Chapter 8-- Securing the Republic

Politics in An Age of Passion

• George Washington became the first US president under the new constitution 

• Vice President alongside Washington was John Adams

Hamilton’s Program

• Hamilton was the Secretary of treasurer & wanted to establish the nation’s financial stability

  • His model was Great Britain 

• 5 parts of his program

  • Make loans available to citizens & said federal government should pay off their debts 

  • Creation of new national debt → old debts replaced by new interest-bearing bonds issued by governments creditors 

  • Creation of a Bank of the US: served as the main financial agent 

  • Raise revenue → tax on producers of whiskey

  • Imposition of tariffs & subsidies for incentives 

Emergence of Opposition

• Hamilton’s plans involved close ties with the British

• Madison & Jefferson didn’t believe in Hamilton’s strategies to promote urban growth & wanted America to only have independent farmers marketing grain 

• Madison & Jefferson concluded that the biggest threat to America was an alliance with a powerful central government 

• People feared that Hamilton’s plans would be unfair to farmers & poor people, especially in regards to the Whiskey Tax

The Jefferson-Hamilton Bargain 

• At first opposition to Hamilton’s program came from the South because they were farmers who didn’t care about urban expansion → became strict constitutionalists–insisted that only the laws from the constitution should be enforced 

• Jefferson negotiated an agreement with Southerners to accept Hamilton’s plan in exchange of a permanent national capital between MD & VA 

  • Labor was done by slaves 

Impact of the French Revolution

• French Revolution was seen as a good follower of the American Revolution until radical actions occurred

  • execution of King Louis XVI 

  • war between France & Britain 

• To the federalist, france’s radicalism was unaccounted for 

• To the republicans, france’s radicalism was accounted for

• American leaders feared being separated into parties but the French Revolution separated French admirers & French avoiders

  • French admirers welcomed a French envoy seeking support for his difficult government

  • The alliance w/ France made it much harder to stay neutral during the war between France & Britain

    • Proclamation of Neutrality in April 1793 by Washington

• Impressment: British kidnapping sailors & American citizens of British origin to serve in the navy

  • Jay’s treaty negotiated the guaranteed favored treatment of British imported goods in exchange of British stopping impressment & stealing American ships → sharpened political divisions within the US & ended American-French alliance 

    • America was now associated with monarchial power instead if republican power

Political Parties

• Federalists & Republicans: the 2 parties that farmed, each accused the owner of destroying liberty /America

• Federalists:

  • elitists, they reflected the trad ideas of British, fixed on hierarchy & wealth

  • ppl outside the south

  • favored Hamilton’s plan & close ties w/ Britain

  • feared the spirit of liberty was making America Anarchical

    • “liberty was defined wrongly, which has done America great harm”

Whiskey Rebellion

• A tax protest by farmers in the backcountry of PA 

  • “liberty or death” panels

  • Washington came with troops

    • first time a president ordered a militia

The Republican Party

• supported democratic self-govt

• democratic 

• sympathetic towards French

• usually consisted of wealthy & normal farmers

  • normally in alliance

• federalists & republicans went head-to-head non-stop

  • each charged each other w/ betraying the War of Independence 

  • when Washington left the office, Republicans bullied/called him names

  • Federalists called Republicans French agents

Expanding the Public Sphere

• more citizens got involved w/ politics

• democratic serment was reflected in writings like The Key of Liberty

The Democratic-Republican Societies 

• supporters of the French Revolution & critics of Washington administration in 1793 & 1794 formed nearly 50 Democratic-Republican societies → ideas of democracy spread through Republican press

  • federalists viewed this as liberty getting out of hand

• Societies were able to let people have free inquiry & communication because of the unalienable rights they had according to the constitution

  • Shut down because of the Whiskey Rebellion

• Thomas Paine supported the French Revolution

  • Writings from the Rights of Man inspired mass movements for political & social change from authorities that oppressed them 

The Rights of Women

• Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women 

  • Inspired by Rights of Man

  • Talked about rights of humanity also applying to women 

  • Didn’t directly challenge traditional women roles

  • Mentioned how having education would make women better mothers/wives 

• Wollstonecraft inspired women to seek greater rights 

• Hannah Adams of MA: 1st women to support herself as an author 

• Judith Sargent Murray: “An equality of sexes” 

Women and the Republic 

• “Male” didn’t appear in constitution until after the Civil War so women could interpret if they laws also included them 

• The rise of involvement from ordinary citizens in government wasn’t expected but it deepened the democratization of public life set in motion by American Revolution

The Adams Presidency 

• In Washington’s farewell address, he defended his administration against criticism, warned America against the political parties dividing them, & told them not engage in foreign alliances 

The Election of 1796

• When Washington left, Adams became the president and Jefferson became VP 

• Both France & Britain were stealing Americas boats during the French Revolution → America attempted to restore their alliance w/ the French (XYZ Affair) 

• XYZ affair poisoned Americans relations with its former ally & now were allied with the British  → Quasi-War between France and America

  • Negotiated peace w/ France after

• Farmers in PA didn’t want to pay taxes to help fund the Navy & Army → Fries Rebellion

• Adams shut the rebellion down brutally → never voting for a Federalist again

The Reign of “Witches”

• Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: aimed to increase national security during a time of tension w/ France but limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of noncitizens

  • Alien Acts: allowed deportation 

  • Sedition Acts; made it illegal to criticize the govt 

  • limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of noncitizens

  • Naturalization Act: extended from 5-14 years the residency requirement for immigrants seeking American citizenship

• Several republicans were charged under the sedition act; targeted towards them 

The VA & Kentucky Resolutions 

• Attacked the sedition act as an unconstitutional violation of the 1s+ Amendment & justified their action w/ saying the constitution said they could call govt out when they impeach on rights

• Other states didn’t endorse the resolution because they were scared of the break of union if they did, but then they remembered that freedom of discussion was an attribute of American liberty

  • Revulsion of Sedation & Alien acts contributed greatest to the election of Jefferson in 1800