US1.22

 media type="custom" key="29548009" align="right" =Summarize the major policies and political developments that took place during the presidencies of George Washington (1789-1797), John Adams (1797-1801), and Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809).=

** Topics on the Page **
** The origins of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties in the 1790s **
 * George Washington's Presidency **
 * ** Martha Washington **
 * **The Federalist Party**
 * **The Democratic-Republican Party**
 * The conflicting ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton **
 * John Adams' **** Presidency **
 * ** Abigail Adams **
 * The Alien and Sedition Acts **
 * Thomas Jefferson's Presidency **
 * ** The Louisiana Purchase **
 * ** Early American Foreign Policy and the Barbary Pirates **

//Focus Question: What were the policies and political developments of the Washington, Adams and Jefferson presidencies?//
Washington, Adams and Jefferson: The First Presidents of the United States of America - a Stack of helpful sites

See also U. S. History Advanced Placement 5 for more on the Early Republic.

__George Washington's Presidency (1789-1797)__
George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799) was the first President of the United States of America, serving from 1789 to 1797, and is universally regarded as the "Father of his country".
 * Before becoming president, Washington was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783 and led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.
 * Washington was instrumental in the creation of The Constitutional, written in 1787, and Washington was named president by unanimous choice at the Constitutional Convention.
 * During his presidency, Washington oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the wars raging in Europe, suppressed rebellion and won acceptance among Americans of all types.
 * His leadership style established many forms and rituals of government that have been used since, such as using a cabinet system and delivering an inaugural address.

__**Major Events During the Washington Presidency**__
 * 1786**:
 * Amidst growing dissatisfaction with Articles of Confederation, Washington corresponds with James Madison and others to consider how the federal government might be formally strengthened.
 * 1787**:
 * May-September, presides at Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
 * 1789: April 14, secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson arrives at Mount Vernon to inform Washington of his election to the presidency. Washington accepts
 * April 30, Washington is inaugurated in New York City. He delivers his famous First Inaugural Address; makes nominations and appointments to fill new offices; works with Congress in formation of new departments; assists Congress in adoption of amendments that become Bill of Rights

Crash Course of History: [|The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism]

** October 3, Washington proclaims the first National Day of Thanksgiving. **

Click here for a T[|hanksgiving Timeline, 1541-2001] Click here for a 1911 [|primary source about how progressive reformers changed how people understood Thanksgiving.]

**For more resources related to Thanksgiving and its evolution as a national holiday, see Grade 3.3**

Primary Sources: Washington's Inaugural Adress (30 April 1789) Washington's Farewell Address (1796)
 * 1793**:
 * February 13, electoral votes counted and Washington is unanimously re-elected to the presidency; John Adams elected vice-president.
 * 1794**:
 * July-August, The Whiskey Rebellion. Displeased by an excise on Whiskey, imposed by the federal government to pay of the Revolutionary War debts, farmers on the Western frontier rose in rebellion against the tax. Raising a force of over twelve thousand troops and dispatching commissioners to western Pennsylvania, Washington successfully suppressed the rebellion and was able to "convince these people and the world of the moderation & the firmness" of the government.
 * August 20, General Anthony Wayne defeats Indian nations of Wabash and Maumee Rivers at Fallen Timbers (near present-day Toledo, Ohio). British, still occupying frontier forts, begin to slacken in support of Indian allies.
 * August 18, Washington signs Jay's Treaty with Great Britain, which forces the British to evacuate western forts as stipulated in the Paris peace treaty of 1783. The treaty stabilizes American-British relations until the War of 1812.
 * October-December, he attends to government matters in Washington, the new federal city.

Timelines: Early LIfe, Marriage and Death - From PBS.com Revolutionary War - From PBS.com Presidency - From PBS.com

George Washington: An Animated History - a Youtube video biography

George Washington In the Classroom **- From PBS.com for Grades 9-12.**


 * See also** [|George Washington: A National Treasure] **from the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.**

Did Washington ever tell a lie? Did he really wear wooden teeth? Click here and find out these and more myths about the first President


 * [[image:Female_Rose.png]]Martha Washington**

Click here for a [|brief biography of Martha Washington] from Mt. Vernon.

Go here for [|Martha Washington and the American Revolution] to view an example of correspondence between George and Martha.

[|Portraits of George and Martha Washington from the Presidential Years] See also an analysis of [|Martha Washington's Portrait] from YouTube. [|Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats] is a book of recipes she assembled throughout her life. [|Martha Washington Lesson Plans] from the National First Ladies Library.

__**A. The origins of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties in the 1790s**__

 * [[image:rotating gif.gif width="43" height="43"]]For more on the development of political parties, see United States Government 3.7**

In the map at the right, red states were represented by two Federalists, blue states by two Anti-Federalists, and purple states were represented by one senator from each party. Red states were represented by two Federalists, blue states by two Anti-Federalists, and purple states were represented by one senator from each party.

**The Federalist party:**
 * The [|Federalist party] was one of the first two political parties in the U.S.
 * After Washington's inauguration in 1789, debate arose in Congress and the cabinet over the proposals of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton which stated that the national government would assume state debts, fund the national debt at par value, and charter a national bank, these proposals were subsequently enacted into law.
 * The opposition to Hamilton rallied around Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Congressman James Madison.
 * Not until the congressional debates over [|Jay's Treaty] of 1794 did two parties emerge clearly: the Federalist party led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republican party of Madison and Jefferson.
 * From then on, the Federalists championed commercially and they found diplomatic harmony with Britain, domestic stability, and a strong national government under powerful executive and judicial branches.
 * By the end of his second term Washington had become closely identified with the Federalists. Washington's Farewell Address of 1796, prepared in association with Hamilton, may be read as a basic text of Federalism.
 * After its demise its members passed into both the Democratic party of Andrew Jackson and the Whig party.


 * The Democratic-Republican party**
 * The [|Democratic-Republican party] was an early political party in the U.S., originally led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the 1790s.
 * This party was created in opposition to the Federalist party and the ideas of Alexander Hamilton.
 * Although the party was also known as the Republican party and the Jeffersonian Republican party, it in fact was the forerunner of today's Democratic Party.
 * The philosophy of the Democratic-Republican Party favored states' rights rather than a strong national government, rural, agricultural interests, and supported the legitimacy of the French Revolution (1789-1799).
 * The party opposed close ties with Britain.
 * Stronger in the South and weaker in the North

Click here for a timeline, biographies, and information on Federalists and Democratic-Republicans

__**B. The conflicting ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton**__
||< **Founder: Alexander Hamilton** || Secretary of State
 * < **Founder: Thomas Jefferson**
 * < __Position after Constitution:__

__Philosophies:__
 * Spread power
 * Feared tyranny
 * Championed liberty
 * Held hope for human spirit
 * Believed with education, humans could be trusted
 * Supported agriculture
 * Limit power of government

Secretary of Treasury
 * __American Vision:__
 * Farming community
 * Against Federal Bank
 * Low tariffs to keep prices low
 * Mild laws
 * Loose construction
 * Equal opportunity
 * Asylum for oppresses
 * Preserve simplicity and equality ||< __Position after Constitution:__

__Philosophies:__
 * Concentrate power with elite few
 * Feared anarchy
 * Championed order
 * Held humans as inherently flawed
 * Believed humans make poor choices
 * Supported shipping and manufacture
 * Strong government

Clip of HBO's John Adams featuring a debate between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton [|Hamilton v Jefferson] beliefs regarding: Central govt., U.S. Economy, French Revolution, National Bank, and War Debt Lesson Plan and activity for class Hamilton v Jefferson [|click here] Click here for a chart on Jefferson and Hamilton [|Interactive information Thomas Jefferson]
 * __American Vision:__
 * Success founded on commerce and wealth
 * Wanted Federal Bank
 * High tariffs to protect US industries
 * Strict laws
 * Strict construction
 * Society of rich and poor based on English model
 * Make America a new Europe
 * Advance into new technological age ||

[[image:Quill_and_ink.png]]Washington's vice president, John Adams, was elected president as a Federalist in 1796.
>> While in Presidency, Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the " Quasi-War ") with France , 1798–1800. ===
 * === Adams retained Washington's cabinet officers and sought to continue his predecessor's policies. ===
 * === The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamilton's opposition. ===
 * === In the campaign of 1800 the Republicans were united and effective, the Federalists badly divided. Nevertheless, Adams polled only a few less electoral votes than Jefferson, who became President. ===
 * === In the waning days of his presidency, Adams was able to conclude a peace with France and to appoint moderate Federalist [|John Marshall] as chief justice. Long after the party was dead, Marshall preserved its principles from the bench. ===
 * === Adams' wife, Abigail, was an enormous influence over his life and herself advocated for American women. ===
 * === Adams' wife, Abigail, was an enormous influence over his life and herself advocated for American women. ===


 * __Abigail Adams__**
 * First Lady to John Adams.
 * Huge advocate of women's rights to her husband John Adams.
 * Held much influence over her husband and people would occasionally refer to her Mrs. President.
 * Believed women should be involved in household decisions and be able to be educated which would help them better manage the household.

Great article on Abigail Adams [|click here] Interactive map/information John and Abigail Adams [|click here] Database of letters exchanged between Abigail and John Adams [|click here]
 * They exchanged over 1,100 letters from 1762 to 1801

Abigail Adams lesson plan [|click here]

__**Major Events During the Adams Presidency**__ 1797: 1798: 1799: 1800:
 * March 4: Adams is sworn in as the second president of the United State
 * June 1: Adams appoints John Quincy minister to Prussia. Fearing his father will be charged with nepotism, he hesitates before accepting the position.
 * Summer: Committed to maintaining neutrality, Adams announces the appointment of a peace mission to France
 * March-April: The so-called Quasi-War with France escalates with the XYZ affair, in which the French foreign minister demands a bribe from the U.S. government in exchange for the resumption of diplomatic talks.
 * May-June: Opposed to a declaration of war but favoring precautionary military buildup, Adams proposes the creation of the Department of the Navy. Congress approves.
 * July 14: Adams signs into law the four-part Alien and Sedition Acts. The Naturalization and Alien Acts curb immigrants' rights; the Sedition Act restricts freedom of speech and press and makes offenses punishable by fines and imprisonment.
 * February 18: Against the wishes of his Federalist Party, Adams appoints a second peace delegation to France.
 * October: Adams travels to Trenton to meet with his cabinet and dispatch commissioners to France, where there is growing political crisis.
 * November 9: Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the Directory (France's executive branch) and assumes near-dictatorial powers. In 1804 he anoints himself emperor.
 * December 14: George Washington, 67, dies at Mount Vernon.
 * May: A Federalist caucus in Congress selects Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as the party's nominees in the election of 1800. The Republicans nominate Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
 * June: Adams travels to Washington, D.C. to inspect the new seat of government, and then returns to Quincy.
 * September: Adams' nemesis, fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton, publishes the vitriolic Letter ... //Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq//., which attacks Adams' reelection bid.
 * November 1: Adams becomes the first president to live in the recently completed President's House in Washington, D.C.
 * December: Adams loses to Jefferson in presidential election.

March 3: Thoughts on Government (1776) First Inaugural Address (1797) Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1813)
 * The Sedition Act expires.



[|XYZ Affair] video from YouTube. [|The American Experience: John and Abigail Adams] - By PBS

Adams Timeline- The Massachusetts Historical Society John Adams Timeline - Timetoast

**__ C. the Alien and Sedition Acts __**
In 1798, the Federalist-controlled Congress passed a series of laws which, on the surface, were designed to control the activities of foreigners in the U.S. during a time of impending war. Beneath the surface, however, the real intent of these laws was to destroy Jeffersonian Republicanism. The laws, known collectively as the "Alien and Sedition Acts," included:
 * The Naturalization Act of 1789which extended the residency period from 5 to 14 years for those aliens seeking citizenship; this law was aimed at Irish and French immigrants who were often active in Republican politics
 * The Alien Actallowing the expulsion of aliens deemed dangerous during peacetime
 * The Alien Enemies Actallowing the expulsion or imprisonment of aliens deemed dangerous during wartime. This was never enforced, but it did prompt numerous Frenchmen to return home
 * [|The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798]which provided for fines or imprisonment for individuals who criticized the government, Congress, or president in speech or print
 * The Alien Acts were never enforced, but the Sedition Act was.
 * A number of Republican newspaper publishers were convicted under the terms of this law.The
 * Jeffersonians argued quite rightly that the Sedition Act violated the terms of the First Amendment and offered a remedy in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.

For a brief video on the Alien and Sedition Acts [|click here]

While these laws were either repealed or allowed to expire in the next administration, they were significant as rallying points for the Jeffersonians. The heavy-handed Federalist policies worked to the advantage of the Republicans as they prepared for the Election of 1800.


 * Click here for a lesson plan on events leading up to the Sedition Acts
 * Click here for a lesson plan on the consequences of the Sedition Acts

__Thomas Jefferson's Presidency (1801-1809)__

 * Thomas Jefferson's presidency carried out what Jefferson called the "Revolution of 1800", as he attempted to put into action the principles of his Democratic-Republican Party.
 * In domestic affairs Jefferson tried to weaken Federalist influences, especially in the judiciary, and succeeded in limiting the size of government by reducing taxes and the national debt.
 * In foreign affairs the major developments were the acquisition of the gigantic Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, an embargo against trade with both Great Britain and France, and worsening relations with Britain as the United States tried to remain neutral in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars that engulfed Europe. The war's effects reached throughout the Atlantic.


 * [[image:Rotating_globe-small.gif]]Jefferson and the Haitian Revolution **

While remaining "neutral," from early 1802 Jefferson allowed contraband goods and arms to reach Saint-Domingue during its slave rebellion and refused financial credit to France, aiding the slave and mulatto resistance that achieved independence in 1804. After that, however, with France removed and Congressional resistance high, he refused to recognize Haiti, and embargoed trade with it, causing severe difficulties for the second republic to rise in the Western Hemisphere.

For more, see [|The United States and the Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804] from the United States Department of State.

[|Jefferson on the French and Haitian Revolutions, 1792]from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

[|St. Domingue (Haiti)]from Jefferson's Monticello. See also, [|St. Domingue Proposed as Home for Deported Slaves and Free Blacks]from the Library of Congress.

1800: 1801: 1803: 1805: 1807: 1809:
 * __Major Events During the Jefferson Presidency:__**
 * Jefferson defeats Adams to win the presidency as Republicans sweep elections nationwide. What will come to be known as the "Revolution of 1800" marks the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in American history.
 * The lame-duck Federalist congress passes the Judiciary Act, which stocks the courts with Federalist judges. Jefferson, furious, will spend much of his presidency trying to fight the lingering Federalist presence in government.
 * March 4: Jefferson is sworn in as the third president of the United States in the new capital city of Washington, D.C., becoming the first president to take office there. Historians believe that his inaugural address is the first speech he has ever delivered in public.
 * February 24: Supreme Court Justice John Marshall establishes the principle of Judicial Review with his landmark ruling in //Marbury v. Madison// . Jefferson, not a fan of the Federalist Marshall, finds the ruling undemocratic.
 * April 2: Jefferson purchases the 800,000-square-mile Louisiana Territory from French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte for $15 Million, or roughly 4 cents an acre, effectively doubling the size of the United States overnight.
 * June 20: Jefferson charters the Lewis and Clark expedition —led by his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis—to survey the new Louisiana Territory, establish friendly relations with the American Indian tribes living inland, and search for a Northwest Passage allowing easy travel to the Pacific.
 * March 4: Jefferson is inaugurated into a second term in the presidency, following a landslide victory in the election of 1804. His second inaugural address is, as far as we know, the last public speech of his life.
 * December 22: Responding to increasingly fraught relations with Britain, Congress enacts Jefferson's embargo act, halting all trade between the United States and Great Britain. The act does little to change relations with Britain, but nearly destroys the American economy.
 * March 4: Jefferson finishes his second term as president.

Primary Sources: Jefferson's First Inaugural Address Jefferson's Second Inaugural Address

Click here for a biography of Jefferson and Monticello

Click here for an article about Jefferson's opinion on slavery

Multimedia Links: Thomas Jefferson Biographyy - from youtube.com

Click here for a video on Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates

Timelines: President Thomas Jefferson Timeline Thomas Jefferson Timeline- Timetoast

__D. the Louisiana Purchase__


** //See Grade 5.29 for more on the Purchase// ** //**See Grade 5.30 ****for information on the Lewis & Clark Expedition** //

__The Importance of Louisiana for the United States:__
 * Many white Americans had moved as far west as the Mississippi River by the time of the Louisiana Purchase. The river was a great resource for them. Many traveled down the river all the way to Louisiana, where it emptied out into the sea in New Orleans. This was an extremely important location because it was a port used for international trade. Once the U.S. owned this important location, they could have the freedom to use it as they wished. Because it was so important for trade, it was also important for the economy.
 * The Louisiana Purchase was also significant because it doubled the size of the U.S. At the time, expansion was important because the U.S. wanted to become as big and powerful as possible. Up until then, very few whites had been west of the Mississippi River. Gaining Louisiana opened up the West to them—in the years to come they would continue to expand westward. But this westward expansion had horrible effects on many native peoples.
 * As territories within the Louisiana Purchase petitioned for statehood, the issue of slavery came to the forefront of political debate. Congress enacted the Missouri Compromise to ensure that neither the pro-slavery or anti-slavery states gained a representational advantage.

__Political details of the Louisiana Purchase:__
 * France had at one time controlled the New Orleans port, but around 1800 it was owned by Spain.
 * The U.S. was not very threatened by Spain, but when President Thomas Jefferson heard that the territory might be transferred back to France, he got worried.
 * Jefferson thought the U.S. might have to fight to get any of the benefits of the Mississippi River and the New Orleans port, so he prepared for war. At the same time, he sent James Madison to France to negotiate a plan. By the time Madison got the France, however, he found out that the French were already planning on selling the territory to the U.S. A treaty was drafted and the sale was made, for $15 million dollars.

Primary Sources: The Louisiana Purchase The Missouri Compromise

Timeline: The Louisiana Purchase - The Library of Congress

The period between Washington's presidency and the War of 1812 is the subject of historian Gordon S. Wood's book: //Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815//. As Susan Dunn noted in her review of Wood's book in the New York Review of Books (March 25, 2010, p. 29), by "the second decade of the nineteenth century, the United States had become a giant continental republic, with eighteen states, five territories, and a population of nearly ten million people, many of whom were migrating westward." It was a time when "America was becoming, in Jefferson's words, 'an empire of liberty,' in which all facets of society--from education and science and religion and banking were--were undergoing exciting change."

In the North, it was a time of rising democracy, emergence of self-made men from the farming, business and merchant classes, and the presence of new people in government, not drawn from old ruling elites of the revolutionary generation. But in the South, "nostalgic southerners turned to the past, clinging to the agrarian myth of yeoman farmers leading independent, virtuous lives on the soil as well as to the aristocratic idyll of a leisurely, gracious life of family, hospitality, books and slaves on lovely planations" (Dunn, New York Review of Books, March 25, 2010, p. 31).

It is important to note that the money that made Westward Expansion possible was made largely through a slave economy, which continued to grow until 1808.
 * Indeed, the Constitution, written in part by the men above, stipulated that Congress would not discuss slavery or its possible demise until at least 1808.
 * Meanwhile, the slave industry boomed and the invention of the cotton gin increased cotton production in the Deep South.
 * The three-fifths compromise, a compromise written into the Constitution, equates all African Americans with three-fifths of a person in order to increase political representation of Southern states without actually granting political representation to those African Americans, who were mostly slaves in this period.
 * None of the political advancements we have seen above would have been possible without slave labor, since a large part of the Southern economy rested on the continuance of slave labor to produce the raw materials that were the South's mainstay.

Check out this animated map with supplementary audio explanations to learn more about the expansion of the United States. You can click on specific decades for more in depth timelines which give more political context.

@http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington (George Washinton) http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/inaugural/final.htm (Washingtons First Inaugural Adress) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp (Washingtons Farewell Adress) http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/timeline/index.html (Washington Timelines) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ZYVwPwyEg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL094B26ABE54E7A5C (George Washington: And Animated History, youtube) http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/classroom/index.htm (Washington Lesson Plan PBS) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=88 (The Federalist Party) http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/jay.html (Jay's Treaty) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=881 (Democratic Republic Party) http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnadams (John Adams) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/robes_marshall.html (John Marshall) http://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/XYZ (The XYZ Affair) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=37 (John Adams Thoughts on Government) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1160 (John Adams First Inaugural Address) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=436 (John Adams Letter to Thomas Jefferson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afB5NJmER5M (XYZ Affair Youtube) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/index.html (John and Abigail Adams, PBS) http://www.masshist.org/adams/timeline.cfm (Adams Timeline) http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/john-adams-timeline (Adams Timetoast Timeline) http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am1.html (The First Amendment to the Constitution) http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large/Volume_1/5th_Congress/2nd_Session/Chapter_5 (naturalization act) http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=693 (The Alien Act) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/alien.asp (The Alien Enemies Act) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/sedact.asp (The Sedation Act) http://www.oyez.org/cases/1792-1850/1803/1803_0/ (Marbury vs. Madison) http://www.princeton.edu/~tjpapers/inaugural/inednote.html (Jeffersons First Inaugural Address) http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/tjinaug2.cfm (Jeffersons Second Inaugural Address) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OfYzeAEV_c (Thomas Jefferson Biography.com) http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/american-timelines/thomas-jefferson-timeline.htm (thomas jefferson timeline) http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/thomas-jefferson-timeline (Jefferson timeline timetoast) http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=18 (The Louisiana Purchase) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h511.html (The Missouri Compromise) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/louisianapurchase.html (Louisiana Purchase timeline, Library of Congress) http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html (animated map)
 * Links:**