unit 3.10-3.12

new us constitution

was created to lack detail and be broad to allow future interpretation for future issues

how did the executive branch respond to the vague flexible constitution in the new Republic?

washington, after being unanimously elected by the electoral college, created a system to better organize the vaguely stated operations of the executive department, demonstrating the constitutions flexibility

• cabinet of advisors (state, treasury, war, and justice)

• jefferson, Hamilton, knox, and randolph, each subject to senate approval (highlighting distribution of power)

• established the two term limit

washingtons farewell address

advocates national unity

warns against foreign alliance (pillar of American isolationism) 

and political parties 

how did the judiciary branch change in response to the new constitution 

buffed by the judiciary act of 1789 creating a 3 tiered federal court system.

13 district courts,

3 federal court,

1 supreme court 

structure reminds mostly the same today

what did the democratic Republicans and federalists disagree on

• ECONOMIC policy.

• federalists proposed a national bank where the gov would assume the states debts to establish national credit. democratic republics argued they had no constitutional power to do this, but they actually do in article 1: elastic clause/necessary and proper clause: authority to tax and therefore establish a bank

• federalists new tax on whiskey to bay off national debt put a strain on farmers, democratic republics viewed it as a protection of industry at the expense of farmers, whiskey rebellion successfully quelled by GW but received backlash as tyrannical by dem reps

• FORGIEN POLICY

• dissagreements on involvement in the french revolution. federalists did not want involvement, believing it spun out of control and was risky. washington issued the neutrality proclamation to keep out while protecting trade interests

• jefferson resigned his cabinet position in protest

• citizen genet ignored the neutrality proclamation and sailed around America to gather a militia to attack British ships. in response, Britain armed American Indians to attack us settlements.

• this caused the jay treaty, that somewhat solved post revolutionary war tension but failed to address the most important stuff like impressment, angering democratic republics, and unsolved issues eventually led to the war of 1812 

john Adams presidency policies used to silence dissent

causing even more separation 

alien and sedition acts: response to the threat of french subversion (citizen genet)

president could imprison and deport non citizens if found criticizing pro British policies, (federalist influence) and was illegal to criticize the government

democratic republicans viewed this as an infringement of the bill of rights, passing the virginia and Kentucky resolutions , declaring that any federal law that operated beyond the constitution must be considered null and void 

how did the American revolution cause a distinct American identity

americans were more attached to their regional identity over national identity

but americans nationally identified themselves as a free people.

• regionally, state constitutions demanded the social contract, banning titles of hereditary nobility and aristocracy.

• they instead embraced meritocracy with expanded education (except women, who could only participate politically by raising educated sons)

• states also created a separation between church and state, except for Massachusetts

regional advancements were made towards the abolition of slavery, extending the principles of liberty, except for the southern states who's economy was built up on slavery

black populations formed their own communities as free blacks in the north in urban cities

how did American national identity show in art, architecture, and literature?

art: Charles Wilson Peale, John Trumbell: painted American revolutionary war leaders like george Washington as republican heros. used the neoclassical style that romanticized and emphasized order and harmony to advance glorifying heros and events of the revolution

helped Americans to identify moments like the signing of the declaration of independence as key componets of their identity.

H ST JOHN COVERCTURE: literature, in letter from an American farmer he emphasized that america was a land of opportunity and social mobility

ARCHITECTURE: construction on the US capital was done in a federal style/neoclassical style inspired by Greek and Roman architecture, columns and dome emphasizing order and democracy

deliberate shift from the colonial Georgian style

how did migrating americans cause conflict with the american indian groups

americans wanted to display that the land belonged to them and not the Indians, which displaced them

new American alliances coordinated to resist this migration

the new constitution attempted to solve these conflictsby passing the Indian trade and intercourse act of 1790 to shift responsibility of regulating migration to the federal government

americans ignored this law and continued to push westward

gb also did not abandon their western frontier posts and encouraged attacks on Americans by arming American indians

washington sent 2000 soilders into Ohio river valley to subdue the Indians (battle of fallen timbers) securing a victory, leading to the treaty of greenville inwhich the Indians surrender the Ohio river valley inexchange for annual payments from the federal government, making them dependent on the payments and more vulnerable to further displacement

what spurred on migration

jays treaty, which saw the removal of british groups from western border and left the Indians defenseless, contributing to the treaty of Greenville

pinkney treaty: formally recognized the borders between the Spanish and us territory, and opened the Mississippi river and port of new Orleans to US trade. this ended spanish opposition to westward expansion and made trading easier

southern plantation owners also demanded expansion west in search of agrarian land for their cashcrops; tobacco and cotton. they brought their slaves with them, which contrasted against the growing abolitionist movement in the north. with Eli Whitney's cotton gin, the institutition of slavery would expand along with the high demand of cotton 

“necessary evil”