Beginning a New Nation “We are in a wilderness without a single footstep to guide us.” What did James Madison mean when he said this? George Washington sets the tone Washington was unanimously elected President in 1789 He did not run for the position As a war hero he was seen as the best person to unite the country. Washington sets precedents Sets up “The Cabinet” Adds “So help me God” to the oath of office Only serves two terms

First Political Parties Washington hated the idea of political parties He never had to run for office Two ideological camps began to form in his cabinet Alexander Hamilton – Secretary of the Treasury Federalist Believed in a strong central government Feared the people Loose interpretation of the Constitution Thomas Jefferson – Secretary of State Democratic-Republicans Shared power between federal and state Democracy for regular people Strict interpretation of the Constitution

The Election of 1796 First time the United States had a contested election John Adams (Washington’s Vice President) Thomas Jefferson (Washington’s Secretary of State) First time we had political parties Adams – Federalist Jefferson – Democratic-Republican Adams wins 71 electoral votes--All the northern states Jefferson wins 68 electoral votes--All the southern states Because of the way the system was designed John Adams became the President and Thomas Jefferson Vice-President

Adams has a pretty bad few years America was on the brink of war with France Adams tries to avoid war at all costs, because France is very strong and would have beaten us. His party passes the Alien and Sedition Acts Federalists were mistrustful of immigrants, who supported the Democratic-Republican party. Raised the residence requirement from 5 years to 14 years. Allowed the President to deport or jail any alien considered undesirable Set jail terms for anyone expressing “false, scandalous and malicious statements” against the government. Is this Constitutional?

The Campaign for the Election of 1800 The election of 1800 was a rematch between President John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Things get ugly Adams (Democratic-Republicans) is accused of being a tool of the rich who wanted to turn America into a British style monarchy Jefferson (Federalists) accused of being a dangerous supporter of revolutions, a lover of all things French and an atheist. Results: Jefferson Wins! Which party is now in charge?