treaty of paris (september 1783)

• between Britain and America, signed in paris

• ended the revolutionary war

• recognized the united states as a country

• britain accepts america’s boundaries

  • great lakes as the northern boundary, mississippi river as the western boundary

  • southern boundary set as the northern boundary of florida, which was given back to the spanish by england

• the british also agreed to remove their armies from America quickly

articles of confederation (november 1777- 1789)

• established functions of the US national government after independence

• adopted by the Continental Congress in november 1777

  • served as the United States' first constitution, in force from March 1781 until 1789 when the real Constitution went into effect

• weak and decentralized form of government

  • it had a lot of concern over form of centralized government with too much authority

  • provided few central powers

  • it didn't have an executive official or judicial branch

  • the congress only had one chamber and each state had one vote

  • the congress commanded little respect and no support from state governments anxious to maintain their power

  • congress could not raise funds, regulate trade, or conduct foreign policy without voluntary agreement of the states

confederation economy

• the early economy was really bad, their money was worthless

  • because of britain’s trade practices like navigation acts and tariffs

    • england’s economy was still good because they had more money going in than going out

  • britain required that all goods going to england had to be shipped on british ships, and they’d charge super high rates to carry the goods, and once they arrived in england they’d be heavily taxed.

    • we couldn’t do anything about it because our government was so weak and decentralized

    • individual states tried to protest

      • virginia tried to have their own set of import taxes, but england just shipped their products to another state. then the states would get in a fight about interstate commerce.

• adam smith- a scottish thinker, wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776

  • it denounces mercantilism, arguing that if one nation keeps exploiting another, then ultimately it’ll hurt itself

• lord shelburne- former prime minister, parliament

  • agreed with smith, says that if England doesn’t back away from its treatment of the U. S. then itll just hurt its own economy

• john baker holroyd, earl of sheffield- an english politician, wrote Observations on the Commerce of the American States in 1783

  • argues that england shouldn’t have to be nice to the americans because they were the ones who fought a war because they wanted to leave

  • and america can’t do anything about it anyway because their government is so bad

• because of all of this (and shay’s rebellion), americans began to ask for a new constitution with a stronger, centralized form of government

shay’s rebellion (september 1786)

• massachusetts had accumulated a lot of debt from foreign loans and bonds

  • so they started some taxes that hit poor farmers really hard. if you couldn’t pay the tax, you had your farm seized and sold

    • farmers got angry angry

• in september 1786, a mob of 1200 men marched on Springfield, Massachusetts to prevent the state court from meeting

  • they were led by farmer Daniel Shays, a revolutionary war veteran

    • he fought at bunker hill, lexington-concord and saratoga

    • he was a poor man and upset that the state was taxing poor farmers to pay off debt

• after disrupting the court meeting, Shay and his mob tried to get more weapons from the arsenal, but they were stopped by militia

• a second attempt was made with the same results

• Shays rebellion collapsed and Daniel Shays fled to vermont

• it was significant because it help accelerate the reform of the AoC

constitutional convention (may- september 1787)

• the bad economy and Shays rebellion caused people to call for a better new form of government

• in september 1786, delegates from 5 states met in Annapolis, Maryland to discuss the economic problems

• Alexander Hamilton- a young lawyer who had served with George Washington

  • he suggested that the group call a meeting where the AoC would be revised and made stronger

• in may 1787, delegates from 12 states (no rhode island) met in Philadelphia to discuss the possible revision

• those present were:

  • George Washington- served as chairman and presiding officer, didn’t participate in the debates

  • Ben Franklin- served as an advisor to the younger delegates

  • James Wilson- the best-known attorney in the country, played important role in trying to get others to join Madison

  • Roger Sherman- self-taught lawyer, very skilled in compromise, plays an important role in that

• those absent were:

  • John Adams- serving in London as ambassador to England

  • Thomas Jefferson- serving in Paris as ambassador to France

  • Alexander Hamilton- forced to leave the convention early when the delegates from New York walked out over the idea of equal representation in the Senate

• James Madison- the father of the constitution

  • “everyone acknowledged his greatness“

  • he came from a Virginia family of slave-owning planters

  • studied at Princeton, tried studying law but found it boring, instead he turned to politics and philosophy

  • a close friend and student of Thomas Jefferson

  • short, small, shy, stupid voice, scared of public speaking

    • this made his efforts at the Convention all the more remarkable

• Virginia Plan- Madison’s plan for a new constitution

  • appealed to large and small states

  • said the AoC should be thrown out, new document drafted

  • called for creation of bicameral/ 2 house congress

    • senate (upper) based on equal representation, appealed to small states

    • house of representatives (lower) based on population, appealed to large states

  • called for creation of an executive branch (president) with veto power

  • called for creation of a federal court system with a supreme court

  • the 3-headed system of government (montesquieu) would have a system of checks and balances, ensuring that no one part of government could assume control at the expense of everyone else

• New Jersey Plan- William Paterson’s plan in response to Virginia Plan

  • called for keeping a single, unicameral Congress in place

  • kept AoC

  • called for a dual executive with shared veto powers

  • called for the government to have the ability to tax imported goods and to regulate intrastate commerce/ business

• Connecticut Plan- Roger Sherman’s compromise

  • from Virginia Plan- checks and balances, executive/ judicial branches

  • NJ Plan- fed. govt’s ability to tax imports and to regulate intrastate commerce

slavery in the constitution

• 3/5ths compromise

  • southern states were trying to count slaves as part of their population so they could get more votes in the House of representatives

  • northern states said no because property couldn’t be counted

  • compromise: each slave was counted as 3/5 of a person

• fugitive slave law

  • southerners were prevented from reclaiming runaway slaves

  • they were mad and wanted constitutional protection

  • now, if a guy had a runaway slave, he would just have to contact the police and they would help him

  • it didn’t actually work out this way

• african slave trade sunset

  • pennsylvania quakers wanted an end to the atlantic slave trade

  • south carolina said they wouldn’t ratify the constitution if that was ended

  • however, if they were allowed to end it on their own, they would ratify

  • the new constitution sunsetted the atlantic slave trade in 20 years, in 1808

  • southern states could live with it

ratification

• now the delegates from the Convention have to take it back to the individual states to get it ratified

• each state had to have a ratification convention

• federalists- favored ratification

• anti-federalists- opposed ratification

• the federalist papers- a series of essays published in NY newspapers, written anonymously by hamilton, madison, and john jay

  • federalist #10- written by madison, addressed the concern that the federal government would be too strong

    • madison responded by pointing to the system of checks and balances, explained that it kept one group from dominating

  • the federalist authors all used the pseudonym “Publius“ to keep readers’ prejudice out of the debate, since they were very well known

• ratification became a concern in the bigger states like NY, Mass, and Virginia

  • in NY, hamilton convinced the anti-feds that if it wasn’t ratified, NYC might opt to leave the state

  • in Massachusetts, sam adams and john hancock (anti-fed leaders) were convinced to ratify…

    • sam adams- he saw how much support ratification had in boston

    • john hancock- the federalists promised their support if he ran for governor or VP

  • in Virginia, federalists supporters of Jefferson and Madison overruled those of Patrick Henry

• the final issue with ratification was the the constitution didn’t say a lot about individual citizens’ rights

• a deal was made- once ratification had happened and the new government was running, then the constitution could be amended to fix stuff

• bill of rights- the first 10 amendments

George Washington

• he had no blueprint for being president

• he appreciated the power of the presidency and wanted to exercise its powers to the fullest, but respected the separation of powers

  • Henry Knox- his secretary of war

  • Thomas Jefferson- his secretary of state

  • Alexander Hamilton- his secretary of the treasury

• he established many precedents

  • dressed in plain republican broadcloth

  • addressed Congress formally

  • wished to be addressed simply as “Mr President“

  • served only 2 terms

• he provided direction and stability when we needed it most

Alexander Hamilton

• wanted to reduce the credit risk posed by the United States to possible lenders

• so he issued a series of reports designed to get the economy up and running

• Report on Public Credit- cornerstone of his economic plan

  • funding- the promise to fund the federal debt at face value

  • problems:

    • some southerners had sold their bonds for 25% or less of the face value thinking that something was better than nothing

    • madison (representing virginia) said the debt should be funded, but only original lenders should be paid

    • hamilton argued that every note holder would be paid, original lenders and speculators

    • ultimately, only original lenders got paid

  • assumption- the federal govt’s assumption of all individual state debt

  • problems:

    • most southern states had been working hard to pay off their debts since 1783, but most northern states hadn’t

    • madison proposed that the debt be assumed as it stood in 1783

    • hamilton disagreed, saying the govt should only assume present debt

    • compromise: each state’s present debt was assumed, and each state got a grant in the amount of debt they had paid off

• Report on Bank of the United States

  • Hamilton wanted a National Bank to be established to

    • serve as a fiscal agent (??) for the country

    • issue paper money

    • raise a large amount of gold to match/support the currency

    • be established as a corporation so it could sell stocks and shares to raise the needed gold

      • Jefferson and Madison disagreed, saying that the constitution didn’t allow the government to create corporations

      • Hamilton argued back, saying that the “necessary and proper“ clause of the constitution allowed it, because a national bank was necessary and proper to the function of the government

      • George Washington requested that both sides write a paper explaining their views, then he sided with Hamilton

    • the National Bank passed, it was given a 20 year charter, was organized and sold the stocks (mostly to Hamilton’s friends and overseas investors)

• Report on Manufacturers

  • Hamilton’s final report, this one didn’t pass Congress

    • he proposed that the US become a manufacturing nation so that we wouldn’t have to be so dependent on overseas stuff

    • this involved providing free land, grants, and protective tariffs as incentives for businesses to invest in building factories

    • the plan was way ahead of its time, would later be adapted by Henry Clay after the war of 1812

the french revolution

• the american revolution was popular in france, and one of the causes of the french revolution

• the enthusiasm declined as the revolution turned radical

• because most other european countries felt threatened by the french revolution, they attacked

• france expected the US to honor what they said in the Alliance of 1778, which brought france into the american revolution

washington’s neutrality proclamation

• George Washington issued a neutrality proclamation warning US citizens not to aid either side in the European war

• he said the govt would try to be friendly and impartial to both sides

  • this meant we would try to make money from both sides

• the pursuit of profit by doing business with both sides brought American shipping into the middle of the war

  • soon British and French privateers began to stop American merchant ships, taking cargo and sometimes men

the Genet Affair

• “Citizen Genet” (Edmond Charles Genet) was a French diplomat sent to the US to get support for France in the European war

• after he arrived, he persuaded some American ships to get weapons and sail under the French flag

• George Washington ordered that Genet stop doing it, but he was ignored

• when he got to Washington, Genet demanded that the US honor the Alliance of 1778 and allow the French ships to use any/all US port

  • this would have brought us into the middle of the war and ended our neutrality

• Washington was very mad and demanded that the French replace Genet

• the Genet Affair would hurt Thomas Jefferson politically bc he was known to be friendly to Genet/the French

• right after Genet’s removal, French ships stepped up their attacks on American merchant ships in the Caribbean

Jay’s treaty

• George Washington sent John Jay (chief justice of the supreme court) to London to try and get the British to quit attacking American ships, and honor their neutrality

• the agreement that Jay makes is very one-sided

  • The US accepts Britain’s definition of neutrality

    • such as: no items identified as contraband by the British (like naval stores) can be sent to France

  • the British would pay damages for the cargoes it took

  • the British would allow the US to trade with its colonies in Asia, but not the West Indies, which is what we wanted

• the treaty was very unpopular in the US, Jay knew it but he couldn’t get the British to budge on anything

• Washington gets Congress to ratify it because he felt it was better than nothing, and we just had to get Britain to stop attacking our ships

• Jay’s treaty came at the cost of our relations with France, who felt very insulted because they had helped us earlier

Pinckney’s treaty

• The Spanish were at war with France, and they thought they could deal with the US because of Jay’s treaty

• we wanted navigation rights on the lower Mississippi river and rights to New Orleans

• Spain was willing to give us those as well as increased trade with them

First political parties

• federalists-

  • favored a strong central government to control weak and selfish individual people

  • wanted a diverse, industrial nation

  • leader- Hamilton

• Democratic-Republicans (Democrats)-

  • thought government should be small and simple, otherwise it might be corrupted by crowded cities and industrial towns

  • favored a nation of small farmers

  • leader- Jefferson

    • chief organizer and manager- James Madison

the election of 1796

• federalists: john adams and thomas pinckney

• democrats: thomas jefferson and aaron burr

• electors (selected by each state) determined the election

• one elector was chosen to withhold a vote to prevent a tie

• adams- president, jefferson- VP

the XYZ affair

• the french were mad at jays treaty, began attacking our ships

• GW tried to work something out by sending a diplomat but the french werent having it

• when john adams got in office, he sent 3 diplomats to paris- pinckney, marshal, and gerry

• when they arrived, the french refused to see them for 3 months

• then 3 french agents, agents X, Y, and Z approached them with a deal:

  • they demanded that before any negotiations could take place, we have to pay a bribe of 2500 to each member of the French Directorate, and loan $12 million

• pinckney was mad and didnt want to pay at all

• pinckney and marshal went home to spread the news but gerry stayed and tried to work something out

  • gerry realized that it was pretty common in europe to demand tribute like that

• congress, however, said it would rather spend millions on defense than a nickel on tribute

• john adams still wanted to avoid war with france, so he began building a battle navy, and a “quasi-“ (unnofficial) war began with france in the caribbean

  • adams also made plans for an army which he thought would be risky

  • if an army were created, GW would come out of retirement to run it

  • adams knew GW would make Hamilton a lieutenant (adams doesnt like hamilton) which meant that basically Hamilton would be running the army, and maybe he might want to take over the country ??

• anyway, adams ended up not declaring war, bc he thought it would be bad for the country

• Hamilton wanted war bc he thought it would ruin the Democrats who were known to be friendly with France- Jefferson, Madison, etc

• ultimately, war was avoided

• Adams’ one decision cost him the next election 😿

the heroism of john adams !!

• Adams wanted really badly to be re-elected president in 1800

• he gained a lot of support from the XYZ affair, the navy, and the army

• he still wasn’t willing to call war with France and this angered people in his own party

• we eventually worked out an agreement with France (avoiding war) and all the federalists got really mad and it cost him the 1800 election

• Adams was “the least appreciated great man“ in American history, and he cost himself the election by sticking to his principles and what he believed was best for the country 😿

the election of 1800

• federalists- adams and pinckney

• democrats- jefferson and burr

  • (same as last time)

• hamilton believed that adams was unfit to be president

  • he convinced pinckneys supporters to not support adams, in order for pinckney to win instead

    • this backfired when the democrats won the election

• jefferson and burr tied because the democrats were so united and well-organized

• the House of Representatives voted 36 times before Jefferson won

  • this all caused the 12th amendment to be added- the electors now vote separately for president and VP

  • jefferson had a grudge against burr from here on out

louisiana purchase

• jefferson’s best thing he did as president

• new orleans and the rest of louisiana was sold for 15 million by napoleon

• this almost doubled america’s size and for only .3 cents an acre

• this was great for america

supreme court stuff

• mcculloch v maryland (1819)

  • supreme court ruled that congress could create the national bank because of the necessary and proper clause

  • also the state of maryland lacked the power to tax the bank

• marbury v madison (1803)

  • established the principle of judicial review

    • the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional

  • The unanimous opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall.

hamilton and burr

• after leaving VP in 1804, Aaron Burr returned to New York and worked for the Democratic Party.

• burr’s top federalist rival was hamilton

• burr’s 1806 run for NY governor was dirty and mudslinging

  • he was opposed by George Clinton, who was supported by Hamilton and Jefferson, both of whom dislike Burr

  • Hamilton said some mean things that Burr didn’t forgive 😿

    • Burr demanded a duel, Hamilton accepted

    • they met in Jersey, early morning in July 1804

    • Burr carefully shot Hamilton and killed him that day

• this ended the Federalist party, as they had lost their leader

lewis and clark

• congress gave Jefferson 2500 to explore the new Louisiana Territory

• meriwether lewis- headed the expedition

• william Clark- co-leader

• they were instructed to map, keep climate records, locate rivers, take note of soil conditions, look for minerals, collect plant/animal specimens, and bring back bones of any rare animals

• they employed an interpreter, a carpenter, a gun repair guy, and 21 other military men to join the “Corps of Discovery“

• they left from St Louis

• they met with Great Plains Indians in Iowa, made friends, sent back stuff to an overjoyed Jefferson

• Toussaint Charbonneau- joined as an interpreter

• Sacagawea- his wife, they also brought their newborn son