation, and was in fact providing guns to the Native Americans to attack American settlers. These progressing disputes led to the War of 1812. Many American saw this as the 2nd American Revolution. After Napoleon surrendered in 1814, England prepared to invade the US, they landed armada in Chesapeake region and in Aug 1814 they captured and burned Washington. Americans at Fort McHenry in Baltimore repelled Brit attack in Sept. This battle is what Francis Scott Key witnessed, and wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner". In January 1815 Andrew Jackson wildly successful at Battle of New Orleans- after treaty signed. In August 1814 John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin met in Ghent, Belgium with British diplomats. Final treaty did little but end fighting- US dropped call to end impressments, British dropped call for Indian buffer in NW. Federalist opposed the war of 1812, because they considered the war as an offensive aimed at Canada. They also feared Napoleon, who was a great destroyer. They saw the war as party designed to further the interest of Republicans and silence the opposition.
Marbury v. Madison
The commissions were signed by President Adams and sealed by acting Secretary of State John Marshall (who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and author of this opinion), but they were not delivered before the expiration of Adams's term as president. Thomas Jefferson refused to honor the commissions, claiming that they were invalid because they had not been delivered by the end of Adams's term. William Marbury was an intended recipient of an appointment as justice of the peace. Marbury applied directly to the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of mandamus to compel Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, to deliver the commissions. Marbury v. Madison, arguably the most important case in Supreme Court history, was the first U.S. Supreme Court case to apply the principle of "judicial review" -- the power of federal courts to void acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution. Written in 1803 by Chief Justice John Marshall, the decision played a key role in making the Supreme Court a separate branch of government on par with Congress and the executive.
The House of Representatives
The issue of how Congress was to be structured was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. Edmund Randolph's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house would be "of the people", elected directly by the people of the United States and representing public opinion, and a more deliberative upper house that would represent the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment, would be elected by the lower house. The House is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being the upper house, although the United States Constitution does not use that terminology. Both houses' approval is necessary for the passage of legislation. The Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation amongst the states. The Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (nine out of the 13) in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4, 1789. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time
Ratification of the Constitution
The new national Constitution would not take effect until at least nine states ratified. It would replace the existing government under the Articles of Confederation only after three-fourths of the existing states agreed to move together by special state elections for one-time conventions. It would apply only to those states that ratified it, and it would be valid for all states joining after. The Articles Congress certified eleven ratification conventions had adopted the proposed Constitution for their states on September 13, 1788, and in accordance with its resolution, the new Constitutional government began March 4, 1789
Shay's Rebellion
The problem in the 1780s was primarily relevant in the rural and relatively newly settled areas of central and western Massachusetts. Many farmers in this area struggled from high debt as they tried to start new farms. Unlike many other state legislatures in the 1780s, the Massachusetts government didn't respond to the economic crisis by passing Pro-debtor laws (like forgiving debt and printing more paper money). Therefore, local sheriffs seized many farms and those who couldn't pay their debts were imprisoned. This led to the first major armed rebellion in the post-Revolutionary United States. Once again, Americans resisted high taxes and unresponsive government that was far away. Only this time it was Massachusetts's settlers who were angry with a republican government in Boston, rather than with the British government across the Atlantic. The resistance was organized similar to that of the American Revolution. They called special meetings of the people to protest conditions and agree on a synchronized protest. The rebels closed the courts by force in the fall of 1786 and to free imprisoned debtors from jail. Soon this turned into a full-blown revolt when the resistors came under the leadership of Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army. Some thought of Shay's followers as heroes in the direct tradition of the American Revolution, while many others saw them as dangerous rebels whose actions might upset the young experiment in republican government. James Bowdoin, the governor of Massachusetts, organized a military force funded by eastern merchants, to confront the rebels. This armed force crushed the movement in the winter of 1786-1787 as Shay's followers quickly fell apart when faced with a strong army organized by the state. While the rebellion disintegrated quickly, the underlying social forces that drove such dramatic action remained. The debtors' displeasure was widespread and similar actions occurred on a smaller scale in Maine (then still part of Massachusetts), Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania among others places. While Governor Bowdoin had acted decisively in crushing the rebellion, the voters turned against him in the next election. This high level of discontent, popular resistance, and the election of pro-debtor governments in many states threatened the political notions of many political and social elites. Shay's Rebellion demonstrated the high degree of internal conflict loitering beneath the surface of post-Revolutionary life. National leaders felt compelled to put an end to popular actions that took place beyond the bounds of law.
The 12th Amendment
The twelfth amendment has to do with the voting process of electing the president and the vice president of the United States. Under the original 12th amendment the procedure for the Electoral College each elector could not vote for two people who were from the same state, and the person with the most votes became president. The process of electing the vice president was easier because the person that came in second was immediately made vice president. In the election of 1796, for example John Adams of the Federalist party received the most electoral votes, but the federalist electors jumbled up their second votes, which resulted in Jefferson being elected vice president because he had the second most votes. The 1800 election exposed a flaw in the original formula in that if each member of the Electoral College followed party tickets, there would be a tie between the two candidates from the most popular ticket. It also showed that the House of Representatives could end up taking multiple ballots before choosing a President. Another, more important flaw, was that there was tension between the president and the vice president because they both ran against one another and probably had differing views. The 12th amendment ended this.
Jefferson and Native Americans
Thomas Jefferson saw the Native Americans as "noble savages" and friends. He viewed them with intellectual curiosity or enemies in war and friends in peace. Jefferson believed that the only thing that had to change for the Native Americans in order to make the "American" was their environment. Jefferson saw their hunter gathering based society as a semi-nomadic, which lead him to view them as savages. He believed that helping them assimilate to adopt European culture they would be considered "equal" in the minds of the white men. Jefferson expressed his ambitions for the future of the Anglo-American and American Indian relationship. He looked forward to the day that the two groups would live in harmony. During his presidency Jefferson tried to guarantee both security and land for the U.S and good relationships with Indian nations through treaties. This was important not only to acquire land and facilitate trade but also to keep the Indians from the European powers. Jefferson issued the Civilization Program, which was a way to civilize the native Americans and give them an ultimatum, which was assimilating to the American culture and become farmers, or migrate to the west of the Mississippi.
Transportation Systems
Transportation played a very important role in industrialization. The U.S had no such system; therefore they could not justify large scale production because they had a broad domestic market. American Merchants began to look for customers overseas. In 1789 two tariff bills gave American ships in American ports preference to help expand domestic shipping. The growth of American trade was due primarily to the war in Europe in the 1790s, because Yankee merchants were able to take over European and Western trade. Therefore by 1793 the U.S had a larger merchant marine and a foreign trade larger than most countries other than England. They also had the largest proportion of international commerce and ships to their population than any country. Between 1789 and 1810 the shipping business was growing fast. The total tonnage of American ships, the country's exports, and figures for imports increased dramatically. Transportation among states to develop the markets at home became very important. River transportation was very important in this new era, which began with the steamboat. Contributors of the development of the steamboat include john filch, who introduced his steam powered engine to delegates of the constitutional convention in 1787, Oliver Evans, who developed a high pressured engine lighter and more efficient than James Watts's, Robert Fulton and Robert R. Livingston, who perfected the steamboat, and used the Clement, which successfully sailed up the Hudson in 1807, to promote the steamboat, and Nicholas J. Roosevelt who introduced it to the West. The turnpike road was also very important to the development of transportation, because they provided quick transportation from one city to another. In 1792 a corporation constructed a toll road running from Philadelphia to Lancaster. Since turnpikes had to produce a profit for companies that built them they were often run through thickly settled areas, and construction costs had to be low. Also many corporations did not want to finance similar toll roads in mountain passed because they were expensive and provided little to no profit, therefore such roads had to be financed by state and federal governments.
Troubles on the Barbary Coast
Until the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, British treaties with the North African states protected American ships from the Barbary corsairs. Morocco, which in 1777 was the first independent nation to publicly recognize the United States, became in 1784 the first Barbary power to seize an American vessel after independence. The Barbary threat led directly to the creation of the United States Navy in March 1794. While the United States managed to secure peace treaties, these obliged it to pay tribute for protection from attack. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual expenditures in 1800. The First Barbary War in 1801 and the Second Barbary War in 1815 led to more favorable peace terms ending the payment of tribute.
Louisiana Purchase
When Napoleon took back from Spain the Louisiana Territory, he threatened U.S by closing the Mississippi river and New Orleans to American shippers. Jefferson attempting not to create war with France, he sent James Monroe and Livingston to Paris offering between two and ten million dollars for the purchase New Orleans and West Florida. Surprisingly, however, Napoleon offered much more. He was militarily overextended and needing money to continue his war against Britain. Knowing full well that he could not force Americans out of the land France possessed in North America, Napoleon offered all of Louisiana to the U.S. for 15 million dollars. The massive territory stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and more than doubled the size of the United States. In April 30, 1803 signed the treaty to Louisiana Purchase, and in the treaty United States was also to grant certain exclusive commercial privileges to France in the port of New Orleans and was to incorporate the residents of Louisiana into the union with the same right and privileges as other citizens.
Jay's Treaty
a treaty between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Great Britain that is credited with averting war, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars, which began in 1792. The terms of the treaty were designed primarily by Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton; strongly supported by the chief negotiator John Jay; and supported by President George Washington. The treaty gained the primary American goals, which included the withdrawal of British Army units from pre-Revolutionary forts that it had failed to relinquish in the Northwest Territory of the United States (the area west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio River). (The British had recognized this area as American territory in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.) The parties agreed that disputes over wartime debts and the American-Canadian boundary were to be sent to arbitration—one of the first major uses of arbitration in diplomatic history. The Americans were granted limited rights to trade with British possessions in India and colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for some limits on the American export of cotton. The treaty was hotly contested by the Jeffersonians in each state. They feared that closer economic ties with Britain would strengthen Hamilton's Federalist Party, promote aristocracy and undercut republicanism. Washington's announced support proved decisive and the treaty was ratified by a 2/3 majority of the Senate in November 1794. The treaty became a central issue of contention—leading to the formation of the "First Party System" in the United States, with the Federalists favoring Britain and the Jeffersonian republicans favoring France. The treaty was for ten years' duration. Efforts to agree on a replacement treaty failed (in 1806) when Jefferson rejected the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty as tensions escalated toward the War of 1812.[5] The treaty was signed on November 19, 1794, the Senate advised and consented on June 24, 1795; it was ratified by the President and the British government; it took effect the day ratifications were officially exchanged, February 29, 1796.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolution
political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions argued that the states had the right and the duty to declare unconstitutional any acts of Congress that were not authorized by the Constitution. In doing so, they argued for states' rights and strict constructionism of the Constitution. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 were written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, respectively.
