16 Must Know Presidents/People (copy)

All of the figures explicitly stated by College Board in the APUSH curriculum.

1.) Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790; Periods 2/3)

• “Join or Die” (Published in 1754, Pennsylvania Gazette)—> Famous cartoon of a disembodied snake; to show the disunity of the American colonies; right before the 7 Years War

• Helped draft the Declaration of Independence; helped with the Constitution

• Poor Richard’s Almanack— a way to spread information to those who are not wealthy; annual reports on weather, politics, and other information related to farmers.

• Deist—> believed in the existence of a God, but also believed the creator did not intervene.

  2.) Thomas Paine (1737-1809; Period 3)

• Common Sense: argued that it was contrary to common sense/logic for the large land of America to be governed by a country as small as England.

• American Crisis: series of pamphlets; written to strengthen the resolve of the colonists during the Revolutionary War

  3.) George Washington (1732-1799; Period 3)

• Commander-in-Chief Revolutionary War

• First president of the United States (voted into office by other representatives)

• Supported idea of a National Bank (Government voted to pass Hamilton’s Federal Bank)

• Leaned Federalist; Refused to assume an official political party

• First Term coincided with the French Revolution; many Americans debated whether to join the French, support them, go against them, or neither.

  • Democratic-Republicans and Jefferson sympathized with the French Revolution, and advocated for U.S. support of the French.

  • Proclamation of Neutrality (1793): With debated of whether the U.S. should support the French or not, Washington released a proclamation declaring the U.S.’s stance of neutrality, in which he believed the U.S. was too young to get involved with another war. (Jefferson resigned from the Cabinet in anger over this action)

  Jay’s Treaty (1794):

  • British began to seize American Merchant Ships, which angered Americans

  • Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to Britain to negotiate; after years of negotiation, Jay brought back a treaty in which the British agreed to evacuate ports in the Western Frontier, but never specified anything about the ships

  • Angered Americans, but was successful in Washington’s attempts to avoid a war with France. Washington believed the nation was too young to begin a conflict again with another country.

• Pickney’s Treaty (1795):

  • Negotiated by U.S. minister to Spain Thomas Pickney

  • After Jay’s Treaty, Spain feared that the British-American alliance was getting too strong. In response, they negotiated a deal where Spain would open the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans to American trade, and in return, they established the northern Florida Boundary to the 36th parallel.

• Whiskey Rebellion (1794):

  • Rebel farmers, angry with Hamilton’s excise taxes placed on whiskey, violently attacked tax revenue collectors.

  • In response, Washington federalized 15,000 militiamen and placed them under Alexander Hamilton’s command.

  • This show of force proved the Constitution could be strong enough, in comparison to the weak response to Shay’s Rebellion under the Articles of Confederation.

• Set the precedent—>

  • First to appoint a Cabinet

  • Resigned after 2 terms—> basis for the 22nd amendment (term limits)

• Farewell Address (1796): Washington warned U.S.…

  • not to interfere with European affairs

  • not to form “permanent alliances”

  • not to form political parties

  • not to fall into sectionalism

4.) John Adams (1735-1826; Period 3)

• Vice President to Washington

• 2nd President (beat former secretary of state Thomas Jefferson, who became Vice President, by 3 electoral votes)

• First president to live in the White House

• Presidency also bore the weight of French conflicts with the British.

• XYZ Affair/Quasi-War with France

  • French warships and privateers began seizing American merchant ships, which angered Americans.

  • Adams sent delegates to resolve the situation, and met with 2 French representatives (identities have never been revealed, so they are addressed as X,Y, and Z) who asked for money and bribes in order to start negotiations with the French. The American Delegates refused.

  • When the news got out to the Americans, the nation was outraged, and they began advocating for war.

  • Despite this, Adams refused to go to war with the French and instead sent new delegates to negotiate the peace talks. This angered many Americans, but Adams believed the nation’s Army and Navy were too weak to enter a new war.

• Alien and Sedition Acts

  • Anger at the French popularized Federalists for the next congressional election, and so the new Congress authorized by Federalists used their power against their political rivals.

  • Naturalization Act: Since immigrants were more likely to vote Democratic-Republican, Congress increased the required time for immigrants to be granted U.S. citizenship from 5 to 14 years.