Early Republic Flashcards
George Washington (in general)
-First President of the U.S.
-He was very popular and charismatic, well-liked
-He appoints the first cabinet (part of the “unwritten constitution”—-the cabinet offers advice on important issues to help the president) which includes the following:
~Secretary of State (focuses on foreign relations/alliances): Jefferson
~Secretary of Treasury (finance/economics): Hamilton (Washington mainly listened to Hamilton’s financial plans because America was broke due to the Revolutionary War—-you would think he would side with Jefferson because they were both southern slaveholders)
~Secretary of War (military affairs): Knox
Hamilton’s Financial Plan
{(credit: how reliable a country is by paying off money) —paying off debt and establishing credit with other countries makes it likely that other countries will lend us more money—it proves to creditors that we are good at paying our debts which will cause them to loan more money to us——-Those lenders will support Americans because they want to be paid back}
1) Assumption of Debt (taking on debt/paying it off)
Hamilton supports the U.S. Gov’t. to pay off all of the national and state debts. (The government pays for both national and state debt, rather than the states paying their own debt) He calls for this because he says it will increase the nation’s credit.#This would allow America in the future to borrow money from wealthy people/countries. This is necessary to become rich and powerful.
But there was opposition to this: States that already paid off its debts (like Virginia) did not think that their taxes should go up to pay off others’ debts (Virginia is like, “how dare I have to help pay for Massachusetts’s overwhelming debt when I already paid off mine.”) To get states like Virginia to agree to vote in Congress for assumption, the capitol was moved to Washington, D.C. (Virginia had a lot of votes, so they needed Virginia on their side. The Federalists appeased Virginia by moving the capital closer to them—it was originally in New York) This is expressed in the song, “The Room Where it Happens”. **(Assuming state debt, refers to all of the states helping pay off the debt the struggling states are in—via taxes to the federal government. The capital was moved in order to get the Dem Reps to agree) **
2) Establishing a National Bank
Hamilton believed that we should model our country on the rich and powerful nations of Europe, all who had a National Bank. This bank would run our nation’s finances and attract investment from the wealthy. But, led to a debate and created the country’s first political parties. The federalists (led by Hamilton) supported the Bank. The democratic-republicans (led by Jefferson) opposed it. The dem-reps claimed it was unconstitutional. But the Bank was justified by using the Elastic Clause (recall that the elastic clause is flexible—it suggests that Congress has the power to pass any law that is “necessary and proper” in order to carry out its already existing powers). (The dem-reps worried that the bank would favor the northern industries over southern agriculture—-they instead used the argument that the national bank was unconstitutional. The Federalists said that taxing/printing could not be done without a national bank–so they used the elastic clause) Even though the Constitution did not give Congress that power, Congress does have financial powers (power to tax, print money, borrow money) that they could not do without having a National Bank, and so it was justified. (elastic clause)
3) Excise Tax (tax on non-essential items like whiskey)
The tax on whiskey caused a negative reaction, especially by the grain farmers. (Whiskey is made from grain—tax on whiskey means less people are buying their grains, making them lose money—–tax on whiskey=decrease in demand of whiskey/grains which angered these farmers. They protested.) The Whiskey Rebellion happened because of this, but it was crushed by Washington (showing that he was willing to use force to enforce the law). (Poor people tend to smoke/drink in high numbers—they become a drain on the public health system which makes taxes worse, so they combat this by putting a tax on it to deter the poor. Whiskey can damage health, which causes money to be spent on health care)
4) (protective) Tariff
Hamilton called for a protective tariff…both to raise money for the gov’t to pay off the debts…as well as to “protect” new American industries/factories. Opposed by Jefferson and the Dem-Reps who did not want the U.S. gov’t to favor business/manufacturing over agriculture. Tariffs also increase the cost of imports which the South wanted to buy.
These tariffs place a tax on foreign goods. It protects American industries and encourages Americans to buy domestically as opposed to foreignly, which in turn raises more money for the federal government. However, the southern states depended on buying imports from Europe, and this law made it more expensive. Plus, the south were always against northern industry, and this tax would support them.
Not important {Hamilton wanted to follow England—England was helping manufacturers so that’s why Hamilton jumped on that train…Hamilton wanted to change our economy—our economy previously relied on agriculture: growing stuff and selling it to Europe. ———-Jefferson was angry (he believed that England switched from agriculture to industry because they had to, whereas America didn’t have to.)}
Washington’s Legacy
**1) Neutrality Proclamation/Farewell Address (think of the song “One Last Time”) **
Established our traditional foreign policy of isolationism and neutrality- want to avoid wars. Becomes our traditional foreign policy objective for 100 years. (He did not want alliances because it would get us involved in other nation’s problems—we are economically weak, divided politically and teetering on failure and we didn’t want to be further weakened. —–This did not include trade)
**2) Presidential Cabinet
**
He created this (Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of State, etc.)
**3) Two-Term Tradition
**
John Adams became president after Washington
President John Adams
-Federalist who gets elected to the presidency.
-Arch-Rival of Jefferson
-Gets Congress to pass the Alien Laws and Sedition Acts. Alien laws were anti-immigrant laws. Sedition Acts made it illegal to criticize the national government…either in speech or in writing (the press). Both the Alien Laws and Sedition Acts were really meant to hurt the Democratic-Republicans.
Alien Laws: laws against immigrants (it made it harder to become a US citizen) The intent was to harm Dem-Reps because most immigrants voted for Dem-Reps (the immigrants were moving west because the land was largely available and cheap—they became farmers. Farmers tended to support Dem-Reps. ) The law would make it harder for immigrants to become citizens, and deport them, thus giving the Dem-Reps less votes.
Sedition Acts: These laws said it was illegal to criticize the government in speech or writing (it’s unconstitutional, yet it was still passed) The govt at the time was Federalist (both president and congress)—if someone were to criticize the government, it would be the Dem Reps (since their party wasn’t in power), so it made it illegal for the Dem-Reps to criticize the Federalist government. Furthermore, the only news people had was newspapers. Most newspaper writers/editors were Dem Reps, and so the Federalists wanted to silence them (ceasing power and silencing dissent). However, the Dem-Reps responded to this with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (led by Jefferson)—wanting to give more power to the states and less power to the federal government. These resolutions called for nullification- (the call for states/people to disregard a law if they deem it unconstitutional.). (Even though states cannot legally bypass a federal law due to the Supremacy Clause, they did it anyway and ignored these acts because the government did not enforce it)
Presidential Election of 1800
-John Adams (Federalist) vs. Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) —Jefferson won
Each elector in the Electoral College casted two votes…one for president and one for VP. But, at the time, the electors did not cast SEPARATE votes. So…Jefferson and his vice president (Burr), got the same number of electoral votes…a tie. So, according to the Constitution, the House voted for President and the Senate voted for VP. So…they do choose Jefferson for president and Burr for VP. To make sure that this never happens again., the 12th Amendment is ratified.
The Dem-Reps voted twice: One for president, other for vice. Burr and Jefferson tied. To make sure this never happens again, the government made a separate ballot for the VP (to prevent them being tied again) —-the 12th Amendment provided for separate Electoral College votes for President and Vice President, correcting weaknesses in the earlier electoral system which were responsible for the controversial Presidential Election of 1800.
Jobs of the Federal Judiciary (Courts)
Interprets the Constitution
(Legislative makes laws—-Congress: House of Rep/Senate, Executive enforces laws—President/VP/Cabinet, and Judicial evaluates laws–Supreme Court)
They hear civil and criminal cases and decide if they violate the constitution.
Judicial Review
It gives the courts the power to review laws/decide if a law is constitutional or not. Power given to the courts by the ruling in the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. Once the Supreme Court makes a ruling on a case with reference to Constitutional law, it can only be overturned by an additional Supreme Court ruling, or a Constitutional Amendment.
Amendment Process
Allows the Constitution to change over time. “Constitution is a living document”. Other examples are the elastic clause and judicial review:
Elastic Clause: gives more power to Congress (Elastic is flexible, just like the laws)- Congress has the power to pass any law that is “necessary and proper” in order to carry out its already existing powers. (Ex. National Bank)
Judicial reviews: they re-interpret laws and change them
Elastic Clause
Increases the power of the federal government.
(Elastic is flexible, just like the laws)- Congress has the power to pass any law that is “necessary and proper” in order to carry out its already existing powers. Allows the Constitution to change with the changing times. Good example of Elastic Clause being used was the creation of the National Bank in 1791. Even though the Constitution did not give Congress that power, Congress does have financial powers (power to tax, print money, borrow money) that they could not do without having a National Bank. (They believed they were unable to carry out a certain thing backed by the Constitution without the bank)
It’s based on custom and usage (tradition) —implied powers.
Federalists
More power to the national government, leader was Hamilton (Hated federalism because it gave more power to the states) (Federalists oppose federalism—a little ironic)
Federalists (Hamilton) support a strong federal government, use of the Elastic Clause, loose construction of the Constitution, manufacturing, tariffs, British (but they weren’t royalists).
Anti-Federalists (Soon to be Democratic-Republicans)
More power to the states, leader was Jefferson —they liked Federalism because federalism gives more power to the states
Support more power to states, strict construction of the Constitution, agriculture, slavery, westward expansion, French, anti-tariff
Federalism
The division of power in the US. Power is split up between the national government and the state governments. —If you support the principle of Federalism, you want more power to the state governments. The only powers the national government should have are written in the constitution. If something is not written in the constitution it is expected that the states have that power. (Anti Federalists like Federalism, Federalists don’t like Federalism—-basically the opposite) —The 10th amendment: All powers not written in the constitution are reserved to the states. (Federalists: loose interpretation of the Constitution)
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Strict vs. Loose interpretation of the Constitution
The Loose interpretation (Federalists) states that the Federal government can do what is good for the country even if the Constitution doesn’t explicitly allow it, but the Strict interpretation (Anti-Federalists/Dem-Reps) states that the Federal government can only do what the Constitution says it can do.
The Unwritten Constitution
(Custom and usage/tradition) Things america always had even though it wasn’t written in the constitution —an example is the cabinet—president’s chief advisors/secretaries : Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, etc. (the cabinet)
Examples: judicial review, term limits for president (2 terms limit—until the 22nd Amendment made it part of the Constitution), political parties, the Committee System in law making process and the Electoral College Premise
—–Not written down but may as well be.
President Thomas Jefferson
(Jefferson kept the isolationism of the US—he was previously known as a Francophile and yet he didn’t want to be allied with them)
Under his presidency, these things happened:
1) 1803- Louisiana Purchase- Very important in American History (Originally owned by Napoleon and France. Napoleon controlled this land because it included the port of New Orleans—which was important for extracting rum from Haiti and exporting it to Europe) Jefferson was successful in buying it from Napoleon. However, he wasn’t sure if he had the right to purchase it, but went through with it anyway. (Jefferson believed in the strict intrepretation of the Constitution, and it didn’t have anything regarding the purchase of land from another country. He wasn’t sure if he had a right to buy it, but did it anyway because he knew it was important for America and his political party—the territory was mainly farmland, and the people that move there would be farmers who tended to be Democratic-Republicans. ) (The Federalists oppose this, even though they loosely interpret the constitution, because they know it helps their rivals) —-**This purchase doubles the size of the U.S., causes it to have access to the Mississippi River, (and all its connecting rivers), as well as the significant port city of New Orleans. **
This purchase does the following:
1) Doubles the size of the nation
2) Gives the U.S. control over the port of New Orleans
3) Jefferson changes his interpretation of the Constitution. He becomes a “loose constructionist” of the Constitution. Critics of the Purchase said it was unconstitutional.
4) Gave the U.S. full navigation of the Mississippi River.
-Jefferson serves two terms. He also had to deal with competition over trade and territory with the British and the French (The British and French did not respect American power and trade. Oftentimes, they would steal things from our ships but we did not have a navy to stop them. The British did this more often than the French. The British also armed the natives—-trained the natives in exchange for fur trade stations. The natives were aware of America’s dreams for Westward Expansion and upon being armed, attacked Americans who attempted to move with their guns that the British gave them—making westward expansion harder) Jefferson got Congress to pass a law called the Embargo Act (an embargo is a refusal of trade) . Meant to hurt Britain and France while not going to war (continuing to follow neutrality). But it stopped our trade with EVERY nation. This was unpopular because it hurt American trade too. This was Jefferson’s biggest mistake as president. (Instead of stopping trade with the instigators, Britain and France, it was stupidly decided to cut off trade with all other countries, which in turn hurt America—-Jefferson admits that this decision was stupid) (Jefferson was a pacifist and opposed war at all costs)
