Domestic Policy under Washington, Adams, and Jefferson Review
US History/E. Napp Name: ______
Activity 1: Matching
1. Between 1789 and 1797, George Washington served two terms, during which several precedent-setting domestic policies took hold. The ______is not mentioned in the Constitution. But in 1789, Washington decided to appoint a secretary of state, a secretary of the treasury, a secretary of war, and an attorney general. / Alexander Hamilton______
2.To raise revenue, Congress placed a federal ______on whiskey. It is placed on the sale of a domestic product. / Loose Construction
______
3.When whiskey-producing farmers in western Pennsylvania took up arms in protest, Washington sent ____ to put down the rebellion. This effective use of federal power was in sharp contrast to the Articles of Confederation government’s failure to put down Shay’s Rebellion in the 1780s. / Excise Tax
_____
4. ______proposed a series of measures for strengthening the finances of the government. He encouraged the creation of a national bank for depositing federal tax revenues. He also proposed tariffs (taxes on imported goods) to protect new American industries from foreign competition. / Thomas Jefferson
_____
5.The political party known as the ______favored policies such as the new financial plan proposed by Alexander Hamilton. This plan would serve the interests of Northern merchants and expand the powers of the national government. / Strict Construction
_____
6.The Federalists argued for _____ – the idea that the federal government had many powers implied by the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause. / Government
_____
7.Opposing the federalists were the Democratic-Republicans led by ______. / Troops
_____
8. The Democratic-Republicans favored polices that would serve the interest of farmers and the common people and _____ the powers of the national government. / Federalists
______
9. The Democratic-Republicans argued for _____ of the Constitution – the idea that the federal government’s powers were limited to those specifically mentioned in the Constitution. / Cabinet
_____
10. During the Federalist era, a two-party system became an important and enduring part of American ______. / Limit
_____
Activity 2: Matching
1. Bitterness between the two political parties grew during the presidency of Washington’s successor, ______(1797 – 1801). A Federalist majority in Congress passed two laws to intimidate Democratic-Republican supporters. / Sedition Act______
2. The ______authorized the president to deport foreigners considered dangerous to public safety. / States’ Rights
______
3. The ______authorized the government to fine and imprison newspaper editors who printed “scandalous and malicious writing” about the government. / Ballots
______
4. Thomas Jefferson argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts violated citizens’ basic rights. Virginia and Kentucky then passed resolutions claiming the right to _____ (disregard) the acts as unconstitutional. / Alien Act
______
5. Arguments favoring nullification were important early expressions of ______, the belief that state powers take precedence over federal powers. / Repealed
_____
6. Jefferson’s election as president was called the “revolution of 1800”: it marked an end to Federalist control and a change in policy. Jefferson replaced Federalist officeholders with Democratic-Republicans, reduced the armed forces, and _____ the Alien and Sedition Act. / Napoleon
______
7. But Thomas Jefferson believed that the president’s first duty is to protect the nation and effect change by ______, not bullets. / John Adams
______
8. New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and the unexplored lands of Louisiana to the west were under French rule. In 1803, the French emperor, ______, offered New Orleans and Louisiana to the United States for the bargain price of $15 million. / Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
______
9. The Constitution did not authorize the government to enlarge the country by buying foreign territory. As a ______, Jefferson could not justify the Louisiana Purchase. But he was unwilling to turn down the greatest land sale in history. Therefore, in 1803, he adopted the loose-constructionist view of the Federalists and asked the Senate to ratify the treaty of purchase. / Nullify
_____
10. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled U.S. land area. An expedition under ______set out from St. Louis in 1804 to explore the newly acquired lands. Their reports encouraged westward expansion. / Strict Constructionist
______
Activity 3: Multiple-Choice
1. Alexander Hamilton’s argument that the government has the power to create a National Bank is based on which part of the Constitution?(1)the Preamble
(2)the elastic clause
(3)guarantees to the States
(4)the Bill of Rights
2. “All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. . . . The people are turbulent and changing. . . . Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second.”
-Alexander Hamilton
The author of this quotation suggests that
(1)the will of the majority should guide public policy
(2)wealthy people are too preoccupied to rule well
(3)the common people cannot be trusted to run a stable government
(4)poorer people must work harder to gain access to economic and political power
3. Actions and policies of the Government under President George Washington generally resulted in the
(1)establishment of strong political ties with other nations
(2)liberation of many enslaved persons
(3)failure to create a sound financial program for the country
(4)strengthening of the Federal Government
4. Alexander Hamilton urged Congress to pass a protective tariff to encourage the growth of
(1)labor unions
(2)manufacturing
(3)agriculture
(4)slavery
10. One way in which the authors of the Constitution tried to create “limited government” was by providing for
(1)a loyal opposition through a two-party system
(2)a division of power between the national and state governments
(3)the establishment of naturalization laws
(4)the popular election of Federal judges
11. Which action is an example of the unwritten constitution?
(1)the Senate ratifying a peace treaty
(2)Congress passing a law regulating interstate commerce
(3)selection of a Presidential candidate by a nominating convention
(4)the President removing an Army officer from command for insubordination
12. Antifederalists criticized the United States Constitution primarily because governing power was concentrated in the
(1)State legislatures
(2)President’s Cabinet
(3)delegates to the Constitutional Convention
(4)National Government
15. An example of the unwritten constitution in the United States is the
(1)right of citizens to vote if they are 18 years old or older
(2)rise of the two-party political system
(3)right to freedom of speech
(4)use of the electoral college system
16. During the debates over the ratification of the United States Constitution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagreed most strongly over the
(1)division of powers between the national and state governments
(2)provision for admitting new states to the Union
(3)distribution of power between the Senate and the House of Representatives
(4)method of amending the Constitution / 5. Alexander Hamilton’s financial plan helped to establish the credit of the United States government by
(1)providing for the payment of the nation’s debts
(2)taxing only the people most able to pay
(3)favoring agriculture over industry
(4)encouraging spending for national defense
6. One factor that led to the formation of the first two political parties in the United States in the 1790s was the conflict over the
(1)distribution of power between the federal and state governments
(2)spread of slavery into the western territories
(3)control of interstate commerce
(4)acquisition of lands from France and Spain
7. One major reason that Alexander Hamilton proposed a national bank was to
(1)improve the economic position of the United States government
(2)help state governments collect taxes
(3)make loans available to owners of small farms
(4)reduce foreign investment in the United States
8. Which Presidential action is an example of the unwritten constitution?
(1)appointing Justices to the Supreme Court
(2)granting pardons for Federal crimes
(3)submitting a treaty to the Senate for ratification
(4)consulting with the Cabinet
9. Adherence to a strict interpretation of the Constitution would have prevented President Thomas Jefferson from
(1)making the Louisiana Purchase
(2)writing “State of the Union” messages
(3)receiving ambassadors
(4)commissioning military officers
17. The main criticism of the Articles of Confederation was that they failed to
(1)allow for the admission of new states
(2)limit the powers of the president
(3)provide adequate powers for the central government
(4)prevent the development of military rule
18. When President Thomas Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory from France, he demonstrated that he had modified his belief that
(1)the Constitution should be strictly interpreted
(2)the federal government should limit individual rights
(3)adding territory would lead to regional rivalries
(4)commercial development was the main goal of the federal government
19. The legal basis for the United States purchase of the Louisiana Territory was the
(1)power granted to the President to make treaties
(2)President’s power as Commander in Chief
(3)authority of Congress to declare war
(4)Senate’s duty to approve the appointment of ambassadors
20. Which geographic advantage did the United States gain by purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803?
(1)warm-water ports on the Atlantic coast
(2)rich fishing areas in the Great Lakes
(3)full control of the Mississippi River
(4)vast coal reserves in the region west of Pennsylvania
21. The Louisiana Purchase initially presented a dilemma for President Thomas Jefferson because he believed it would
(1)lead to war with Great Britain
(2)bankrupt the new nation
(3)force Native American Indians off their lands
(4)violate his strict constructionist view of the Constitution
Activity 5: Cartoon Analysis
Questions:
Who is the individual in the center of the political cartoon?
______
What is he holding in one hand? ______
What is he directing with his other hand? ______
What is written on the capitol building? ______
Define sedition.
______
How does the Bill of Rights protect speech? ______
Why has the Supreme Court periodically limited freedom of speech? ______
Do you believe that speech should ever be restricted? Why? ______
Explain the meaning of the political cartoon. ______
Activity 5: Reading
“That the leader of France was considering ridding himself of Louisiana wasn’t as surprising as it seemed at the outset. Napoleon had suffered some setbacks in his vision to re-establish a French empire in North America, with Louisiana as its centerpiece. There had been a slave revolt in the French-held island of Santo Domingo. Crack French troops–five thousand in all–had been sent to quell the revolt, but tropical mosquitoes had brought yellow fever and death to thousands of them. Perhaps the French could hold the island, but at a huge cost. The troubles there had prompted Napoleon to exclaim, ‘Damn sugar, damn coffee, damn colonies!’ That wasn’t all. France was about to resume war against England; Napoleon needed a war chest. Moreover, considering the power of the English navy, the British might well prevent the French from taking possession of such a significant portion of land in North America, and President Jefferson had flatly declared that if the French attempted to land troops in Louisiana, there could be war. If Napoleon Bonaparte couldn’t defend the land he owned, why not be rid of it, and in the process re-establish an alliance with the United States?
So it was that the United States acquired the whole of the Mississippi River and its western tributaries, about 828,000 square miles of territory, rich areas of farmland, and fantastic natural resources. The cost was $15 million dollars, or about three cents an acre. For the United States, the acquisition of Louisiana came as a windfall of Napoleon’s European and colonial troubles. That the treaty was quickly ratified, before the French leader could change his mind, had a lot to do with Jefferson’s flexible thinking and vision. As the leader of the Republicans, the president had always presented himself as a strict constructionist of the Constitution. In his way of thinking, the power of a national government was always potentially dangerous. One way to limit that power, especially that of the president, was to apply a strict interpretation to the language of the Constitution. Based on that philosophy, Jefferson had big problems with two aspects of the acquisition. He did not believe that the president had the right to increase the national domain by a treaty of purchase–a real estate deal. Another problem: the treaty stated that the United States was to incorporate the residents of Louisiana into the Union and grant them the same rights and privileges as other citizens. The implication was that sections of Louisiana would become states. Jefferson wondered if he and the Congress had the power to bring into the nation whole groups of people who were outside its original limits.”
~ whitehousehistory.gov
Questions:
1-Why was Napoleon willing to see the Louisiana Territory? ______
2-What had happened on the French-held island of Santo Domingo? ______
3-What had Napoleon said about the Americas? ______
4-Describe the Louisiana Territory. ______
5-How much did the Louisiana Purchase cost? ______
6-Prove Jefferson was flexible. ______
7-What did Jefferson believe about the Constitution? ______
8-What questions arose as a result of the Louisiana Purchase? ______