Chapter Focus Questions (cont`d)

January 5, 2018 | Author: Anonymous | Category: History, US History
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Out of Many

A History of the American People Seventh Edition Brief Sixth Edition

Chapter

8

The New Nation 1786-1800

Out of Many: A History of the American People, Brief Sixth Edition John Mack Faragher • Mari Jo Buhle • Daniel Czitrom • Susan H. Armitage

Copyright ©2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The New Nation 1786-1800 • • • • • •

The Crisis of the 1780s The New Constitution The First Federal Administration Federalists and Democratic-Republicans “The Rising Glory of America” Conclusion

Chapter Focus Questions • What were the tensions and conflicts between local and national authorities in the decades after the American Revolution? • How did Americans differ in their views of the new Constitution, and how were those differences reflected in the struggle to achieve ratification?

Chapter Focus Questions (cont’d) • What were the essential structures of national government under the Constitution? • How did American political parties first begin? • What were the first stirrings of an authentic American national culture?

North America and Pelham

A Rural Massachusetts Colony Rises in Defense • Several hundred farmers from Pelham and scores of other rural communities of western Massachusetts converged in the courthouse in Northampton. • This occurred at a time of great economic depression which hit farmers hardest.

A Rural Massachusetts in Colony Rises in Defense (cont’d) • The state raised property taxes to pay off state debt-tax was which considerably more oppressive than those levied by British. • Two thirds of those who marched had been sued for debt or spent time in debtor’s prison— the people were looking for state relief.

A Rural Massachusetts in Colony Rises in Defense (cont’d) • The people rose up in defense of their property and state and federal governments were forced to reevaluate the distribution of power. • In 1786, Shays’ Rebellion broke out in western Massachusetts when farmers closed down courts to prevent debt executions.

A Rural Massachusetts in Colony Rises in Defense (cont’d) • A militia from eastern Massachusetts crushed the rebellion. • Conservatives concluded it was time “to clip the wings of a mad democracy.”

The Crisis of the 1780s

FIGURE 8.1 Postwar Inflation, 1777–80: The Depreciation of Continental Currency

The Economic Crisis • Economic problems like wartime inflation plagued the nation. • After the war the key problem was depression. • Britain dumped its surplus goods in American markets, creating a trade imbalance that drew hard currency out of the United States.

The Economic Crisis (cont'd) • Repayment of debt became both a political and economic problem.

FIGURE 8.2 The Trade Deficit with Great Britain

State Remedies • High tariffs to curb imports and protect infant industries but were easily evaded by shippers • The most controversial economic remedies were designed to relieve debt burden.

State Remedies (cont'd) • “Rogue Island”  Farmers called for laws to require creditors to accept goods and commodities and had laws passed requiring them to accept nearly worthless state paper currency.

Toward a New National Government • Nationalists wanted stronger central government to deal with the economic crisis • Representatives from five states met in Annapolis  Called for convention to propose changes in the Articles of Confederation  Congress endorsed a convention for revising the Articles of Confederation.

Toward a New National Government (cont'd) • Propertied conservatives supported the a stronger national government out of self interest but hid their motives.

The New Constitution

George Washington presides over a session of the Constitutional Convention

The New Constitution • Fifty-five delegates from twelve states assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787. • The Constitution was framed by white men who represented America’s social and economic elite. • Although committed to republicanism, the Framers were not democrats and many feared giving too much influence to the lower classes.

The Constitutional Convention • Delegates agreed to scrap the Articles and create an effective national government with powers to tax and regulate commerce. • Conflicts arose between large and small states, and free and slave states.

The Constitutional Convention (cont'd) • The Great Compromise provided a middle ground for agreement by:  a bicameral legislature that had one house based on population and one representing all states equally; and  a compromise on free-state and slave-state interests by agreeing to count five slaves as three freemen.

The Constitutional Convention (cont'd) • To insulate the election of the president from the popular vote, a electoral college was created to select a president.

Ratifying the New Constitution • Federalists supported Constitution. • Anti-Federalist: Constitution gave too much power to the central government and that a republic could not work well in a large nation. • James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay published The Federalist Papers that helped secure passage.

Ratifying the New Constitution (cont'd) • After New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify, the holdouts reluctantly ratified as well.

MAP 8.1 The Ratification of the Constitution, 1787–90

The Bill of Rights • Several states including Virginia, agreed to ratification only if a bill of rights would be added. • Under Madison’s direction, Congress drew up twelve articles from AntiFederalist proposals and sent them to the states.

The Bill of Rights (cont'd) • The first ten amendments, better known as the Bill of Rights, protected freedom of expression and religion and insured due process of law.

The First Federal Administration

A cartoon published in July 1788, when New York became the eleventh state to ratify the Constitution

The Washington Presidency • George Washington used a plain republican title and dressed in plain republican broadcloth but adopted some trappings of royalty such as a coach and six horses. • Congress established the Departments of States, Treasury, War, and Justice, the heads of which coalesced into the Cabinet.

The Washington Presidency (cont'd) • Washington’s appointments balanced sectional and political interests.

The Federal Judiciary • The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the federal court system with district and circuit courts added to Supreme Court established in the Constitution headed by Chief Justice John Jay. • States maintained their individual bodies of law.

The Federal Judiciary (cont’d) • Federal courts became the appeals bodies, establishing the federal system of judicial review of state legislation despite the Constitution’s silence on the issue. • Localists supported the Eleventh Amendment that prevented states from being sued by non-citizens.

Hamilton’s Fiscal Program • 1790: proposals to address America’s economic problems  a controversial adoption of state debts that passed when a compromise moved the nation’s capital to the Potomac River  creating a Bank of the United States that opponents considered an unconstitutional expansion of power  a protective tariff to develop an industrial economy

Hamilton’s Fiscal Program (cont.) • The debate over Hamilton’s loose construction and Jefferson’s strict construction of the Constitution strained the Federalist coalition. • Washington generally supported Hamilton’s vision.

Two coins from the first decade of the federal republic

Alexander Hamilton (ca. 1804)

American Foreign Policy • Foreign affairs produced strain • When the Revolution turned violent and war broke out with Britain, public opinion divided. • Hamilton favored closer ties with Britain while Jefferson feared them.

American Foreign Policy (cont'd) • “Citizen Genet” incident  Led Washington to issue a neutrality proclamation that outraged Jefferson’s supporters and led to his resignation from the Cabinet.

MAP 8.2 Spread of Settlement:The Backcountry Expands, 1770–90

The United States and the Indian Peoples • A pressing “foreign” problem concerned Indians who refused to accept United States sovereignty over them. • The Indian Intercourse Act made treaties the only legal way to obtain Indian lands. • St. Clair’s defeat in November 1791 by Little Turtle’s Miamis revealed the contradictions of Indian policy.

Little Turtle, a war chief of the Miami tribe of the Ohio Valley

MAP 8.3 Spanish Claims to American Territory, 1783–95

The Columbian Tragedy

Spanish Florida and British Canada • Spanish and British hostility threatened the status of the United States in the West. • The Spanish closed the Mississippi River to American shipping, promoted immigration, and forged alliances with Indian tribes to resist American expansion.

Spanish Florida and British Canada (cont'd) • Britain granted greater autonomy to its North American colonies, strengthened Indian allies, and constructed a defensive buffer against Americans.

The Crisis of 1794 • By 1794, the government faced a crisis over western policy. • Western farmers were refusing to pay the whiskey tax. • An army sent into western Pennsylvania ended the Whiskey Rebellion.

The Crisis of 1794 (cont'd) • General Anthony Wayne defeated the Ohio Indians, leading to the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and the cession of huge amounts of land by the Ohio Indians.

Settling Disputes with Britain and Spain • The Jay Treaty resolved several key disputes between the United States and Britain. Opponents held up the treaty in the House until Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain opened the Mississippi to American navigation and resolved the Florida border dispute.

Settling Disputes with Britain and Spain (cont'd) • The political battles over the Jay Treaty brought President Washington off his nonpartisan pedestal and persuaded him not to seek a third term.

Washington’s Farewell Address • In his farewell address, Washington praised the political and economic accomplishments of the new government, but warned against the evils of political factionalism. • In foreign policy, he urged Americans to seek peace and trade but to avoid entangling alliances with the European powers.

President George Washington reviews some 13,000 troops at Fort Cumberland

Federalists and DemocraticRepublicans

Contemporary cartoon, Congressional Pugilists, Congress Hall in Philadelphia, February 15, 1798

The Rise of Political Parties • During the debate over Jay’s Treaty, shifting coalitions began to polarize into political factions.  Hamilton’s supporters claimed the title “Federalist.”  Thomas Jefferson’s supporters called themselves “Republicans.”

The Rise of Political Parties (cont'd) • These coalitions shaped the election of 1796, which the Federalist John Adams narrowly won.  Jefferson, the Republican candidate, became vice president.

The Adams Presidency • Relations with France deteriorated after Jay’s Treaty. • When France began seizing American shipping, the nation was on the brink of war. • The X, Y, Z Affair made Adams’s popularity soar.

The Alien and Sedition Acts • Alien and Sedition Acts  severely limited freedoms of speech and of the press; and  threatened the liberty of foreigners.

• Republicans organized as an opposition party. • Federalists saw opposition as opposition to the state and prosecuted leading Republican newspaper editors.

The Alien and Sedition Acts (cont'd) • Jefferson and Madison drafted the Virginia / Kentucky Resolves to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts.

MAP 8.4 The Election of 1800

Election banner, illustrated with an American eagle and a portrait of Jefferson.

The Revolution of 1800 • In the election of 1800, the Federalists waged a defensive struggle calling for strong central government and good order. • By controlling the South and the West, Jefferson won the election. • A tie between Jefferson and Burr threatened a Federalist scheme to steal the election which failed in the House.

The Revolution of 1800 (cont'd) • The 12th Amendment was ratified to split the electoral vote in future elections.

Democratic Political Culture • The rise of partisan politics greatly increased popular participation. • American politics became more competitive and democratic. • Celebrations of Independence Day emphasized republican ideals and brought Americans together in civil festivals.

“The Rising Glory of America”

Judith Sargent Murray

The Liberty of the Press • The Revolutionary years saw a tremendous increase in the number of newspapers. • During the 1790s newspapers became media for partisan politics. • In response to prosecutions under the Sedition Act, American newspapers helped to establish the principle of a free press.

The Liberty of the Press (cont'd) • Jefferson, championing freedom of expression, repealed or allowed the Alien and Sedition Acts to expire.

Books, Books, Books • As a highly literate citizenry, Americans had a great appetite for books. • Writers explored the political implications of independence or examined the new society including the emerging American character. • Parson Weems’s Life of Washington created a unifying symbol for Americans.

Women on the Intellectual Scene • Although women’s literacy rates were lower than that of men, a growing number of books were specifically directed toward women. • Several authors urged that women in a republic should be more independent. • Judith Sargent Singer promoted feminism, leading conservatives to react with horror.

Women on the Intellectual Scene (cont'd) • For most, the ideal republican woman was a mother at the service of her family.

Conclusion

The New Nation, 1786–1800 • Under a new Constitution, the United States overcame political and economic crisis, but it remained uncertain whether the new nation would be able to channel the energies of an expanding people.

Chronology

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