Introduction to US History/New Nation

Conclusion of the War
2 years after the Siege of Yorktown, a few Americans travel over the Atlantic Ocean and sign the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty, a few things are passed.

With the Treaty of Paris being recognized, this meant that...
 * The British recognize the Americans' independence. Their territory consists of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains and East of the Mississippi. Canada gives the Great Lakes.
 * Loyalists to the British are protected and no harm shall be done to them.
 * Old debts prior to the war towards the British are payed by the Americans
 * French are a bit perturbed that they got nothing out of the meeting, although Paris was the sight of such an event.


 * July 4th is independence day!
 * 80,000 loyalists move back to England
 * The Law of Primogeniture is banned
 * The general population moves westwards and state capitals follow in that pattern (VA: Williamsburg --> Richmond).

U.S. Constitution (1787)
The meeting to develop the US Constitution, which was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787, was to be kept private/secret so that states do not pull their delegates out of the Convention. While developing the Constitution, James Madison took notes of the topics being discussed - which are now compiled in The Federalist Papers. For his contributions, he's known as the "Father of the Constitution". The three major points brought up in the convention was that...


 * An actual government governed by the consent of the people
 * Powers of the government are limited by the Constitution
 * Systems of checks and balances

Potential issues regarding the Constitution are...


 * Electoral College
 * 3/5 Compromise
 * State rights vs Federal Government rights

State Rights vs. Federal Government Rights

 * People who believe power should be in the government's hands: Federalists
 * People who believe power should be in the states' hands: Anti-Federalists

The powers of the president are listed in the linked article.

Congress Make-Up

 * House of Representatitves: States with a larger population have more house of representatives, deal with taxes and financial spending (therefore they have a bigger mouth when it comes to taxation). Their duty is to make laws, pass federal budget, levy taxes, and their congressional term is 2 years.
 * Senate: 2 per state, deals with international/foreign affairs. Their duty is to make laws, approve treaties & federal appointments, and their congressional term is 6 years.

Judicial Branch

 * Created by the 1789 Judiciary Act
 * The Supreme Court is created and monitored by John Marshall (not equal in power to other branches)
 * Establish district/circuit courts nationally and appoint lawyers for each state (attorney general's office)

Supreme Court

 * They interpret the Constitution and sit with 9 justices, all serving for life.
 * They preside over the presidential impeachments and rule on the Constitutionality of Congressional Legislation and Executive Acts.

Bill of Rights

 * George Mason created the Bill of Rights and detail every rights that Americans deserve (10 amendments that make the Bill of Rights).

George Washington
Washington took office in 1789 after resigning as "commander-in-chief" in 1783 and is the only president to be unanimously voted on in the Electoral College. The same year of 1789 is when the French Revolution took place, with much of the motivation coming from America's Revolution. To the dismay of the Americans, the French Revolution was going down a path that didn't mirror the USA's Revolution: they killed their own king and outlawed Christianity.

Nonetheless, Washington's resignated after his 2nd term shocked the whole world because many people believed he was going to live out his life as President of the USA. His legacy remains as follows:


 * Served only 2 terms, setting the standard for future presidents
 * Neutrality Act of 1793
 * Maintained the American government entirely off of a new, unusual Constitution

Alexander Hamilton
Now, we turn our attention to a friend of George Washington: Alexander Hamilton. He was a financial wizard (hence his support of a national bank) and was the 1st Secretary of Treasury in the USA. Although the wiz, he had a questionable character and ended up leaving the world after dueling Aaron Burr. He was a major figure in creating the 2-party system and was an arch rival of Thomas Jefferson.

He believed that the US should assume responsibility of the national debt because it would improve their credit reputation to the world. He also think this would benefit the states, as the US assuming financial responsibility would install confidence in the states' acceptance of the federal government.

As a result, he established the National Bank in 1791. It was a powerful, England-inspired bank that printed paper money and made the US a major stockholder.

Division with Thomas Jefferson
As a Federalist (opposed to his archrival, who was an Anti-Federalist), Hamilton believed...


 * The country should be ruled by the people, regardless of education.
 * Loose interpretation of Constitution
 * Government supports businesses
 * Pro-British
 * Believed in the Federal government over state government
 * Restrictions on free speech and press
 * Supported by the North
 * Strong navy

John Adams
John Adams was a Federalist who ended up becoming bitter enemies with Thomas Jefferson after he beat him in the 1800 United States presidential election. 4 years previous, Adams won the most votes and TJ became his vice president. Since both men were from different parties, and therefore, had differing views, they did not get along with each other for these "miserable" 4 years. In 1804, the 12th Amendment stated that both the President and the Vice President must be from the same political parties to avoid heated and elongated disputes.

In 1800, both Adams and his VP, Charles Pinckney both lost to Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The issue was that Burr and Jefferson both recieved exactly 73 votes. Now, Adams clearly lost this election - but the question remains, who is president? This was significant because this put the Constitution up to the test and it worked greatly. The issue was taken to the House and Representatives and a contingent election took place resulted in an eventual TJ win (after Hamilton obsessively campaigned against Burr).

Thankfully, Adams and TJ were convinced to become friends again after their years of politics.

Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson, in his Epitaph, put pride in being the...


 * Father of UVA
 * Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom
 * Author of the Declaration of Independence

But he never mentioned him being the POTUS, governor of VA, ambassador to France, or the Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase & Solution
The Lousiana Purchase doubled the size of the US and accepted Bonaparte's offer to sell the land. Bonaparte believed that with the selling of the Louisiana Territory, he would regain the land when he "conquered the US", use the territory as a way for all the French soldiers to come back home and fight for the country, and he could use the money the US was offering for his own financial gain. As a result of this transaction, Jefferson reduced the size of the US Military (as he believed standing armies = tyranny, citing the French Revolution). Meanwhile, Bonaparte was the ruler of France and in wanting to create a French empire, regained some of America's land through Spain. This was a big issue for TJ as the Mississippi River was a major shipping route for the Midwest, which was now controlled by France's Louisiana.

The solution was to negotiate! Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe. Napoleon offered the US New Orleans and all of the Louisiana Territory for $15 million.

To explore this land, Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark on a two year expedition of the land. They were to see what the US had in their hands, find a water route to the Pacific, befriend and let the Indians know of the "new ruler in town".

Lewis & Clark

 * Sacagawea Birthplace.jpgMeriwether Lewis was the "leader" of the expedition. He was the scientific and cultural explorer and planned this journey way before the purchase. He was the personal secrety, friend and neighbor of Jefferson.
 * William Clark is the geographer/manager of the expedition. After the expedition, he went from living in VA to Missouri and became their first "territorial" governor. He played a role in the raising of Sacagewa's son.

Was Jefferson going against his word?
Remember when Jefferson believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution? Well, the Constitution never gave explicit permission for the president to buy territory. He also only authorized $10 million for the transaction and not the $15 million. Jefferson believed he wasn't being loyal to the Constitution, but was assured by the US Senate that he did what was necessary.

He didn't go wrong in the purchase, but he did go wrong in the Embargo Act. This was an act which forbidden foreign trade on all American trading posts. Jefferson believed that this would force the English and the French to buy American products, but instead this shooed the Europeans away and led to an economic disaster back home.