New Nation

Washington’s Inauguration & Immediate Post-Revolution Goals

• 30\,\text{April}\,1789: George Washington sworn in as 1st President

  • Visual depictions: oath‐taking scene and copy of inaugural address

• Aspirations for the new nation

  • Diverse, prosperous, cohesive society

  • Reality: within <100\,\text{yrs} the Civil War erupts

• U.S. Constitution adopted to guard against internal conflict

  • Highly controversial; rugged individualism of early leaders complicates unity

Shays’ Rebellion (1786\text{–}1787)

• Context

  • Post-war Massachusetts: heavy personal & state debt, depressed economy

  • Confederation government unable to levy federal taxes → incoherent national revenue system

  • Farmers (many war veterans) face foreclosure; state sides with lenders

• Leadership & Tactics

  • Daniel Shays organizes armed farmers (“Shaysites”)

  • Blockade of courthouses to stop foreclosure writs (echo of Stamp Act protests)

• Conflicting Interpretations

  • Rebels: defending natural rights & seeking equitable relief

  • Government: views the movement as mob violence/treason

• Outcome

  • Jan 1787: Courts reopen, ≈1{,}000 rebels arrested & indicted for treason (most later pardoned)

• Significance

  • Reveals weakness of Articles of Confederation

  • Sparks debate:

  • Nationalists (e.g., James Madison): need strong central gov’t

  • Small-government libertarians (e.g., Thomas Jefferson): “rebellion is the price of liberty”

From Articles of Confederation to the Constitution

• Articles of Confederation (ratified 1781)

  • Recognized state sovereignty, regulated war/post, set coin values

  • Fatal flaw: no federal power to tax → states repay collective war debt individually

• Philadelphia Convention 1787 (all states except RI)

  • Ostensible goal: revise Articles; outcome: draft entirely new Constitution

• James Madison’s “Virginia Plan”

  • Model: extended republic with strong central gov’t; 3 branches

  • Judicial: appointed, oath required

  • Legislative: bicameral

    • House of Representatives: proportional representation (population-based)

    • \text{Three-Fifths Compromise}: \; \text{each enslaved person counts as } \tfrac{3}{5} for apportionment

    • Senate: 2 seats per state

  • Executive: opted for single president (James Wilson’s argument) chosen by Electoral College

• Ratification Struggle

  • Anti-Federalists demand explicit Bill of Rights (George Mason proposal)

  • Federalist Papers (85 essays by “Publius” = Hamilton, Madison, Jay) answer fears about states’ rights & large gov’t

  • 2\,July\,1788: Constitution approved by required 9/13 states → takes effect; narrow victory, continued debate

• Major Rights & Compromises

  • Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) added 1791; silent on women’s rights, suffrage, enslaved people except to protect slavery

  • 1787 Commerce/Slave-Trade Compromise:

  • New England safeguards Atlantic slave trade for 20\,\text{yrs} (to 1808)

  • SC & GA concede federal power over commerce

  • Trade “banned” 1808 yet poorly enforced; Britain had already outlawed in 1807

  • External drivers of future slavery debate: Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) & Louisiana Purchase (1803, territory doubled, new slave-expansion prospects)

Hamiltonian Economics & the First Bank of the United States

• Cabinet Divide in Washington Administration

  • Industrial/commercial vision: John Adams (VP), Alexander Hamilton (Treasury)

  • Agrarian, small-gov’t vision: Thomas Jefferson (Sec. of State)

• Hamilton’s Core Principles

  • Harness self-interest, especially of wealthy, to stabilize gov’t

  • Protect property, assume state war debts, promote inequality as stability mechanism

• Funding & Assumption Plan

  • Federal gov’t assumes all Revolutionary\,War state debts

  • Controversies: speculators profited; some states paid twice

• Bank of the United States (BUS) charter 1791 (20-yr)

  • 20 % gov’t ownership, 80 % private investors

  • Functions: central depository, inflation control (paper \leftrightarrow gold/silver), channel for elite investment

  • Objections: class entrenchment, private leverage over public power, constitutional debate (Hamilton cites implied powers)

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

• Excise tax on whiskey (part of Hamilton’s revenue plan)

  • Disproportionately harms frontier grain farmers (cheaper to distill than ship grain)

• Western Pennsylvania resistance

  • Assaults on tax collectors & marshals, arson, mail theft; ~7{,}000 rebels

• Washington’s Response

  • Dual track: reconciliation + massive federal militia mobilization

  • Show of force ends rebellion → proves constitutional gov’t can quell domestic unrest

• Social Takeaway: perception of federal gov’t as ally of wealthy/urban interests, adversary of rural poor

Foreign Policy: Jay’s Treaty (1794)

• Drivers

  • British impressment of U.S. sailors, lingering forts, Franco-British wars disrupt trade

  • Hamilton sees Britain as key trade partner; U.S. aims for neutrality

• Terms negotiated by Chief Justice John Jay

  • Britain evacuates NW forts, compensates U.S. merchants

  • U.S. grants Britain most-favored-nation trade status

• Pros

  • Maintains prosperity, official neutrality

• Cons

  • Symbolic tilt toward monarchy; fails to end impressment

• Political fallout: crystallizes two organized parties (Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans)

French Revolution & American Reactions

• 1789: French overthrow Louis XVI for unequal representation

• Early U.S. sympathy → Federalist alarm as “Terror” intensifies

  • Republicans: violence = unfortunate cost of liberty

  • Federalists: fear contagion of social instability; seek British ties

• Post-Jay atmosphere: French seize U.S. ships → coastal panic (“Francophobia”)

• Alien & Sedition Acts (1798)

  • Alien Act: executive may deport foreign nationals (unused)

  • Sedition Act: criminalizes “false, scandalous, malicious” speech against gov’t

  • Raises foundational free-speech questions (censorship vs. punishment)

• Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions (Jefferson, Madison)

  • Assert states can nullify unconstitutional federal laws; highlight limits of federal power

Religion, Disestablishment & First Amendment

• Colonial norm: compulsory religion ↔ civic virtue

  • 1776: most states fund or require religion

• Gradual disestablishment (state by state; MA last in 1833)

  • Difficulty defining “orthodox” Christianity, demographic change

  • Leaders view imposed faith as oppression; prefer private conscience

• First Amendment (1791): “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” → institutionalizes religious liberty, yet practical ambiguities remain (e.g., Sunday office closures)

Foundational Political Precedents

• Election of 1800

  • Tie: Thomas Jefferson vs. Aaron Burr → 35 House ballots

  • Peaceful transition from Federalist (Adams) to Republican (Jefferson) becomes enduring norm

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)

  • Background: Adams’ “midnight appointments”

  • Decision establishes \textbf{judicial review}: Supreme Court may void acts of Congress/Executive inconsistent with Constitution

  • Permanently elevates judiciary as co-equal branch

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Threads

• Liberty vs. Stability

  • Constant tension: rebellions (Shays, Whiskey) vs. need for order

• Representation Paradoxes

  • \tfrac{3}{5} Compromise simultaneously boosts slave-state power & dehumanizes enslaved people

• Economic Inequality as Policy Tool

  • Hamilton’s deliberate courting of elite wealth to secure national credit

• Free Speech Boundaries

  • Sedition prosecutions force debate: is dissent un-American or core liberty?

• Church–State Separation

  • Early U.S. experiments with pluralism influence global democratic models

Chronological Quick-Reference (Major Dates)

• 1781: Articles of Confederation ratified

• 1786\text{–}1787: Shays’ Rebellion

• 1787: Constitutional Convention; Virginia Plan; Slave-Trade Compromise

• 1788: Constitution ratified

• 1789: Washington inaugurated; French Revolution begins

• 1791: Bill of Rights; BUS charter; Whiskey tax enacted

• 1794: Whiskey Rebellion; Jay’s Treaty

• 1796: Adams elected

• 1798: Alien & Sedition Acts

• 1800: Jefferson/Burr electoral tie → peaceful power transfer

• 1803: Marbury v. Madison; Louisiana Purchase

• 1808: Trans-Atlantic slave trade legally ends in U.S. (weak enforcement)

• 1833: Massachusetts ends state religious establishment