The Origins of American Politics

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The Origins of American Politics

• Ch 6 Notes

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Liberty vs. Order in the 1790s

• Big problem facing the USA DEBT!!
• Hamiltons perspective (Sec. of Treasury)
• He had a lot of faith in the system
• Supported a strong national government
• Distrusted the people (uneducated bunch)
• In order for the economy to grow, the government
  must be actively involved in the economy
• Against traditional beliefs

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Hamiltons Plan

• Federal government would assume all of the
  states debts
• Strengthened national government
• South not happy with idea
• Agreed with the Residence Act of 1790 (new
  capital located in the south)

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• Two ways for the federal government to raise
  money and pay off debt
• Tariff tax on imported goods
• Began in 1789
• Whiskey Tax excise tax on distilled liquors
• Began in 1791
• Public reaction feared national government was
  taking too much power

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Hamilton vs. Jefferson

• Federalist
• Washington usually sided with him
• Loose Construction of the Constitution
• Constitution is loose framework of laws that
  government could build on as it deemed
  fit/necessary

• Found he held the minority opinion in the cabinet
• Strict Construction of the Constitution
• In 1793 he resigned as the Secretary of State
• Dont use implied powers given in the
  Constitution unless absolutely necessary

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Foreign Policy

• French Revolution broke out in 1789
• Should the US help out?
• Federalists generally opposed because of the
  Reign of Terror
• Jeffersonians should help because its an
  extension of the US Revolution
• Split opinion in the USA

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• Edmond Genêt (1793)
• French minister to the US who came to US to get
  our support in a war against England
• Overstepped his bounds when he tried to convince
  private Americans to fight with the French
  against the British
• Political power had again changed in France and
  he wouldve been guillotined upon his return
• Married an American (the governors daughter) and
  became American citizen

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• England and France at War
• Should we get involved? If so, on which side?
• England our mother country, we wanted an
  economic relationship with the British
• France obligated to help because they came to
  our aid in the American Revolution
• 1793 Washington declared US neutrality

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• England started taking American ships trading
  with the French West Indies
• England helped Native Americans keep land in the
  Northwest Territory
• Americans were becoming more anti-British
• 1794 John Jay sent to England to negotiate an
  agreement (main concern England must stop
  seizing American ships)
• Jays Treaty
• British would leave the NW Territory
• Arrangements made to expand trade between the US
  and England
• British wouldnt agree to stop seizing ships

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• Reaction to Jays Treaty
• No protection of American shipping led people to
  call Jay a sellout to the British
• Treaty was ratified in 1795
• Failed to accomplish what he was sent there to do

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Whiskey Rebellion

• In Western PA and some other frontier areas,
  people refused to pay the Whiskey Tax
• 1794 farmers in Western PA began to protest the
  excise tax
• Shut down the courts
• Attacked tax collectors
• First real direct challenge to the power of the
  federal government
• Washington sent 12,000 troops in to shut down the
  protest
• Showed the government is committed to enforcing
  its laws

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At this point in history

• Federalists
• Economic plan in place
• Peace with England
• Whiskey Rebellion suppressed
• BUT
• Lost popularity in US and as early as 1793
  Democratic Societies were formed (artisans
  through professional men came together to oppose
  the Fed. Government)

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Whats Jefferson up to?

• He and some state leaders were writing letters to
  each other promoting resistance to the
  Federalists
• Originally these critics were called Republicans,
  but they were also called Democratic Republicans,
  or Jeffersonian Republicans
• Now 2 political parties (group of people who
  want to win elections and hold public offices in
  order to shape public policy)

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• 2 Political Parties
• Jeffersonian Republicans
• Federalists
• Election of 1796
• George Washington refused to run for a 3rd term
• Set a precedent others followed until FDR
• Federalist candidates
• John Adams (P) and Thomas Pinckney (VP)
• Republican candidates
• Thomas Jefferson (P) and Aaron Burr (VP)
• Results Adams- 71 Electoral College votes,
  Jefferson 68
• Adams became President and Jefferson the VP since
  he received second most votes in the election
• Obviously a problem in the system now

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Washingtons Farewell Address

• Gave advice to the young nation and some
  warnings
• Dont have competing political parties
• Stay neutral in foreign affairs
• Did we follow either of these??

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XYZ Affair

• French mad and started seizing American ships in
  French ports
• To avoid war, Adams sent Americans to France to
  negotiate
• Agents X,Y, and Z demanded 250,000 from US
  before they would be allowed to meet with France
  foreign minister
• Americans outraged, the American agents returned
  home

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Undeclared naval war

• By 1798 US and French ships fighting
• People were happy with Adams (high point of his
  popularity)

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Changes Federalists Make

• Increase size of the army
• Create more taxes to support the army
• Four Alien and Sedition Acts were passed (1798)
• Meant to protect Adams from critics
• Alien Act and Alien Enemies Act gave the
  president the power to arrest/deport people
  living in the US who werent citizens
• Naturalization Act 5 yrs to 14 yrs living in US
• Sedition Act anyone who wrote, published, or
  said something against the government of its
  officials could be fined or put in jail
• applied to ANYONE in the country

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Reaction to the Alien Sedition Acts

• Jefferson, Madison, and other Republicans
• Felt AS Acts were unconstitutional because they
  violated 1st Amendment rights
• Figured judgment was the states responsibility
• Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (state laws)
• Nullified the Sedition Act within their states
• Defiance of federal power

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Increasing Tensions and Rebellion

• Tensions got so high between the Federalists and
  Jeffersonian Republicans that the president at
  times the had to enter the presidents residence
  through the back door and members of Congress
  argued on the floor of the House
• Gabriel Prosser organized a slave rebellion which
  failed before it began in Virginia
• He and 30 others were executed for it

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Adams loses Federalist Support

• Peace negotiated with France and tensions calmed
  but he had little support
• More aggressive Federalists stopped supporting
  him
• Jeff-Reps support of France became a non-issue
  in the election
• Alien and Sedition Acts (VERY unpopular) became
  even more unpopular now that the country wasnt
  going to war

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Election of 1800

• Federalists Candidates
• Adams and Pinckney (Hamilton and other
  Federalists pushed for Pinckney to get more votes
  than Adams)
• Jeffersonian Republicans Candidates
• Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
• Focus was the potential the federal government
  has to threaten individual liberties

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Campaign of 1800

• Candidates didnt campaign for themselves,
  instead pamphlets and articles were published by
  their parties
• nasty campaign
• Republicans said Adams was monarchist not in
  touch with the people and made Jefferson look
  like a common man
• Federalists said Jefferson was too weak and
  godless and would lead the country into chaos

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Election Results

• Popular Vote
• Jefferson won
• Electoral College
• Jefferson and Burr tied
• Now the House of Representatives (still and
  Federalist majority) must decide
• What happened?
• Hamilton supported Jefferson and on the 36th
  vote, he was chosen the next president
• Peaceful exchange of power between 2 political
  parties on March 4, 1801 as Jefferson took oath
  of office

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Jeffersons Agenda

• Reduce influence of national government on
  peoples lives
• Reduce taxes
• Refused to give speeches to Congress because
  thats too much like a king
• Call him Mr. President
• Cut size of the federal bureaucracy (departments
  in the federal government)
• Reduced the size of the armed forces

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Jefferson and the Courts

• Judiciary Act of 1789 created national court
  system
• 13 district courts, 3 circuit courts, Supreme
  Court
• Supreme Court would settle disputes between the
  states laws and federal laws
• Judiciary Act of 1801 reduced the number of
  Supreme Court justices and increased the number
  of federal judges
• Wanted to pack the system with federal judges

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The Midnight Judges

• Federal judges Adams appointed until midnight the
  night before he left office
• One of the appointments John Marshall
• Federalist leader who became Chief Justice of the
  Supreme Court for 34 years and had a HUGE impact
  on law in the USA
• Marbury vs. Madison (1803) established the power
  of judicial review for Supreme Court
• Can review laws and determine if they are
  unconstitutional

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Jefferson and the West

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• Set up process that western territories had to go
  through to become a state
• Land Act of 1800 people were able to buy western
  land in small parcels on credit
• Napoleon took over in France
• He had control over the mouth of the Mississippi
  River
• Concerned western farmers and fur traders because
  they needed the MS River for trade

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Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston
  to France in 1803 to buy New Orleans
• They could spent up to 10 million
• Instead they bought the Louisiana Purchase for
  15 million (see map on p. 216)
• Doubled the size of the USA
• Expanded federal gov power

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Louis and Clarke Expedition

• Spring 1804 group send to explore the new
  territory
• River routes, map to the Pacific Ocean, contact
  with Native Americans, natural resources
• They reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805 and
  returned east by Sep of 1806
• French-Canadian fur trader and his wife Sacagawea
  were hired to help them and act as their
  interpreters
• Zebulon Pike gathered more information in his
  expedition in 1806-1807

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Election of 1804

• Jefferson was very popular during his first term
• Federalists were losing support
• Burr (VP) decided to run for Governor of NY and
  ran as a Federalist
• Hamilton didnt like Burr and encouraged everyone
  to NOT support Burr
• Burr didnt even receive the Federalist
  nomination
• Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel
• July 11, 1804 in the duel Burr fatally shot
  Hamilton
• Burr fled NY to avoid murder charges

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Back to the Presidential Election

• Jefferson won re-election by a landslide
• Defeated Pinckney (Federalist candidate)

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Increasing Tensions with Europe

• During Jeffersons first term there was peace in
  Europe but wars resumed during his second term
• This led to problems between the US and the
  European nations

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• The Chesapeake Incident
• British policy of impressments (kidnapping
  Americans and forcing them to serve in the Navy)
• 1807 British attacked the US Chesapeake
• 21 casualties
• British boarded and searched the ship
• Americans outraged!!

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Jefferson Avoids War

• Chooses economic weapon instead of war
• Embargo Act of 1807
• Outlawed almost all US trade with foreign
  countries
• Embargo restriction on trade
• Didnt work at punishing European nations but DID
  hurt American people who had been successful at
  trading with Europe
• Smuggling began
• Jefferson lost popularity and James Madison
  became the next president (another Jeffersonian
  Republican)

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6.4 Fighting with Native Americans

• Some Native American tribes fought American
  expansion west
• British helped them defeat the US at Fort Wayne,
  Indiana in 1790
• Also defeated expedition led by the governor of
  the Northwest Territory (one of greatest defeats
  by Indians)
• British stopped helping the Native Americans so
  they were left to fight the US military alone

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Native American Actions

• Little Turtle tried to persuade the Indians to
  make peace
• 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers Native American
  defeat that forced them to accept the Treaty of
  Greenville 1795 agreement where Native Americans
  gave up 2/3 of Ohio and accepted that Ohio River
  was no longer boundary between them and the white
  settlers

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Indian Reaction to the Treaty

• 4 ways they dealt with Americans
• Accept white culture
• Little Turtle and the Miami tribe lived
  peacefully with white settlers and accepted some
  of their culture
• Blend white and Native American cultures
• Handsome Lake the leader of the Seneca encouraged
  his people to accept American views on land,
  agriculture, and family life
• Return to Indian traditions
• Tenskwatawa the prophet opposed assimilation
  and established Prophetstown in Indiana in 1808

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• Military Action
• Tecumseh- warrior chief urged Native Americans to
  join together to fight American expansion
• Battle of Tippecanoe Nov. 7, 1811
• Battle between Tenskwatawas men and the governor
  of Indianas troops
• 2 hours of fighting left no real winner
• Confidence in Tenskwatawa was shattered
• Prophetstown was destroyed

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6.5 War of 1812 (separate quiz)

• Question Stations
• Answer the questions on your station card using
  the textbook in the time allotted to each card