Federalist Era DBQ

When the Committee of Five drafted the Declaration of Independence, they had mentioned the ways that their new country would be run. They only knew the British way of government since they had been under that rule for centuries, and knew that they wanted to diverge from that line of thinking. The new United States of America would be governed under the Articles of Confederation. In the Articles of Confederation, three branches were established to separate powers, states got one vote each, and the Congress and overall government did not have the power to control the imports and exports and the states got that responsibility. Specifically, the imports and exports sparked the issues within the states. While this may have seemed like a decent government plan, there were too many issues and problems that arose quickly, as the Articles of Confederation could not tax the cheap British goods that were imported to the United States, and the U.S. had a post-war depression and cash shortage. This would eventually lead to Shays Rebellion, a New England revolt started by the farmers who were not making enough money and losing their land. They would march to the courts and prevent them from operating. This would cause the government to gather and revise the Articles of Confederation, becoming the United States Constitution. The Constitution included a bicameral legislature to keep that separation of powers, easier ways to collect the votes from the states, and it covered the issues and conflicting views on slavery in the country. This resolved many of the problems presented in the Articles of Confederation as well as any issues people were having with the drafting of the Constitution. To further protect the rights of American citizens that were not mentioned in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was written, with many amendments to secure the rights of the American people. Now that the government of the United States has been altered to cater to the needs of the people, the rise of politics will begin, with the main political parties being the Republican Party and the Federalist Party. The efforts of the politicians to make their country better would lead to feuds but also growth. The Federalist Era left the United States a stronger nation through the establishment of the Federal government with the Constitution and the economic stability through Hamilton’s Financial Plan, as well as the plea of Washington not to get involved in other countries’ affairs. 

The United States formed a new government quickly, including the rise of political parties, a new set of principles and ways of governing, new legislation put in place, and a rise in tensions, all of which advanced the political state of the country by figuring out what was working and what was not. During the Revolutionary War, John Dickinson from the Second Continental Congress drafted a set of values the American people held and a way to govern the people under one government, which became known as the Articles of Confederation. However, it became clear after the war and the start of the new nation that this was not the ideal constitution for this country. It was unpopular with the farmers who were actively protesting along with the little amount of control the government had to keep the people in order, so it needed revision. At the Great Convention in Philadelphia, that is exactly what they did. They formulated the Constitution of the United States along with the Bill of Rights to further support it. The Constitution implemented a bicameral legislature, which uses two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Washington, even during the reign of the Articles of Confederation, was the President of the United States and he laid the groundwork for the new government after he retired after his two terms, as depicted in Document C. This document from Washington explains how the politics of the United States should be run, no matter what party was in charge or what beliefs they had. He mentions how the U.S. should have as little political connection with other foreign nations as possible so that they could focus on themselves and not get roped into affairs that do not concern them. Here, Washington just wanted the best for his country and the future of it. Along with this new Constitution, Washington’s Farewell, and the new election upon the people of the United States, two primary political parties became popular; the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. The Election of 1796 put John Adams, a Federalist, as the president with Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, as the vice president. During Adam’s presidency, he put the Federalist’s Alien and Sedition Acts into effect which had four main acts within. The Naturalization Act, shown in Document A, explains that the number of years required for an alien to be considered a citizen in the United States was increased from 5 years to 14 years. This was enacted to make the immigrants wait for another 3 elections to pass before being able to vote for president. At the time, immigrants were in favor of the Democratic-Republicans, so the Federalists used this act as a way to prevent the Democratic-Republicans from gaining too much power and winning the next election. These acts were responded to by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, as presented in Document E, which explains how the Democratic-Republicans found the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional and that the Federal government was abusing its power by enacting such laws that purposefully stop another group from winning the office. These resolutions were directed toward the supporters of the Democratic-Republicans, but also to supporters of Federalists to help all understand that they were arguing against the “unconstitutional” Alien and Sedition Acts. The building of the United States Government was just one of three defining factors of the Federalist era that led to the strengthening of the country, with the economic policy set in place by Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton also being of the same importance to have a functioning nation.

When the Committee of Five drafted the Declaration of Indepenedence, they mentioned how their new country would be governed. They had only ever known the British government rule as that was what they were controlled by for centuries, but they wanted to diverge from that line of thinking. The United States of America would be governed under the Articles of Confederation, which introduced the three branches of government for separation of powers, one vote per state, and Congress and the overall government would have little control over the imports and exports within the states. The imports and exports specifically would spark one of the many the issues within the states. So while this seemed like a good government plan, there were too many issues arising too quickly that caused chaos. Under the Articles of Confederation, the government could not tax the cheap British goods coming into the countryand the U.S. had a post-war depressionand cash shortage. This would eventually lead to Shays Rebellion, in which farmers in New England were losing land and money and revolted by marching to the courts and preventing them from operating. This forced the Articles of Confederation to be revised, creating the Constitution of the United States, solving many of the issues presented with compromises. The Constitution included a bicameral legislature to keep the separation of powers, an easier way to collect the votes from the states, and a compromise to the debates over slavery. To further protect the rights of the American people, the Bill of Rights was created, with many amendments to keep the American people safe under the government. Now that the government was fine-tuned and in operation, political parties would start to rise, with the two being the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The efforts of the politicians involved would lead to feuds, but also growth. The Federalist Era left the United States a stronger nation through the establishment of the Federal government with the Constitution and the economic stability through Hamilton’s Financial Plan, as well as the plea of Washington not to get involved in other countrie’s affairs.

The United States formed a new government quickly, with the rise of political parties, a new set of governing principles, new legislation, and tensions, all of which advancing the political state of the country by figuring out what was working and what was not. During the Revolutionary War, John Dickinson from the Second Continental Congress drafted a set of values the American people held and a way to govern the people under one government, which became known as the Articles of Confederation. However, it became clear with the