1. Launching the New Ship of State

2. Washington George Washington James Madison President = Unanimous
April 14, 1789
New York
Task of creating a new government
James Madison
“We are in a wilderness without a single footstep to guide us”

3. Cont. Needed a branch to help govern
Congress created 3 executive departments
Department of State -----Thomas Jefferson
Foreign affairs
Department of War Henry Knox
Military matters
Department of the Treasury -----Alexander Hamilton
Manage finances
*Presidents chief advisers = Cabinet

4. Bill of Rights December 1791 Bill of Rights Personal liberties Speech
10 amendments = James Madison
Bill of Rights
Personal liberties
Speech
Press
Political activity
Religion
Right to Bear Arms
Prevents search of citizens homes
Fair treatment for those accused of crimes
Limits the power of federal government
Slaves and Native American were excluded

5. Judicial System Creation of Judicial System Judiciary Act of 1789
Supreme Court
Federal Circuit
District Courts
Attorney General
Federal law ---- “Supreme law of the land”
John Jay = 1st Chief Justice

6. Hamilton Alexander Hamilton Pay off debts Funding at par
Pay off at face value + interest = $54 million
Assume state debts = $21.5 million
Assumption
Compromise
Virginia V. Massachusetts
D.C. = Potomac River

7. Duties and Excise Taxes
National debt = $75 million
Hamilton = “Father of National debt”
Debt = “National Blessing”
Tariff
Tax on imports
Protective wall around industries
Well-to-do Manufacturing groups
Excise Tax = domestic items
whisky
Establishment of National Bank
Print paper money
Chartered 20 yrs.

8. Whisky Rebellion S.W. Pennsylvania =1794 Washington
Defiant distillers
“Liberty and No Excise”
Tarring / Feathering revenue officers
Washington
Summoned militia in several states
13,000
New respect for the government

9. Political Parties Two-party system
Those who favored strong central government
Hamiltonian Federalists
Mostly Northerners
Those who supported a strong state government
Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans
Mostly southerners

10. Washington’s Neutrality
Franco-American Alliance of 1778
Jeffersonians favored alliance
Washington = War had to be avoided
Neutrality Proclamation 1793
Isolationist

11. Battle with Britain Firearms sold to Native Americans
Miami Confederacy = 8 nations
Little Turtle defeats Generals Harmar and St. Clair
Worst defeat in history on frontier
Battle of Fallen Timbers
General “Mad Anthony” Wayne
British = refused to shelter fleeing Indians
Treaty of Greenville = Aug. 1795
Gave up old Northwest
Indiana, Ohio
Lump sum payment $20,000, annual $9,000

13. Cont. Americans focused anger on British Impressment
Practice of seizing Americans at sea
Drafting them into the British navy
Supplying arms to Native Americans
Battle against settlers

14. Jay’s Treaty John Jay = 1794 Surrender to Britain? London Weak Cards
Hamilton sabotaged Jay
British refused to leave posts on U.S. soil
British agreed to pay damages for recent seizure
No promise of future
U.S. still had to pay debts on pre-revolutionary accts.
Southern Planters
Surrender to Britain?

15. Pinckney’s Treaty 1795 Spain strikes deal with U.S.
Fear of Anglo-American alliance
Free navigation of Mississippi
Right of deposit at New Orleans
Disputed territory of Western Florida

16. Adams = President Election of 1796 Contest between opposing parties
Federalists
John Adams
Support = New England
Democratic Republicans
Thomas Jefferson
Support = South
Runner up = Vice-President

17. Fighting with France Upset with Jay’s Treaty
Britain – U.S. alliance
Violation with Franco-American Treaty of 1778
Began to seize American merchant vessels
Adams tries to keep peace
Diplomatic commission

18. XYZ Affair
1797
Suppose to meet with Talleyrand = French foreign minister
Met by 3 go-betweens (XYZ)
Demanded loan of 32 million florins
Bribe of $250,000 for just talking with Talleyrand
Terms intolerable = Negotiations broke down
War preparations pushed ahead in U.S.
Adams wanted peace
Convention of 1800
End marriage / Napoleon

19. Federalist Witch Hunt 1798 Alien Laws Raised residents = citizenship
5 to 14 yrs.
Deportation
Sedition Act
Fines and jail terms = Anyone trying to hinder the operation of the government
Targeted Democratic Republican editors, publishers, and politicians
Expire in 1801

20. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Jefferson and Madison = Misuse of power
Secretly organized oppositions
Appealed to states
Drew up resolutions
Adopted by Virginia and Kentucky
Warned of checks and balances
Nullification
States had the right to nullify-void any act of Congress that they deemed unconstitutional