Chapter 10 - Launching the New Ship of State, 1789-1800 Flashcards
Trans-Appalachia
Areas to the west of the Appalachian Mountains.
George Washington
Only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. Served from 1790 - 1798.
Cabinet
Presidential advisers, first started by George Washington. Started as just meetings between the heads of the original department (Sec of State Jefferson, Sec of War Henry Know, and Sec of Treasury Alexander Hamilton.)
Thomas Jefferson
A leading Democratic-Republican, he opposed Hamilton’s ideas. Washington tended to side with Hamilton, so Jefferson resigned.
Alexander Hamilton
A leading Federalist, he supported industry and strong central government. He created the National Bank and managed to pay off the U.S.’s early debts through tariffs and the excise tax on whiskey.
Henry Knox
A Revolutionary War hero, Henry Knox had served as Secretary of War under the Articles of Confederation, and stayed on in that capacity as part of Washington’s cabinet
James Madison
Drafted, proposed and argued for the passage of the Bill of Rights.
Ninth Amendment
Added to make sure that just because the Constitution spelled out certain rights, that didn’t mean they were the only ones to be protected.
Tenth Amendment
All rights not spelled out in the Constitution would by default go to the states to decide for themselves.
Judiciary Act
Created the federal court system, allowed the president to create federal courts and to appoint judges.
John Jay
Became the first chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Funding at Par
The government guarantee that they would pay off all debts incurred by the previous government at face value, and with interest. Helped to build our credit rating with the world.
Assumption of State Debts
Old state debts from the Revolutionary War would be transferred to the new federal government. Would tie the states and the wealthy more closely to the success of the federal government.
Revenue Tariffs
Taxes placed on imports that are designed to make money for the government. This was the main source of money for our early government.
Protective Tariffs
Tariffs that are high enough that they discourage any competition and so do not raise much in taxes.
Excise Taxes
Taxes placed on manufactured products. The excise tax on whiskey helped raise revenue for Hamilton’s program.
Bank of the United States
Part of Hamilton’s Plan, it would save the government’s surplus money until it was needed.
Strict Construction
Strict interpretation forbids the government from doing anything except what the Constitution specifically empowers it to do.
Loose Construction
Loose interpretation allows the government to do anything which the Constitution does not specifically forbid it from doing.
Elastic Clause
Section 8 of Article I contains a long list of powers specifically granted to Congress, and ends with the statement that Congress shall also have the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.” These unspecified powers are known as Congress’ “implied” powers. There has long been a debate as to how much power this clause grants to Congress, which is sometimes referred to as the “elastic” clause because it can be “stretched” to include almost any other power that Congress might try to assert.
Whiskey Rebellion
In 1794, farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey, and several federal officers were killed in the riots caused by their attempts to serve arrest warrants on the offenders. In October, 1794, the army, led by Washington, put down the rebellion. The incident showed that the new government under the Constitution could react swiftly and effectively to such a problem, in contrast to the inability of the government under the Articles of Confederation to deal with Shay’s Rebellion.
Factions
Unorganized groups of people who shared the same general ideas about the path of the country. Antifederalists vs. federalists, and whigs vs. tories were factions instead of organized parties.
Parties
Organized political groups that are much more rigid than factions. They share many of the same ideas as a factions, but are more established in their rules and organization.
Democratic-Republicans
The first modern political party, based on Jefferson’s view of the future of the country. They were a reaction to the Hamiltonian view of trying to become an industrial power. The Democratic-Republicans fought for an agrarian utopia of small self-sufficient farmers where a powerful federal government would not be necessary. Their support was based mostly from the lower classes and farmers in the south and west.
Federalists
The other first modern party, they backed Hamilton and Adams’ view of having a manufacturing base in the country that the government should take an active role in helping. They favored higher protective tariffs and a stronger federal government.
French Revolution
The second great democratic revolution, taking place in the 1790s, after the American Revolution had been proven to be a success. The U.S. did nothing to aid either side. The French people overthrew the king and his government, and then instituted a series of unsuccessful democratic governments until Napoleon took over as dictator in 1799. The Jeffersonians were big supporters of the ideals of the Revolution, even in the period known as the Reign of Terror.
Reign of Terror
The explosion of violence in France after the French Revolution. It was marked by the mass executions of all “enemies of liberty.” The ideas of logic and reason gave way to suspicion and anger, and the eventual deaths of up to 40,000 French citizens. The Jeffersonians began to back track their support of the revolution as this gained steam.
Franco-American Alliance
Our original alliance with France during our Revolution. We were supposed to honor it, and join the fight against England. Washington chose not to, and remained neutral.
Neutrality Proclamation
Washington’s declaration that the U.S. would not take sides after the French Revolution touched off a war between France and a coalition consisting primarily of England, Austria and Prussia. Washington’s Proclamation was technically a violation of the Franco-American Treaty of 1778.
Citizen Genet
Edmond Charles Genêt. A French diplomat who came to the U.S. 1793 to ask the American government to send money and troops to aid the revolutionaries in the French Revolution. President Washington asked France to recall Genêt after Genêt began recruiting men and arming ships in U.S. ports. However, Washington later relented and allowed Genêt U.S. citizenship upon learning that the new French government planned to arrest Genêt.
Anthony Wayne
Commander of the US army in the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
In the early 1790’s, the British held trading posts in the Ohio Valley and encouraged the local Indian tribes to attack the Americans. Led by Wayne, the Americans defeated the Miami Indians in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794 near what is today Toledo, Ohio. This paved the way for American settlement of the Ohio Valley.
Treaty of Greenville
Ended the frontier wars of the 1790s after the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The natives gave most of present day Ohio and Indiana to the United States in return for $9000 and a guarantee of recognition as a sovereign people (which was promptly disregarded.)
Jay’s Treaty
1794 - It was signed in the hopes of settling the growing conflicts between the U.S. and Britain. It dealt with the Northwest posts and trade on the Mississippi River. It was unpopular with most Americans because it did not punish Britain for the attacks on neutral American ships. It was particularly unpopular with France, because the U.S. also accepted the British restrictions on the rights of neutrals.
Farewell Address
He warned against the dangers of political parties and foreign alliances.
Pinckney’s Treaty
1795 - Treaty between the U.S. and Spain which gave the U.S. the right to transport goods on the Mississippi river and to store goods in the Spanish port of New Orleans.
John Adams
2nd president of the United States. Served from 1798-1802.
High Federalists
The faction of the Federalist Party that followed Hamilton and considered John Adams a failure. Hamilton favored an aggressive policy with the French after they broke off relations in response to Jay’s Treaty.
John Marshall
The US envoy to France that tried to normalize our relations. The French refused to see him without a bribe. In response, Marshall returned home as a hero.
XYZ Affair
1798 - A commission had been sent to France in 1797 to discuss the disputes that had arisen out of the U.S.’s refusal to honor the Franco-American Treaty of 1778. President Adams had also criticized the French Revolution, so France began to break off relations with the U.S. Adams sent delegates to meet with French foreign minister Talleyrand in the hopes of working things out. Talleyrand’s three agents told the American delegates that they could meet with Talleyrand only in exchange for a very large bribe. The Americans did not pay the bribe, and in 1798 Adams made the incident public, substituting the letters “X, Y and Z” for the names of the three French agents in his report to Congress.
“Millions for Defense, but Not One Cent for Tribute”
Popular refrain in response to the attempted bribe from the XYZ affair. Tempers were high for a war afterwards, and in response
Convention of 1800
The Convention of 1800 ended the quasi-war between France and the United States. France agreed to return captured American ships, while the United States agreed to compensate its citizens for $20 million damages inflicted by France on American shipping.
Alien and Sedition Acts
These consist of four laws passed by the Federalist Congress and signed by President Adams in 1798: the Naturalization Act, which increased the waiting period for an immigrant to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years; the Alien Act, which empowered the president to arrest and deport dangerous aliens; the Alien Enemy Act, which allowed for the arrest and deportation of citizens of countries at was with the US; and the Sedition Act, which made it illegal to publish defamatory statements about the federal government or its officials. The first 3 were enacted in response to the XYZ Affair, and were aimed at French and Irish immigrants, who were considered subversives. The Sedition Act was an attempt to stifle Democratic-Republican opposition, although only 25 people were ever arrested, and only 10 convicted, under the law. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which initiated the concept of “nullification” of federal laws were written in response to the Acts.
Compact Theory
the compact theory holds that the country was formed through a compact agreed upon by all the states, and that the federal government is thus a creation of the states. This was the basis of the Jefferson’s and Madison’s arguments for nullification.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Written anonymously by Jefferson and Madison in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, they declared that states could nullify federal laws that the states considered unconstitutional.
Nullification
Expressed in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, it said that states could nullify federal laws.
