Unit 3/4 APUSH
Precedents and Institutions:
Executive Branch:
Formation of executive departments (division of labor)
Department of State — Led by Thomas Jefferson
Department of War — Led by Henry Knox
Department of Treasury — Alexander Hamilton
Department of Justice —Edmund Randolph
2 four year terms (at the time the constitution didn’t limit the amount of time the president could serve—Washington resigned after 2 four year terms setting the precedent for how long the president could serve)
Washington’s Farewell Address:
Warns people of the divisive effects of political parties
Warns against foreign alliance that would drag the US into wars with foreign powers
Legislative Branch:
Judiciary Act = Created a multi-level federal court system consisting of thirteen district courts, three courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court with six justices
Hamilton’s Financial Plan:
He produced two reports: public credit and manufacturing.
Funding: Full payment of the national debt. New government bonds issued to pay for the old bonds
Assumption of state debt: again, the government bonds would be issued to pay for old debts. in exchange for southern votes in congress for his assumption plan, he promised to support the building of a new capital in the south
this established the credit of the US.
Since the wealthy could purchase the bonds, it would be in their interest that the new nation succeeds
Political Parties form:
Federalists:
Led by Alexander Hamilton
Advocated for a strong federal government.
lose constructionists = federal government could exercise powers not explicitly stated in the Constitution—necessary and proper clause.
Democratic-Republicans
Led by Thomas Jefferson
Supported policies that strengthened state governments
Descendant of the Anti-Federalists
Strict constructionists = the federal government could only exercise powers explicitly granted by the Constitution.
These political parties formed because:
Economic policies:
The National Bank:
Creation proposed by Hamilton
would establish US credit it create conditions for national economic flourishing—leading to power for federal government.
Democratic Republicans opposed this because the constitution had no provision for the federal government to create a bank. additionally, they saw this as a federal power grab against the interests of common farmers
National Bank successfully established
Whiskey Rebellion (1791):
The excise tax on whiskey put an economic strain on western farmers
Democratic republicans saw this as Federalist protection of industry at the expense of the poor.
Farmers rebelled, however the federal government had the power to suppress the rebellion with force
a stark contrast to the Shay’s Rebellion (when the government was under the Articles), demonstrating that the federal government was far more capable of keeping order.
Pissed democratic republicans off.
French Revolution (1789)
Democratic Republicans believed that the US should honor their treaty with France and aid the French Revolutionaries.
Federalists believed that the revolution would damage their trade (being that the revolution spread to prussia and austria)
Washington issued the Neutrality Proclamation, protecting American trade and keeping the US from getting involved.
Alien and Sedition Acts:
Passed during the Adams Administration
Made it possible for the federal government to silence dissent against Federalist policies.
Made it increasingly difficult to become a citizen of the US
In response, Madison and Jefferson wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, stating that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. They argued that individual states had the authority to determine the constitutionality of federal legislation.
Battle of Fallen Timbers:
Washington sent troops to claim the land in the west that they got from the Peace of Paris (because british and spanish and native americans were resisting American migration to the west)
Treaty of Greenville:
Opened the Ohio territory for US settlement without resistance
Jays Treaty:
Great Britain agreed to withdraw its forces from the western boarderlands in the US
Pinckney Treaty:
Ratified by the US with Spain
Formally recognized the boarders between the US and Spanish territory.
Opened the Port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River to US merchants
Ended Spanish opposition to US westward expansion in the South
Reduced conflict between the two states
Westward Migration spiked
Slavery:
Since high demand crops like tobacco and cotton depleted the soil of its nutrients, planters were eager to migrate westward in search of new land. They brought slavery with them
Northern states objected the expansion of slavery
Abolitionists rejected it on moral grounds (like religious ppl (e.g. quakers))
Others had economic motives, since free labor was a threat to paid labor in the north
excise tax = tax placed on the manufacture, sale, or use of specific goods. It’s purpose is to raise government revenue
protective tariff = a tax on imported goods designed to make foreign products look more expensive, protecting American industries from foreign competition. it encourages people to buy US made goods. Supported mainly in the North (industrial economy) and opposed by the SOuth, which relied on imports and exports.
Administration of John Adams:
John Adams (Federalist =)
Election of 1796:
Adams elected as president with the most electoral votes and Jefferson (a democratic-republican) gets second place in electoral votes, making him vice president
XYZ Affair:
French leadership believed that the Jay Treaty had favored the British
French warships began to seize American merchant ships
Adams sends 3 reps (Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry) to France to negotiate with the French government.
Talleyrand (French foreign minister) demanded 250,000 dollar payment for himself and several million dollars to the French government before negotiations would take place. The three representatives refuse and leave
UNDECLARED naval war erupted between the US and France (Adams didnt officially declare the war because the US wasnt strong enough to fight the french)
Adams supported the undeclared naval war and the creation of the Department of the Navy
Talleyrand sends word that he will meet with American envoys honestly in response to undeclared naval war (Adams sends three new reps)
Convention of 1800:
Napoleon says that theyre wasting their time with the US and should focus on the British, so he ends the war and promises to respect the US
The Treaty of Alliance of 1778 is abrogated.
Administration of Jefferson:
Election of 1800 won by Jefferson, displaying a peaceful transfer of power between two political parities
AKA revolution of 1800 bc jefferson changed stuff
Jefferson repeals the Whiskey tax
Federal Power Expands:
Louisiana Purchase (1803):
CONTEXT: Napoleon rises to power and France and tries to regain possession of the former colony Haiti (which gained independence under Toussaint Louverture”s leadership). French were defeated by 1803 and Haiti remained in control of its Black led government.
This event seemed like a good time for Jefferson to try to persuade the French to open the Port of New Orleans to US merchant activity (as this was important to western farmers)
Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to strike a deal with Napoleon for the port
Napoleon offered Monroe the entire Louisiana Territory, gaining millions of acres for settlers and farmers and supporting Jefferson’s vision of an agrarian American.
Some opposed this purchase because they thought it would be difficult to organize/control such a large territory. It also begged the question of how slavery would be handled in the new territory.
Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery to explore and map the territory. Led by Lewis and Clark. The data they collected would help inform further decisions about statehood, potential conflicts with Spanish/French settlers, and displacement of American Indians.
Embargo Act (1807):
Federal ban on international trade
Napoleon if Wars began right as Jefferson became president. Both Great Britain and France sought alliance with the US.
Jefferson decides to uphold Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation, keeping US out of the fight.
This pissed off both the British and the French, so they retaliate by interrupting American trade with their rival.
This caused Jefferson to pass the Embargo Act, cutting off all US trade with Britain, France, and nearly the rest of the world. He believed this act would force Great Britain and France to respect US Neutrality
Messed up the economy
Used mass federal power to cut off trade with foreign nations and prosecute smugglers who ignored the law
Strengthening of the Supreme Court:
John Marshall tried to strengthen the Supreme Court leading to debates between the two parties
REMEMBER: The constitution gave little authoritative instruction on the role and power of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Couet gained power during this period and claimed a coequal place with the other two branches of government.
Marbury v. Madison (1803):
As on of his last acts as president, John Adams fills the federal courts with federalist judges, an act known as Adams’s Midnight Appointments. Because federal judges serve for life, Jefferson saw this as a way for Federalists to disrupt the future plans and policies of the democratic republicans.
James Madison (Jefferson’s secretary of state) retaliated by refusing to deliver commissions, so the judges sued Madison. The case came before the Supreme Court.
John Marshall said that the court had no power to compel Madison to deliver commissions.
He asserted that it was the supreme court’s role to be the final interpreter of the Constitution (called Judicial Review). In doing so, Marshall elevated the power of the Supreme Court to equality with the other two branches. That confirmed the constitutional foundations of the separation of powers and checks and balances. Further, it overturned the arguments in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
McCulloch v Maryland (1819):
Helped establish the supremacy of federal law over state law.
Congress chartered a Second National Bank. Democratic Republicans argued that this represented too much federal power over the states.
Maryland legislatures passed a tax on the bank in an effort to maintain state power over federal power
When the case came to the Supreme Court, John Marshall declared that the bank was constitutional because of the loose constructionist interpretation of the necessary and proper clause.
Establishes the supremacy of federal law over state law, strengthening federal power.
Impressment:
Britain was fighting Napoleonic France and needed a huge number of sailors. Britain claimed that many sailors on the US ships were British deserters, and that it had a right to reclaim its subjects, even from American vessels. This shows how the British didn’t fully respect US citizenship or neutrality.
Britain practices impressment, where the British navy forcibly seized American sailors
Violated US neutrality and sovereignty
Major cause of rising anti-british sentiment
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair (1807):
British warship HMS Leopard fired on USS Chesapeake, leading to the deaths of 4 sailors. Other sailors impressed.
In response, Jefferson enacts the Embargo Act of 1807 in the hopes that it would hurt the British economy
Berlin and Milan Decrees:
Napoleon declared British trade illegal, and any neutral ship trading with Britain could be seized by France. It aimed to weaken the British economy
Orders in Council:
A direct response to the Berlin and Milan decrees, requiring neutral ships to trade with Britain first before Europe. This violated US neutrality and trading rights.
Because of the decrees and the orders in council, US ships ae seized by both Britain and France.
Non-Intercourse Act (1809):
Replaced the Embargo Act
Allowed trade with all nations except Britain and France
Still ineffective as economic damage continued.
President James Madison asked Congress to declare war in 1812:
War Hawks:
Young Democratic-Republicans (Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun) wanted to go to war with britain, expand westward, annex canada, and defend national honor
Complex Congressional Vote for the War of 1812:
South and west were pro war while new england was anti war
opposed by federalists
Macon’s Bill No. 2 (1810)
Reopened trade with Britaina nd France
Promised to cut off trade with the enemy of whichever country stopped violating US rights
Napoleon pretended to comply so US cut trade off with Britain
increased tensions leading to war
Marshall Court:
Strengthened federal power
Protected property rights
Supported national economy
Continued Federalist ideology after party decline
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824):
The Supreme Court decided that New York could not give a monopoly to one company to operate a stream boat line on the Hudson River
The decision stated that only Congress had the authority to regulate interstate trade.
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
The state of New Hampshire passed a law changing the charter of Dartmouth College.
Discussion of whether a not a state legislature by law change a charter
Marshall’s court declared the state law unconstitutional, stating that no state can “impair the right of contract”
Fletcher v. Deck (1810):
the case involved a land fraud in the stare of Georgia.
Marshall stated that a state legislature could not pass legislation invalidating a contract.
This was the first time that the Supreme Court declared a state law unconstitutional
War of 1812:
USS Constitution:
American frigate defeat British ships, boosting American morale
Showed that the US navy could compete with Britain
America Attempts to Invade Canada:
War Hawks believed Canada was easy to conquer
Multiple invasions fail badly due to poor leadership and unprepared army
Canada remained British
British Capture of Washington (1814):
British troops burned the White House and Capitol in response for the US burning York (Canada)
Major national humiliation
Fort McHenry/The Star-Spangled Banner:
British bombarded Baltimore Harbor
Fort McHenry held, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem
Treaty of Ghent (1814):
Ended the war
Restored status quo ante vellum (everything back as before)
US seen as having defended its honor
Battle of New Orleans (1815):
Led by Andrew Jackson
Huge American victory
Fought after Treaty of Ghent was signed
Made Jackson a national hero
Strengthened American nationalism
Hartford Convention (1814-1815):
New England Federalists opposed the war
They discussed limiting federal powers and possible secession
After war victory, they looked unpatriotic
Federalist party destroyed
Era of Good Feelings (1817-1825):
Period of national unity
One-party dominance (Democratic-Republicans)
Nationalism increased after the war
Under President James Monroe
Clay’s American System:
Proposed by Henry Clay
Three parts:
Protective tariff to support US industry
National bank for stable currency
Internal improvements (e.g. roads and canals)
Goal = economic independence and unity
Tecumseh and Native American Resistance:
Tecumseh:
Shawnee leader
Formed Native American confederacy
Tried to stop westward expansion
Supported by the British
Battle of the Thames (1813):
US forced defeated British and Native allies
Tecumseh killed
Ended major Native resistance in the old northwest
Native Americans lost british suppport
Accelerated US westward expansion