Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic Flashcards
Election of 1792
1) Second Presidential Election for the Unites States
2) Hamilton & Jefferson urged Washington to run
3) Washington was re-elected (2nd term)
4) Hamilton remained the dominant figure in Gov.
5) John Adams became Vice President
Federalist Parties
The Federalist were in strong ties with New England and had strong foreign ties with the British. They advocated to have a strong central government, in favor of having a strong central elite government system. The Industrial Age was when the Federalist triumphanted the most.
James Madison
1)1751-1836 North America
2)Presidency 1809-1817
3)Argued for a system of checks and balances in the gov’t.
4)Stated that the power of the gov’t flowed from the people
5)argued that the Federal gov’t was the supreme law of the lands, and that each state couldn’t deny it
6)Seperation of powers for gov’t
7)
Alexander Hamilton
- ) Late 18th century, early 19th century America
- ) Leading reformist, early on called for a national convention to overhaul the Articles of Confederation
- ) Later on was one of the co-authors of the Federalist Papers, supporting the establishment of the Constitution
- ) Became secretary of treasury under Washington, believed in creating an enlightened ruling aristocracy and proposed the new government taking responsibility for the existing debt as well as creating a national bank
Quasi War
-Adams persuaded Congress to cut off all trade with France and authorize american vessels to capture French ships.
-Caused by the XYZ affair.
-Congress created a Department of the Navy and appropriated money for construction of new warships.
-Army won duels with French vessels and captured 85 ships that included armed merchantmen.
-In the end, France chose to pacify the US before conflict grew.
Brinkley 179, 180
Sovereignty
-Supreme power or authority.
-Question of sovereignty: one of the chief sources of friction between the colonies and Great Britain.
-Continued to trouble Amerians while they attempted to create their own government.
-Madison and his contemporaries decided that all power, at all levels of government, flowed ultimately from the people.
-So, neither the state government or the federal government was truly sovereign.
Brinkley pg. 167
Whiskey Rebellion
Brinkley 176
1) In 1794 farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay a whiskey excise tax.
2) They also began to terrorize the tax collectors (much like the colonists had done during the stamp act)
3) Washington called the militia of out of 3 states and led an army of about 15,000 into Pennsylvania.
4) When this army approached Pittsburgh the rebellion quickly collapsed.
5) The federal government won the allegiance of the Whiskey rebels through intimidation.
Tariffs
- a tax to be paid on certain imports or exports
1) Alexander Hamilton proposed a tariff on imports in order to raise revenue for the government, and so that American manufacturing would be protected from foreign competition.
Brinkley 173
Citizen Genet
1) Was a young Frenchman named Edmond Genet
2) French diplomatic representative to America
3) Instead of presenting himself to the president, he instead went to Charleston and made plans to use American ports to outfit French warships
4) Encouraged American shipowners to serve as French privateers
5) Commisioned George Rogers Clark to lead a military expedition against Spanish lands in the south
6) Ignored Washington
7) Violated the Neutrality Act
Brinkley 177
Virginia Plan
Brinkley 166
1) The Virginia Plan was written by Madison, but presented by Edmund Randolf.
2) The Virginia Plan called for a new national legislature containing two houses.
3) States would be represented in the the lower house by proportion to their population, meaning states such as Virginia would have ten times the representation of low populates states.
4) Election for the upper house would be decided by the lower house. This meant that smaller states would have no representation in the upper house.
5) The Virginia was not supported by small states such as Delaware and New Jersey, and this proposal was ultimately not accepted.
Election of 1796
Brinkley 178-179
1) The Republican candidate was Jefferson and because Hamilton was not a credible candidate, Adams was the candidate for the Federalists.
2) Federalists were still the dominant party and there wasn’t much doubt that they could win a majority of the presidential electors
3) Without the support of Washington, many Federalists such as Hamilton and many in the south favored Adam’s running mate Pinckney.
4) Those who were opposed to Adams refused to vote for him and because of this he was only able to beat Jefferson by 3 electoral votes.
5) An even larger number of Adam’s supporters refused to vote for Pinckney; therefore allowing Jefferson to become the vice president.
The Great Compromise
Brinkley pg 167
1) Solved the problem of representation by issuing the three-fifths compromise
2) Three-fifths compromise- Each slave counted as three-fifths of a free person when determining a states population
3) Also proposed that in upper house, each state would have two representatives
4) On July 16, 1787, the Constitutional Convention voted to accept the compromise
John Adams Presidency
Brinkley pgs 178-179
1) Ran against Thomas Jefferson in 1796. He was the nominee for the Federalist party
2) Defeated Jefferson by only three electoral votes. Jefferson became vice president
3) Was not a dominate figure in his own party, and faced strong and resourceful opposition from the Republicans
4) Was a very good diplomat but a bad politician
5) Served from 1707-1801
George Washington’s presidency
Brinkley (Pg.171-172)
1) George Washington became the first president after the elections of 1789.
2) George Washington won the election without any real doubt due to his political background and because of all the votes presidential electors.
3) Washington was favored most by the Federalists because he supported a strong national government but he also believed that the presidency should stay above political confections.
4) He established the executive and legislative branches while setting the standard for future presidents in the 2 years he served.
5) He served from 1789 to 1791.
The New Jersey Plan
- Submitted by William Paterson
- Preserved existing one-house legislature where each state had equal representation
- Gave congress the authority to tax and regulate commerce
- Supported by small states
Pg 166
