Chapter 2: Balancing Liberty and Order

Chapter 2: Balancing Liberty and Order

Section 3: The Origins of American Politics

1. Liberty vs. Order in the 1790s

1.Even with the new constitution and a new government that was formed in the late 1780’s, the debate over the proper role of government did not end.

2.Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury he supported strong national power and didn't have much faith in the people and believed that the government should develop the American economy.

3. In 1979, Congress approved Hamilton's plan for the national government to take on the debts by the states during the Revolution, Southern States didn't want to be responsible for the debt of the North and Hamilton won their support through a deal; If the southern states supported his debt plan , he promised the Northern for locating the nation's capital in the South so then Congress approved in 1790 to locate the capital on the banks of Potomac River.

4.The Federal Government already had a huge debt of $75 million, & Hamilton’s plan outlined a specific budget and set up a regular payment plan to satisfy bankers & individuals who lent them money and Hamilton used two methods to raise money to help pay the debts; two methods were a tariff which was a tax imposed on goods that congress made in 1789 & a tax on whiskey passed in 1791.

5.Hamilton put some of the money raised into a special fund, which was used by the government to pay its creditors interests & and an extra sum of money that borrowers pay creditors in a return for a loan; To handle all the complicated financial matters congress followed Hamilton’s lead again & established the bank of the United States in 1791.

6.When Hamilton’s plan for the federal government to be involved in local & state affairs, many Americans disliked this plan and the policies reminded them of the British actions towards the colonies in the 1760’s; Many Americans saw this as an assault on the liberty that they had won.

7.Jefferson who was Secretary of State always opposed Hamilton's plan, but on the contrary President Washington usually sided with him, this caused Jefferson to feel like a minority voice in the President's cabinet and resigned as Secretary of State at the end of 1793.

8. Jefferson and Hamilton had two ways of looking at government & human nature, and two ways of understanding the constitution; Jefferson preferred a strict construction of the constitution that made the government enforce the constitution’s powers when necessary, while Hamilton preferred a loose construction that allowed the government to use the constitutions power for whatever circumstance.

9.The war between Britain and France put the U.S in a difficult situation, the U.S didn’t want to offend the British due to the British having the strongest navy, but also did not want to abandon the French who aided them in the revolutionary war; Thomas Jefferson and some other Americans viewed the French Revolution of 1789 as an extension of the American Revolution which made those American to try and favor the French over the British.

10.The majority of Americans believed the most sensible thing was to stay neutral, thus making President Washington issue a Proclamation of Neutrality, in April of 1793.

11.Resistance to Hamilton's economic program grew, people in Western Pennsylvania and other frontier areas refused to pay the taxes on whiskey; this was critically important to the frontier economy because whiskey was the only corn product that can be transported to the market that would not spoil; the whiskey rebellion followed the opposition to the stamp act and shay's rebellion which caused courts to close and attacked tax collectors.

12.President Washington and Secretary Hamilton saw the rebellion as a way to show the power of the Federal Government and in the summer of 1794, Washington gathered an army of 12,000 men that was led by General Lee accompanied by Hamilton to Pittsburg; the rebellion soon dissolved and showed that the American government was committed to enforce laws.

13. In 1794, the debate over American neutrality between Britain and France rose as an important discussion and Washington and Hamilton were convinced that long-term interest lay with Britain causing Washington to send chief justice John Jay to London to negotiate an agreement with Britain; Britain agreed to leave the forts that they occupied in the North West territory and they were also encouraged to expand a trade between two nations Jay wasn't able to convince the British to end their practice of stopping American ships on the high seas and searching them for British subjects.

14.Jay's treaty unleashed controversy in the United States many saw it as a sellout to the hated British; Federalist had lost the support of many Americans when Congress gave consent to the Treaty in 1795.

15. In early 1793 artisans and professional men were forming the democratic society who opposed Federalists, while Jefferson and other State leaders furiously promoted resistance to the federalists in letters to one-another; these critics were called Jeffersonian Republicans , these Republicans along with federalists were the first political parties in the United States ( a political party is a group of people who sought to win elections and hold public office in order to control government policy and programs .

16. President Washington opposed this political party he was also dismayed over the events in the U.S that caused many Americans to divide and Washington was eager to retire from office; due to the criticism from Jeffersonian Republicans and John Adams decided to run for president and instead of running as a third term as Vice-President; Adams who was a federalist gained a majority of electoral votes and was elected President, but since Jefferson came in second , he became the new Vice-President due to the election system by the Constitution and this made the President and VP of different political parties.

17. Washington warned against competing political parties in his farewell address of 1796 stating that two political parties provoke the community with jealousy and false warnings that makes it hostile against each other and instigates riots and insurrection and John Adams would soon discover this as true.

1. The Presidency of John Adams
2. John Adams did not have respect for George Washington. John Adams struggled when he was president because the parties kept expanding.

2. John Adams sent officials to Paris to try to negotiate with the French to prevent a war from starting.

1. In order for the Americans to see the French foreign minister they had to give a large loan to the French that was demanded by the XYZ secret agents.
2. The Americans didn’t pay the bribe, and that led to france and the United States have an undeclared war.
3. The Federalists went to congress to improve things. One of the improvements was increasing the size of the army. Another was Alien and Sedition Acts, which made it against the law to criticize government officials unless all changes could be proven.
4. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison didn’t like the Alien and Sedition Act, because they believed it was power for the government.
   

III. The Election of 1800

1. In the campaign of the 1800s, people believed that Adams was a monarchistand that Jefferson would lead the nation into chaos.
2. John Adams was misjudged to be an excellent leader for the united states
3. Jefferson and his followers believed in risking too much liberty

IV. Jefferson Takes Office

1. Thomas Jefferson took an oath of office in March 4, 1801; Jefferson understood that if Americans didn’t disagree peacefully the nation would not survive.

2. When Jefferson was in office he had a goal to reduce the influence of the government and he intended to undo the acts of the federalists.

3. Thomas Jefferson had let the bank of the United States function it made him popular president in his first term and he one the reelection in 1804 easily.

4. Near the end of administration John Adams the judiciary act of 1801 was passed by congress the appointments angered Jefferson because he wanted the right to appoint judges from his party.

5. Thomas Jefferson tried denying the appointments of Federalist Adams had appointed William Marbury as justice for the District of Columbia.

6. When Marshall had ruled against Marbury he said it was the constitution for the Supreme Court Marshall declared judiciary in act 1789.

7. Jefferson had the court ruling for him but the victory was the Supreme Court because it established power of judicial review it allows federal courts to decide if laws passed by congress are constitutional.

8. Jefferson was a strict constructionist and opposed the development of a central government in 1803 Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to buy the city of New Orleans Jefferson urged congress to approve the sale of purchasing foreign lands the Louisiana Purchase had increased.

9. Congress had financed an expedition area that included the Louisiana Purchase in 1804; the Lewis and Clark expedition set out and returned in 1806; and information about the west was gathered by Zebulon Pike.

10. The treaty which the united states remained at peace with Britain since 1795 had expired in 1805 British and French warships had began harassing trade ships from American the British also kidnapped American sailors to put in there navy.

11. Jefferson was angry these acts he didn't want to use force because the American navy was small in 1808 James madison was elected president the nation's third president retired to his home.

V. The War of 1812

1. The war Britain encouragement of the Native American resistance to American settlements of the west.
2. In the early 1790s many Indian groups had joined together to fight American expansion to the west.
3. 1810 Tenskwatawa’s older brother, Tecumseh, and several of dozen warriors met with governor William Henry Harrison of Indiana territory to complain that white were buying Native American.
4. In June 1812, President Madison asked congress to declare war against British. Congress approved and war of 1812 began.
5. In 1814 British fleet sailed up Chesapeake Bay and landed the enemy entered the American capital and started fires that consumed the city.
6. American named Francis Scott key witnessed an all-night British bombardment of fort McHenry at the entrance to Baltimore harbor and wrote a testimony to the American determination called “star-spangled banner”
7. Not all American felt as patriotic about the war of 1812 as Francis Scott key. In 1814 New Englanders sent delegates to ameeting in Hartford Connecticut to consider leaving the nation, but in the end only lead for constitutional amendment to increase New Political Power.
8. On December 24,1814 representatives of the two nations signed the treaty Ghent, ending the war of 1812 since the British and American recognized that this was a war no one wanted.
9. The Battle of New Orleans was a remarkable victory for the United States, it allowed American to end an unhappy war on a positive note, it also made Andrew Jackson a national hero.

VI. Postwar Issues

1. Congress was in an attempt to deal with financial problems from the war, which led to creating the second bank of the United States in 1816.

2. In 1815 United States were in a period of growth and prosperity republican James Monroe won election as the fifth president of the United States.

3. In 1819 the United States experienced the first depression or economic downturn in its history Known as the panic of 1819.

4. Debating the liberty of the African Americans.

5. Slavery would not be restricted in Missouri and at the same time Maine was carved out of the western Massachusetts and became a non-slave state.