3.10: Shaping a New Republic

Washington Administration

  • George Washington unanimously elected as new president

  • Established executive departments

    • State, treasury, justice, war

    • Each headed by a secretary

      • Secretaries made up cabinet, who advised him on issues related to their department

National Bank

  • Alexander Hamilton served as secretary of the treasury

    • Established national bank

    • Unify states and improve US credit

    • Absorbing each state’s war debts into a national debt

      • Enable US to borrow money from other nations

      • Increase state dependence upon national gov

  • Counterargument: the Constitution does not have any provisions for establishing a national bank

  • Rebuttal: the Elastic Clause allowed for this kind of thing

    • Congress can make all laws necessary and proper to execute constitutional powers

  • National bank worked!

Foreign Policy

  • French Revolution broke out during Washington’s term

  • Issue: whether the US would aid the French war against other European nations

    • Washington: US too new to get involved in a European war

    • Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793

  • France’s minister to the US, Edmont Genêt, went to Americans to persuade

    • Washington appealed to France to recall him

    • Genêt stayed and became an American

  • British continued to seize American ships and sailors bound for France

    • Chief Justice John Jay sent to rectify issue

    • Result: Jay’s Treaty

      • British gave up posts on American western frontier

      • Spanish in West got twitchy and expanded mission settlements

        • New opportunities for soldiers

        • Cultural blending (w local NAs)

    • American minister to Spain, Thomas Pinckney, negotiated Pinckney Treaty in 1795

      • Americans could use Spanish port at New Orleans for MI River trade

      • US southern border ended at 31st parallel

Westward Expansion

  • Americans moving west, conflicts w NAs

    • Rumor: British supplying NAs w weapons and encouraging them to attack Americans

  • 1794: Battle of Fallen Timbers

    • US Army vs. confederacy of NA tribes

      • Indian surrender of all Ohio Valley land

  • 1794: Whiskey Rebellion

    • Hamilton persuaded Congress to pass a whiskey tax

    • Poor western farmers who turned wheat into whiskey were mad

    • Pennsylvania farmers attacked federal tax collectors

      • Paralleled Shays’ Rebellion, except we now have FEDERAL TROOPS!

      • GW came in and crushed rebellion

Two-Party Political System

Federalists

  • Alexander Hamilton

  • Strong central gov

  • Urban and elite interests

Democratic-Republicans

  • Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

  • States’ rights

  • Rural and agricultural interests

Washington’s Farewell Address

  • Served two terms and stepped down

  • Gave speech known as Washington’s Farewell Address

    • Warned against factions and political parties

    • Warned against getting involved in foreign affairs

      • Alliances w European nations

The XYZ Affair

  • John Adams replaced Washington

    • Federalist, pro-British

    • War broke out between Britain and France

    • France seized American trade ships bound for Britain

  • Adams sent delegation to France

    • Three French gov officials who met them demanded a bribe before meeting French foreign minister

  • Both Feds and DR outraged

Alien and Sedition Acts

  • Adams passed Alien and Sedition Acts

    Alien Acts: gov could imprison or deport any non-citizens

    • Aimed at Irish and Scottish immigrants, who were critical of government’s pro-British leanings

  • Sedition Acts: illegal to criticize gov publicly

  • DR saw this as overreach of federal power and violation of Constitutional rights

  • Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: states had the right to nullify any law passed by federal gov if it went beyond the powers granted to it in the Constitution