THE FEDERALIST ERA: NATIONALISM TRIUMPHANT

• Border Problems – interstate conflicts immediately reasserted

themselves at the end of war– government faced struggle to assert control

over territory granted by Treaty of Paris– Great Britain removed forces from 13 states

but refused to surrender its outposts on frontier in

– southwest, Spanish closed Mississippi River to American commerce

• Foreign Trade – Americans could trade with European

powers, and a Far Eastern trade developed

– British import duties reduced American exports to England and its colonies in western hemisphere

– British merchants poured inexpensive manufactured goods into United States

– Congress could not pay the nation’s debts; states raised taxes to pay their debts; and the entire economy was cash poor

– states experienced hard times from 1784 to 1786

– retaliatory tariffs on British goods would have dealt with some of problems, but Confederation lacked authority to levy them

– a move to grant Congress power to tax imports failed when it did not gain unanimous consent of states

• The Specter of Inflation – Continental Congress and states paid for

Revolutionary War by printing paper money, which resulted in inflation

– some states attempted to restore credit by raising taxes and restricting new issues of money

– powerful deflationary effect had its greatest impact on debtors, particularly farmers

– debtors clamored for the printing of more paper money; some states yielded to pressure resulting in wild inflation

• Daniel Shays’s “Little Rebellion” – determined to pay off state debt and

maintain sound currency, Massachusetts legislature levied heavy taxes resulting deflation leading to foreclosures

– in 1786, mobs in western part of state began to stop foreclosures by forcibly preventing courts from holding sessions

– Daniel Shays led a march on Springfield preventing state supreme court from meeting

– state sent troops, and the “rebels” were routed

• To Philadelphia and the Constitution– in 1786, delegates from five states met in

Annapolis to discuss common problems

– Alexander Hamilton, who advocated a strong central government, proposed calling another convention for following year to consider constitutional reform

– meeting approved Hamilton’s suggestion, and all states except Rhode Island sent delegates to convention in Philadelphia

• The Great Convention – remarkably talented group of delegates

assembled in Philadelphia to revise Articles of Confederation

– framers agreed on basic principles – should be a federal system with

independent state governments and a national government

– government should be republican in nature, drawing its authority from the people

– no group within society should dominate– framers were suspicious of power and

sought to protect interests of minorities

• The Compromises that Produced the Constitution – after voting to establish a national

government, delegates faced two problems: what powers should government be granted and who would control it?

– first question generated relatively little disagreement

– delegates granted central government right to levy taxes, to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and to raise and maintain an army and navy

– second question proved more difficult

– larger states argued for representation based on population; smaller states wanted equal representation for each state

– Great Compromise created a lower house based on population and an upper house in which each state had two representatives

– issue of slavery occasioned another struggle and another compromise

– three-fifths of slaves were counted for purposes of taxation and representation, and Congress was prohibited from outlawing slave trade until 1808

– creation of a powerful president was most radical departure from past practice

– only faith in Washington and assumption that he would be first president enabled delegates to go so far

– delegates also established a third branch of government; the judiciary

– founders worried that powerful new government might be misused, so they created a system of “checks and balances” to limit authority of any one branch

• Ratifying the Constitution – framers provided their handiwork be

ratified by special state conventions– this gave people a voice and bypassed

state legislatures– new Constitution would take effect when

nine states ratified it– Federalists (supporters of the

Constitution) and Antifederalists (their opponents) vied for support in state conventions

– Federalists were better organized than their opponents

– the Federalist Papers brilliantly

explained and defended proposed

new system

– most states ratified Constitution

readily once its backers agreed to add

amendments guaranteeing civil

liberties of people against

encroachments by national

government

• Washington as President – first electoral college made George

Washington its unanimous choice– Washington was a strong, firm, dignified,

conscientious, but cautious, president– he was acutely aware that his actions

would establish precedent, so he meticulously honored the separation of powers

– Washington picked his advisors based on competence and made a practice of calling his department heads together for general advice

• Congress Under Way – first Congress created various

departments and federal judiciary

– it also passed first ten amendments to Constitution known as the Bill of Rights

• Hamilton and Financial Reform – one of its first acts, Congress imposed a

tariff on foreign imports– Congress delegated to Alexander Hamilton,

Secretary of Treasury– he proved to be farsighted economic planner– He suggested that debt be funded at par

and that United States assume remaining state debts

– Congress went along because it had no choice

– Southern states stood to lose, since they had already paid off most of their debts

– Madison and Jefferson agreed to support Hamilton’s plan in exchange for latter’s support for plan to locate permanent national capital on banks of Potomac River

– Hamilton also proposed a national bank– Congress passed a bill creating the bank,

but Washington hesitated to sign it– Jefferson argued that Constitution did not

specifically authorize Congress to charter corporations or engage in banking

– Hamilton countered that bank fell within “implied powers” of Congress

– Washington accepted Hamilton’s reasoning, and the bank became an immediate success

– Hamilton hoped to change an agricultural nation into one with a complex, self-sufficient economy

– toward that end, his Report on Manufactures issued a bold call for economic planning

– a majority in Congress would not go so far, although many of the specific tariffs Hamilton recommended did become law

• The Ohio Country: A Dark and Bloody Ground – western issues continued to plague new

country– British continued to occupy their forts, and

western Indians resisted settlers encroaching on their hunting grounds

– Westerners believed that federal government was ignoring their interests

– Compounding their discontent was imposition of a federal excise tax on whiskey

– Resistance to tax was especially intense in western Pennsylvania

• Revolution in France – French Revolution and subsequent

European wars affected America– Alliance of 1778 obligated United States to

defend French possessions in Americas– Washington issued a proclamation of

neutrality– France sent Edmond Genet to United

States to seek support – Genet licensed American vessels as

privateers and commissioned Americans to mount military expeditions against British and Spanish possessions in North America

– Washington requested that France recall Genet

– European war increased demand for American products, but it also led both France and Britain to attack American shipping

– larger British fleet caused more damage

– American resentment flared, but Washington attempted to negotiate a settlement with British

• Federalists and Republicans: The Rise of Political Parties – Washington enjoyed universal

admiration, and his position as head of government limited partisanship

– his principal advisors, Jefferson and Hamilton, disagreed on fundamental issues, and they became leaders around whom political parties coalesced

– Jefferson’s opposition to Hamilton’s Bank of the United States became the first seriously divisive issue

– disagreement over French Revolution

and American policy toward France

widened split between parties

– Jefferson and the Republicans

supported France; Federalists backed

the British

• 1794: Crisis and Resolution – several events in 1794 brought partisan

conflict to a peak– attempts to collect whiskey tax in

Pennsylvania resulted in violence– in July, 7,000 rebels converged on

Pittsburgh and threatened to burn the town– the sight of federal artillery and liberal

dispensation of whiskey turned them away– Washington’s large army marched

westward, when he arrived, the rebels had dispersed

• Jay’s Treaty– Washington sent John Jay to negotiate

treaty with England

– American indebtedness to England and fear of Franco-American alliance inclined British to reach accommodation with United States

– Jay obtained only one major concession; British agreed to evacuate posts in west

– they rejected Jay’s attempts to gain recognition of neutral rights on high seas

– Jay agreed that America would not

impose discriminatory duties on

British goods

– America would pay pre-Revolutionary

debts

– terms of treaty raised opposition at

home

• 1795: All’s Well That Ends Well – Washington decided not to repudiate the

Jay Treaty, and Senate ratified it in 1795– Jay’s Treaty became basis for

regularization of relations with Britain– Spain, fearing an Anglo-American

alliance, offered United States free navigation of Mississippi and right of deposit at New Orleans

– this treaty, known as Pinckney’s Treaty, also settled disputed boundary between Spanish Florida and United States

– Treaty of Greenville, signed with Indians after Battle of Fallen Timbers, opened west to settlement

– Before decade ended, Kentucky and

Tennessee became states, and

Mississippi and Indiana territories

were organized

• Washington’s Farewell – settlement of western and European

problems did not end partisan conflict at home

– at end of his second term, Washington decided to retire and in his farewell address, he warned against partisanship at home and permanent alliances abroad

• The Election of 1796 – Washington’s retirement opened gates

for partisan conflict– Jefferson represented Republicans

– the Federalists considered Hamilton too controversial, so they nominated John Adams for president and Thomas Pinckney for vice-president

– Adams won, but partisan bickering split Federalist vote for vice-president, so Jefferson received second highest total and therefore became vice-president

– Federalists quarrel among themselves, and Adams was also unable to unite bickering party

• The XYZ Affair – in retaliation for Jay Treaty, the French

attacked American shipping

– Adams sent commission to France to negotiate settlement

– mission collapsed when 3 French agents (X, Y, and Z) demanded a bribe before making deal; the commissioners refused

– Adams released the commissioners’ report, which embarrassed the Republicans

– Congress, controlled by the

Federalists, abrogated the alliance

with France and began preparations

for war

– although a declaration of war would

have been immensely popular, Adams

contented himself with a buildup of

armed forces

• The Alien and Sedition Acts – Federalists feared that Republicans

would side with France if war broke out

– refugees from both sides of European war flocked to United States

– Federalists pushed a series of repressive measures through Congress in 1798

– Naturalization Act increased residence

requirement for citizenship

– Alien Enemies Act empowered president to arrest or expel aliens in time of declared war

– Sedition Act made it a crime “to impede operation of any law,” to instigate insurrection, or to publish “false, scandalous and malicious” criticism of government officials

– Federalists attempted to silence leading Republican newspapers

• The Kentucky and Virginia Resolves

– Jefferson did not object to state sedition laws, but believed that Alien and Sedition Acts violated First Amendment; he and Madison drew up resolutions arguing that laws were unconstitutional

– Jefferson further argued states could declare a law of Congress unconstitutional

– neither Virginia nor Kentucky tried to implement these resolves; Jefferson and Madison were in fact launching Jefferson’s campaign for president

– Taken aback by American reaction,

France offered negotiations, and

Adams accepted offer

– Adams resisted strong pressure from

his party for war

– Negotiators signed the Convention of

1800, which abrogated Franco-

American treaties of 1778