Essential Questions: What was the Federalist plan for organizing the national government and its finances?
What were the Jeffersonian Republicans� primary objections to this plan?
I. Establishing the government
A. The �Republican Court�
1. Dispute over the dignity to attach to office of the president
a. John Adams pushed for flowery, puffed up title
-�His Highness,� �His Mightiness�
b. George Washington insisted on a simple title
2. Washington�s administration would set precedents for the future
a. Determined to convey dignity and power
-Formal balls and dinners, Washington�s profile on coins
b. Aristocratic tendencies prevailed
B. The First Congress
1. Consistently strengthened new national government
a. Passed a tariff on imports
b. Agreed to a Bill of Rights
-Reflected fear of centralized power
c. Created departments of war, state, and treasury
d. Judiciary Act (1789) established Supreme Court
C. Establishing the nation�s financial plan
1. Responsibility fell to Alexander Hamilton
a. Had a tremendous impact on the making of national government
2. The new country (states/national) owed more than 50 million dollars
3. Hamilton�s plan included the following:
a. Combine all debt into a consolidated national debt
-Foreign debt should be paid immediately
-Taxation and creditors would pay off domestic debt.
b. The Bank of the United States
-Federal government would store money there
-The bank would print and back the national currency
-Private investors would control the Bank (stockholders)
4. Compromised on debt and nation�s capital
D. The rise of political opposition (Federalists vs. Jeffersonian Republicans)
1. National debt became the first issue
a. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson hated benefits that would
accrue in the hands of northeast speculators
E. Jefferson vs. Hamilton
1. Jefferson (Jeffersonian Republicans�) was a strict constructionist (government only had powers
specified in Constitution)
2. Hamilton (Federalist) was a broad constructionist (government could
make laws it deemed �necessary and proper� to deal with the nation�s needs)
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Chapter 8: Completing the Revolution, 1789-1815 (Sec 2)
Essential Questions: What were some of the problems facing America between 1793-1800? How were they resolved?
II. The Republic in a World at War, 1793-1800
A. American reaction to the French Revolution and war with Britain.
1. 1778 treaties allied U.S. with France
2. Federalists and Republicans debated the legality of treaty
a. Federalists supported Britain
-They viewed the U.S. as a perfected England
b. Republicans supported the French
-They had no sympathies for monarchies
c. Washington issued official neutrality proclamation in 1793
B. Edmund Genet
1. Sent by French to seek U.S. aid
2. After the neutrality decision, Genet opened France�s Caribbean colonies
to American trade, sabotaging British trade with U.S.
a. Britain responded by confiscating 250 American ships
C. Rising western tensions
1. Growing British/Indian threat in Northwest Territory
a. The Shawnee plotted with the British to drive all settlers out of the territory
-In 1794, �Mad Anthony� Wayne subdued the Indians
2. Opposition to government�s whiskey tax threatened more violence
a. Settlers refused to pay the dreaded tax on whiskey
-Whiskey Rebellion was put down in September 1794
D. Controversy over Jay�s Treaty
1. Designed to ease tensions with the British
a. British agreed to abandon Northwest Territory forts
b. The treaty said nothing about neutrality and maritime violations
E. Troubles with France
1. France had broken relations with U.S. over Jay�s Treaty
a. Began seizing ships bound for England
2. Federalist dominated Congress undertook wartime measures
a. Alien and Sedition Acts
-Imposed restrictions on immigrants
-Crackdown on opponents critical of government
b. Pushed for a creation of a national army to prepare for war
c. Republicans condemned Federalist actions
F. The Election of 1796 and 1800
1. Washington left office in 1796, refusing to run for re-election
2. In 1796, John Adams (Federalist) defeated Thomas Jefferson
3. In 1800, the Republicans argued that Federalists were using the crisis
with France to increase their power and overthrow the government
a. Jefferson prevailed with a slight majority
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Chapter 8: Completing the Revolution, 1789-1815 (Sec 3)
Essential Questions: What were the principle reforms of the national government under Jefferson?
Did the Louisiana Purchase expose Jefferson�s hypocrisy regarding the interpretation of the Constitution?
III. The Jeffersonians in Power
A. Jefferson�s Republican program
1. Advocated small national government and the power of the states
2. Sought to foster an agrarian society (farmers)
B. Republican effort to cleanse government
1. Reduce size of federal workforce and debt
a. Substantial cuts made in military
-Rely on militia and maintain small professional army
2. Completely dismantle the repressive apparatus of Federalist state
a. Abolish the direct tax or federal property tax
b. Repeal the Alien and Sedition Acts
C. Jeffersonians and the court system
1. Courts under Washington and Adams were controlled by Federalists
2. The Judiciary Act of 1801 ensured long-term federalist domination
a. Reduced the size of Supreme Court
-This limited Jefferson�s ability to appoint a Republican
b. Created new system of circuit courts staffed by federalists
-Adams appointed 16 new judges on his last day in office
3. Republicans in Congress decided to repeal Judiciary Act in order to
remove Federalists judges by eliminating their jobs
D. John Marshall and the Supreme Court
1. Marbury v. Madison
a. William Marbury was appointed justice of the peace by Adams
-When Jefferson took office the next day he refused the commission
-Marbury took his case directly to the Supreme Court
-Marshall ruled that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional
b. Laid the foundation for the practice of judicial review
E. Louisiana Purchase
1. In 1801, Spain secretly ceded Louisiana to France but retained control
of New Orleans
a. This sparked concern in U.S.
-France was powerful enough to prevent U.S. expansion
-Control of New Orleans would stifle American commerce
-Jefferson sent a delegation to Paris to buy New Orleans
2. Surprisingly, Napoleon offered to sell all of the Louisiana Territory
a. Did the Constitution give Jefferson the power to buy Louisiana?
F. The election of 1804
1. Jefferson had a remarkable first term, and won every state but two
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Chapter 8: Completing the Revolution, 1789-1815 (Sec 4)
Essential Questions: What conditions led to the Embargo Act? What were its effects at home and abroad?
Why did the U.S. declare war on Great Britain? What did the war accomplish?
IV. The Republic and the Napoleonic Wars, 1804-1815
A. The dilemmas of neutrality
1. In the spring of 1803, Napoleon declared war on Britain
a. Initially, the U.S. tried to trade with both England and France
b. Eventually, all parties became engaged in restrictive measures
-Essex Decision barred U.S. ships from trading with France
-U.S. passed Non-Importation Act, limiting trade with G.B.
-British instituted blockade of Europe
-French outlawed all trade with Britain (Berlin Decree)
-British then required inspections of all neutral shipping
-By the end of 1807, all trade with Europe had been banned
B. Problems arose as a result of British and French restrictions on trade
1. British began impressing Americans into service in the Royal Navy
a. Jefferson responded by barring British ships from U.S. Ports
C. Embargo Act of 1807
1. Halted all U.S. trade with foreign countries
a. Disastrous for U.S. economy, especially northeast.
2. Had little impact on British policy
D. The road to war
1. Madison took office in the spring of 1809 and issued an ultimatum,
proclaiming that Britain must revoke the required inspections
a. Britain refused
E. The War Hawk Congress and the War of 1812
1. Led by the War Hawks - a group of young ardent nationalists - it was
decided that the U.S. must finally accept the appalling risks of war
rather than be pushed around and humiliated in front of the world
2. On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on Great Britain
F. The War (1812-1814)
1. The War with Canada, 1812-1813 (see map)
a. The U.S. expected to defeat the British by invading Canada
-It was disastrous
2.The British Offensive, 1814 (see map)
a. Blockaded much of the American coast, but couldn�t take and hold any U.S. territory
b. Marched to Washington D.C. and burned the capital
c. Attacked New Orleans and were defeated (after the treaty)
G. The Treaty of Ghent
1. Faced with a military stalemate, Britain agreed to a treaty
a. The treaty halted a war that neither side could win
2. Although the war gained little, America regained her confidence and respect