Enlightenment and Great Awakening

I.enlightenment
»European intellectual trend that is passed to the colonies; watered down – not as intense in America as it was in
Europe

a. assumptions
1. universe is an orderly place with rules and regulations
2. human beings could use their reason to figure out the order, rules, and regulations

b. influence on the colonists

»human beings were basically good but they can be bad with an outside force

II.great awakening
»period of religious revival
»emphasizes the role of God

a. causes
1. challengeof religion
»growing religious differences; religious chaos
»rapid western migration – leaving churches
»puritans feel threatened

2. social
challenges
»revivals occur during social changes
»growing difference between rich and poor
»emphasis on commercial factor – economically complex

b. revivals
»Jonathan Edwards, a puritan minister, decides the churches in New England aren’t serving the religious
needs of the colonists; wasn’t intense
»starts preaching with passion; not only hearing but feeling
»George Whitfield was charismatic; cross-eyed
»this style of preaching spread

c. influence on the colonists

»established denominations; new denominations come from old ones splitting
old lights: the people who stuck with the old traditional ways; ministers were educated
new lights: minister didn’t have to be educated he just had to receive “the calling”; very emotional
style of preaching (example – Baptists spread like wildflower especially in the south)
»social challenge – especially in the Anglican church; in old lights churches there were the high in front
with the low in the back; the new lights rejected it; no social hierarchy even with slaves; everyone equal
»horse races:
-old lights owned the horses, bid, and drank
-new lights didn’t show up because they were against drinking and gambling

III.comparison of the enlightenment and the great awakening

»people being to think its okay to challenge old ways
»in the Enlightenment people think its okay to use reasoning
»both peaked right before the Revolution
Road to Independence and Revolution
»colonies have different governments; they are independent
»colonists consider themselves British

I.French and Indian war

»competing countries: British, French, Spanish
»France was worried about British moving west
»French build forts to stop expansion

a. events of the war

»George Washington gathers the militia and march to the forts to confront the French
»colonist lose bad and retreat to the east
»begins because of things in the colonies
»Indians ally with the French
»British sends troops to help colonists and colonists also fought
»Britain wins and French has to give up stuff
»colonists now safe from attack
»Great Britain now had a global and super-giant empire

b. british unsatisfied with the colonist’ role

»it took a lot for the british to control its territory in the colonies; expensive
»Great Britain realizes it has to change the colonial situation

II.britain’s relationship with the colonist change

»the war was the first time british and colonists see each other and the colonists don’t like the british
»colonists feel the british troops didn’t respect them enough
»colonists resent british punishments; they were too brutal
»british saw colonial militias as undisciplined; informal; lacked dedication (example – if fighting in New York
the Pennsylvania militia didn’t want to help)
»british don’t feel like they can trust the colonist
»colonists continue to trade with the French

2 big changes:
1. Britain realizes they need to control and order the colonists
2. colonists have to pay part of their war debt

a. proclamation line – 1763

»drew a line on the map and the colonist were not suppose to cross this line (were not suppose to expand
west past the mountains)

reasons:
1. so the colonists wouldn’t make the Indians mad; making sure there was no more war
2. empire though it had too much to manage and control

»colonists object; colonist were use to spreading westward; opportunity in the west

b. sugar act – 1764

»taxed sugar, textiles, coffee…
»england needs more revenue
»colonist were use to being taxed and were find with being taxed
»sugar act was different – it was to increase revenue instead of regulating trade
»colonist don’t like it but it was not a big deal; not a lot of resistance
 c. stamp act – 1765
»revenue act: for colonial defense
»affected everybody as they dealt with anything that used paper – deed, letter, newspaper, magazine…
»england doesn’t see it as unreasonable; not high
»never implemented because the colonists stopped it

1. stamp act congress – 1765

»started because of the objection of the stamp act
»first joint action
»met in New York

what they did:

1. petitioned Parliament
2. mad because they were not directly represented in Parliament confuses the British

2. forms of opposition
1. sons of liberty
»organized in the city
»wealthy men who directed protests
»mob represented the low class
»outside of law
2. non-importation
»stopped buying English goods
»result: england backs down and repeals the stamp act

d. townshend acts – 1767

»passed by british parliament for revenue
»taxed paint, lead, tea (imported goods)
»enforced the navigation acts
»colonists responded the same as the stamp act – “no taxation without representation”
»parliament repealed all taxes except for the tax on tea
»for the most part everything was cool; except for the radicals

III.boston massacre – 1770

»makes the colonists mad
»colonists see an office that was in charge of forcing trade regulation and was controlled by british troops in
Boston as a threat and are suspicious
»soldiers taking odd jobs around town and leaving colonists out of work
»poor colonists feel like they are competing with soldiers
»incident where dock workers who felt the british soldiers were taking their jobs so they surrounded the
customs house and were throwing rocks and snow balls; british soldiers freak out and someone fires
»5 colonist die
»news in the colonists were reported different and it said the soldiers were ordered to fire on the colonists

IV. republicanism
»from 1770-1773 colonists were cool
»republicanism: good government
»colonists view the world and politics different than the british

a. balance of power and liberty

»government allowed some power and liberty and others none
 »colonists had the fear of power; one government had too much power it was corrupt
»ultimate tyranny = slavery
»colonists feared excess liberty which was anarchy

b. popular sovereignty
»differential culture
»didn’t have problem putting restrictions on voting

c. independent society
»a society that was made up of independent people who could vote; land owners
»if you owned land you were independent

d. virtuous society
»a society of moral people committed to the common good and capable of self sacrifice

V.increase in tensions resumes

a. tea act – 1773
»the repeal of the townshend acts did not repeal the tea act
»this was to help the east Indian companies so colonist could consume tea at a lower price
»colonists get mad because taxes were being put on at the export
»sparks the boston tea party – white colonists dressed up like Indians and dumped east Indian tea into the
harbor
»parliament moved to punish boston and Massachusetts for the destruction of private property

b. coercive acts – 1774

»called the intolerable acts by the colonists

1. closed the port of boston until the tea was paid for
2. quartering act: the british army could come into your private home and you would have to house soldiers
3. massachusetts governing act: limisted town meetings to once a year because a lot of radicals were using
the meetings for support; town meetings were a tradition to the colonists
4. justice act: british officials accused of a crime in the line of duty would be shipped to Britain or Canada
for trial; they couldn’t be tried in boston
5. quebec act (not actually a coercive act): provide for a new government in Quebec that wouldn’t have an
elected assembly and it granted religious toleration; the French roman catholics were allowed which
spooks the colonists

»focused on boston not the other colonies

»the colonists saw the coercive acts as the british government being out of control
»they see interference with trade; forcing standing army in the colonies; taking away rightful government;
and taking away the judicial system

c. first continental congress – 1774

»the colonists response to the coercive acts
»debate from delegates for different colonists
»radicals: pushing for distance
»conservatives: thought that something had gone wrong with the British system, so they just had to fix that
problem
»they decided on a conservative approach
»the first continental congress petition parliament and say that Britain could tax but not for revenue
purposes
 »parliament think the colonists are out of control and need to be taught a lesson; they send in more troops to
reduce the likelihood of the colonists taking military action over the british

d. Lexington and concord – 1775

»british soldiers were trying to collect ammunition from Massachusetts
»colonists tried to stop them and shots were fired
»marks the beginning of the war although there is no declaration of independence

e. second continental congress

»reaction to Lexington and concord; this is different because there is shooting going on
»this organization runs the war effort
»they have to act like a nation but they do it reluctantly
»they are trying to make some peace between Britain even with the war
»send another petition to the kind thinking he will take care of the situation
»king responds by sending more troops and blockades the American ports
»the colonists think that the king isn’t doing his job and they begin to think that it is not working

“common sense” – written in 1776 by Thomas Paine

»sums everything up; things are bad
»explains that the kind is involved in tyranny
»it is not just the king but anything with a monarch is going to be bad and that nothing is going to change
»it’s the whole british system
»compelling argument written simply; written for everyone
»sold over 100,000 copies; cheap and it was passed around
»most adult white men read it

»congress receives information that its okay to draft a declaration of independence; more radical

VI.declaration of independence – 1776

»colonies begin to draft constitutions and call themselves states
»no references to the kind and parliament in the constitutions
»on July 4, 1776 the official document of the declaration of independence is signed

messages:
1. declare and explains there independence
2. argues that the colonists are acting legally
3. argues that the colonies have not been benefited and the government was not working

sections:
1. describes what government should be
»work for the people
»human beings have certain rights and the government is suppose to facilitate those rights
2. list of grievances
»only small part of the grievances were the taxes
»this is the bulk of the document

revolution:
»if colonists lost the revolution they would be tried for treason and be beheaded

»one third of the colonists stayed loyal to Britain

loyalists:
1. lived in import cities
2. merchants
3. depended on trade
4. royal officials
5. back-country folk; didn’t get it

»one third were revolutionists; committed to the war

»one third didn’t make up their minds; they thought the british were wrong but didn’t want war

negatives for the colonists:

»tremendous odds
»colonists were divided
»they had nothing, no navy

positives for Britain:

»super-power
»greatly outnumbered the colonists in population
»great army; well trained
»financial resources
»worlds largest navy

negatives for Britain:

»they had a long supply line (across the Atlantic)
»they didn’t know the terrain
»they had to subdue all the colonies

how the colonists won:

1. George Washington:
»kept continental army together
»amazing general because of the management and he recognized talent
»commander or the army
2. French:
»support colonies because they didn’t like Britain
»mostly gave supplies
»at the end commits itself with everything; troops, navy, training
3. enough colonists committed

»1781 the british surrendered

peace agreement – 1783

»colonies were independent
»defined the western boundary to the Mississippi river
»each side would recognize debts
»colonists returned property of loyalists
»great Britain removed troops

Governments Created During the Revolution and Problems of the 1780s

I.creation of new governments
a. influences – for both state and national
»colonial experiences: jealously guarded their independence; regarding their perspective of the british
government they feared power and worried about preserving liberty against tyranny
»republicanism: independent voters and virtuous voters
 b. characteristics of state governments
»put the most thought into the state governments
»most had governors but they had little power; no veto and they were chosen by state legislature
»judiciary/court system: judges were weak; they had fit terms, not autonomous, and were selected by the
state legislature
»most power was in the legislature; terms were really short with frequent elections; 2 houses

c. articles of confederation
»blue print of constitution and government
»written by the second continental congress
»weak government; couldn’t do very much

what it could do:

1. control the western lands
2. run a post office
3. set foreign policy

what it could not do:

1. tax – national government had to go to the state governments for funds
2. no flexible – everybody had to agree

1. difficulty with ratification

»1781 the articles are approved but the document was drafted in 1777

2. terms of the articles

»no executive branch – no one could have too much power
»no judiciary branch – no court system
»simple legislature – one house and each state had one vote

3. successes
1. won the revolution
2. governing the western territory
»set up territories until population increased and then would eventually become a state
»requirement of new states was no slaves

II.problems under the articles

a. economic
1. trade: with colonies it was structured around mercantilism
»now no longer part of Britain and so trade and economy is struggling
»Britain didn’t buy any US goods
»farmers not able to sell; problem with independent voters
»people buy things on british credit and government couldn’t stop it

2. currency: states printing their own money

»inflation out of control
»money didn’t mean anything
»national government couldn’t do anything about it; didn’t have the power
»national and state governments are in debt

b. foreign affairs
1. Britain:
 »US not honoring the treaty with debts and giving loyalists their property back so the british didn’t pull
soldiers out of the US

2. Spain:
»controlled Louisiana and the lower Mississippi river with the port of New Orleans
»US couldn’t use the lower MS river or the port of NO – problem
»new farmers couldn’t trade and they are going broke

c. state governments
»generally the state legislatures were too responsive to the voters
»liberty was out of control in the 1780s
»the states saw problems with the people in national office and the policies they made – there was still
deferential politics
»men in the state legislature were less wealthy and less polished
»on the national level it was more deferential; state level was less deferential
»national problem: states printing money
»states not interested in paying back debts
»state legislatures pass laws saying lenders can’t foreclose on farmers – this makes it okay to break contracts
»bad case in Massachusetts – Shay’s Rebellion: lower house passes a law and the upper house blocks it;
citizens rose in rebellion taking over the court house, they wanted upper house dissolved; state couldn’t do
anything about it
»Shay’s Rebellion scares people at the national level because there was too much excess liberty

The Constitution
I.constitutional convention
»things aren’t going how they needed to be going
»people think of themselves as a citizen of a state, not a nation
»meetings were held in Philadelphia to retool the articles of confederation
»men who went represented the “great men” and were interested in change
»didn’t want the press to know about the arguments so it was kept secret; windows were kept shut
»50 representatives were present; average age was 42; had experience with leading; most served in congress
under the articles of confederation; 8 helped write state constitutions
»many were officers in the revolution and saw the poor supply under the articles of confederation

people who were not there:

Sam Adams
Patrick Henry – “give me liberty or give me death”
Thomas Paine
Thomas Jefferson
»vocal revolutionary figures
»they didn’t think change was needed

people who were there:

George Washington
Ben Franklin – 81 years old
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison – 4th president; most prepared
»in favor of big change
»had colonial experience, republican political experience, and articles of confederation experience

II.constitution
a. power of the new government
1. enumerated powers: specific powers that the national government gets
»power to tax
»power to regulate trade
»power to put down domestic revolts (army)

2.potential powers:
»national government supreme over the state government
»elastic clause (implied clause) – gives the national government power to do what is necessary and
proper for the government to run; this could be a lot of stuff because it is not specific

3.there are certain things the state is forbidden to do:

»can’t print money
»can’t interfere with interstate trade; free trade between states
»can’t declare contracts null and void

b. structure of the new government

»3 branches

legislative branch: 2 houses in congress

»house of representatives – votes based on population
-elected by voters in the states
»senate – each state has 2 votes
-senators are elected now by voters but then by the state legislatures because of deferential politics

executive branch:
»president
»4 years in office
»people didn’t elect but the state legislature voted people to the electoral college who voted for the president
because of deferential politics
»power: control of military, could veto a bill, and was independent of congress

judiciary branch:
»very complex national court
»when selecting judges the president appoints them but the senate has to approve them
»judges are for life (until they die or retire) which gives them a lot of power because there is no way to get
rid of them
»no real role of the supreme court specified in the constitution
»judicial review – reviews laws
»number of judges can vary because it is not specified in the constitution

»government has a lot more power and less responsive to the people
»some leaders are not elected by the people

c. reasons it satisfies republicanism

arguments:
1. not counter revolutionary but republicanism
»started out by “we the people”
»states don’t lose power – the state legislation select the electoral college
 2. limit to power – checks and balances
»power limited in the branches of government
»check on the power of the national government by the states
»congress would check itself with the 2 houses
»the size of the republic would be a check on power; big size helped because it was almost impossible for
one faction to take control

III.ratification
»could go to the people; don’t trust
»could go to the state legislature; want power
»each state would have a vote for or against the constitution by delegates chosen by the people

a. opponents – Anti-Federalists Party

»stinky name because it has a negative connotation
»against the constitution

b. supporters – Federalist Party

»wealthy people who were more urban and educated
»more organized
»federalists wanted a federal government – many voted for the constitution because of the name; savvy
»supported the constitution

»some states ratify the constitution quick and some slow

»only had to have 9 states ratify to make it the law of the land
»1789 all the states had ratified

»Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York had trouble ratifying but were important states
»North Carolina and Rhode Island were the slowest to ratify

IV.problems with the constitution

1. Is the union perpetual?
»once a state ratifies the constitution can that state leave
»not specifically addressed in the constitution; there are contradictions
»simply an oversight because the government they had was coming apart and they needed a new
government that would pull things together; weren’t concerned about states leaving

2. What is the status of slavery?

»southern states needed slaves, middle states used slaves, northern states could do without them
»human rights question and not racism
»new england going toward emancipation because slaves were not needed for the economy and they
weren’t a big part of the population
»the country started questioning slavery and the answer was no slavery is not right throughout the
country
»emancipation began but it was gradual
»there was questioning slavery in the south but emancipation doesn’t begin because of the economy and
the population was mostly blacks
»northern states allowed southern states to have slavery because it wasn’t a moral issue
»constitution does not guarantee the southern states slaves
»the world slave is never used
»this answer is intentionally not answered
 ways slavery is addressed:
1. Atlantic slave trade:
»after 20 years the constitution says that if congress desires they could end the Atlantic slave trade
»in 1808 the international slave trade ends

2. three fifths compromise:

»who gets counted as the population for the house of representatives?
»compromise: slave population in the southern states are counted as 3/5 of a person
»gave the slave states more representatives

3. fugitive slave clause:

»northerners were compelled by law to return run away slaves to the south

»some people thought the constitution was counter-revolutionary

»the consensus was that the constitution was more for the good of the people rather than the will of the people

The Early Republic

I.building the nation
»the constitution was created in 1788
»people don’t have a common interest
»geographically the US is a large nation with slow communication
»strong british culture is a commonality with the states

common between states:

1. republicanism:
»most people were adherent to this philosophy
»government political theory

2. George Washington:
»most people had a huge respect for GW
»general of the army and had pulled off the war
»kept the constitutional convention going
»selected as first president
»only figure that most people were willing to follow

3. support of the constitution:

»once the fight is over there are no divisions

»assumptions are mad that now everyone was going to get along; not true
»washington’s cabinet divided and there are political divisions

II.creation of factions
republicans – leader Thomas Jefferson
federalists – leader Alexander Hamilton
»names were marketing tools
»not the same federalists and republicans not the same as anti-federalists

Hamilton: not born in the colonies but British West Indies with low culture; poor
»extremely ambitious
»connects with Washington and becomes an advisor to him
»practices law after the war
»Washington trusted him and appoints him as secretary of treasury
»favored powerful central government
»interested in rapid economic advancement in nation
»capitalist and commercial economy
»Hamilton admired the british economic system and wanted to copy it

a. government finances
1. hamilton’s plan
financial plan: systematic
1. ) debt: national government will pay of its debts and the states debts
»process – old bonds will be replaced with new ones

2. ) national bank: oversee paying off debt and nation financial things
»currency will be processed by the national government

3. ) creates policies to support American economy:

»tariffs – taxed imported goods
»subsidized American goods
»acknowledges his policy would help the wealthy but believed in a trickle down policy

2. Jefferson and Madison’s opposition

»thought Hamilton was counter-revolutionary and had problems with his plan
»Jefferson had problems with paying debts at face value because the people who had originally
purchased the bonds had sold them to speculators at discount prices
»the wrong sorts of people were getting paid
»had problems with the bank because they believed it was unconstitutional
»if the constitution didn’t say the national government could do it, then they couldn’t do it
»the prospect of having an industrial society scared Jefferson and he though the colonies should remain
agricultural
»it was too much like Great Britain and they didn’t want to follow Great Britain’s path

Compromise:
»republicans allow for the debt funding plan
»the bank of the United States was chartered
»helping manufacturers was not allowed
»nation’s capitol was moved to Washington DC which was considered a southern city

b. foreign policy
»US had to deal with superpowers but tries to stay out of European affairs

problems with france:

»French revolution started looking like the American revolution; sympathy was given for the French
»Jefferson and Madison thought America had an obligation to support France
»Hamilton and Washington were cautions; wait-and-see approach
»revolution gets more radical and doesn’t look like the American revolution
»France and Great Britain go to war and Washington wants to stay out
»both countries start interfering with US ships
»get a treaty signed with GB for a little trade in the Caribbean and british troops will leave the US
»Jefferson is so mad that he resigns from office
 »spain thought the US was getting too friendly with GB and were scared they were a threat so they allowed
them to use the MS river and the port of New Orleans

whiskey rebellion:
»occurs when the national government puts a tax on whiskey a the manufacturing level
»farmers produced whiskey from gain
»alcohol consumption in the US was beyond belief
»farmers in western Pennsylvania revolt against the tax
»constitution allowed 15,000 man army with Washington at the head to put the revolt down
»federalists thought the national government needed to be strong
»republicans thought the “little man” could be trusted; thought the tax was british

III.summary of factions
1. economy:
»federalists – modern, capitalist, industrial economy
»republicans – agricultural and simple economy of small farmers instead of plantations

2. government:
»federalists – powerful national government that sets policies
»republicans – fear governmental power; national government should use much power

3. people:
»federalists – suspicious of the common people
»republicans – thought common people could be trusted and that they needed a say

republicans – thought government needed to balance liberty and power; feared tyranny
federalists – feared too much liberty and anarchy

IV.adams’ administration
»first election was between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; Adams wins
»Adams – federalist
»Jefferson – republican
»negative campaigning existed – Adams was displayed as an aristocrat and monarch; Jefferson displayed as a
godless anarchist and the duke of France
»John Adams does not have a successful administration because he was not popular

a. more problems with france

»US gets a perceived threat from France
»Adams wants a treaty with France - $250,000 were requested as a bribe from France and diplomats are
outraged; considered the XYZ affair because the names of the French are kept secret
»federalists feared potential war with France so they got funds from congress to assemble and army and
navy
»republicans thought the federalists were out for more power
»federalists worried about internal descent

b. more factionalism
1. alien and sedition acts
»alien act: made it harder to become a naturalized US citizen
»sedition act: made saying bad things in print about the government illegal
»republicans see this as on abuse of power and respond with the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
 2. Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
»crafty way to get around the alien and sedition acts
»written by Jefferson and Madison
»message: states needed to defend the people natural rights if the national government was not going to
do it
»Jefferson went further than Madison and indicated that states could nullify national law; potentially
very dangerous

»war scare passes

»France comes to the US and makes a treaty
»country is very politically split

Republicans in Power
I.Jeffersonian revolution?
a. election of 1800
»federalists: John Adams
»republicans: Thomas Jefferson
»both representatives attacked again with negative politics

Federalists divided:
»Hamilton and Adams disagreed
»weakened the party

Republicans:
»Aaron Burr and Jefferson were both running
»Jefferson for president and Burr for vice-president
»they screw things up and an equal number is cast for both Burr and Jefferson
»Burr didn’t back down because he is in it for himself
»decision is thrown to the house of representatives who are federalists – they pick Jefferson as president
when Hamilton backs him in the house of representatives

b. Jefferson in office: transfer of power

»federalists let go because they feel they are not losing power forever, not completely out of power (still in
the senate and house of representatives), and they still held power in judgeships – extremely important

Jefferson:
»extremely complicated; walking contradiction
»extremely learned; very smart
»creature of the enlightenment
»only wrote one book but lots of letters; prophylactic letters
»aristocrat by birth; part of the deferential culture
»as a politician he claimed he was a champion the common man although he never was one himself
»believes that no man is so great that they should be king
»owned slaves and frees almost none of them

1. republican goals
»believed in commerce but not big on manufacturing
»believed in expansion geographically
»believed in limiting government power
»believed in states having a good say in government

2. implementing republican policy

 »alien and sedition acts were done away with
»pardons republicans who were convicted under sedition act
»contemplated getting rid of some judges; but doesn’t
»reduces the size of the federal government especially the army which cuts finances
»cuts funding for the navy
»allows the bank of the US to remain; doesn’t attack
»keeps the debt funding plan; doesn’t attack

3. shift away from republican policy

a)Louisiana purchase
»US having problems because the western boundary is the MS river and Spain controlled LA
»France gain LA from spain secretly with Napoleon in charge
» France closes the port of NO to American trade
»Jefferson wanted to buy NO east of the MS river
»because of a slave revolt in Haiti Napoleon’s plan is messed up; needed money so he offers all of
LA territory for $15 million
»problems: constitution didn’t give Jefferson the power to buy land and US is very poor and
couldn’t afford it so Jefferson had to borrow money; both federalists ideas

b)burr conspiracy
»runs for governor in New York in 1804
»Hamilton spoke out against Burr
»when Burr lost he blamed Hamilton so Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel
»Hamilton fires off like most gentlemen but Burr shoots and kills Hamilton
»Burr goes west and starts a conspiracy with France and GB and tries to start a republic
»arrested and charged with treason
»Jefferson clams executive privilege: federalist idea – doesn’t think that the judicial branch should
call on the executive branch (adding power)

c)embargo
»Jefferson pushes an embargo that said the US would not trade with anybody
»believes American people were living too high
»GB and France still interfering with trade
»results: trashed the US economy; hurt farmers
»very federalist act; very powerful
II.war of 1812
a. Madison tries for neutral rights
»Jefferson was not popular which hurt the republican faction but Madison was still elected the next
president
»Madison decided to open trade to everyone, but if either France or Great Britain would stop seizing
American ships then the US would end trade with the other country
»France agrees and trade is stopped with Great Britain but nothing really happens

b. reasons for war

»the second generation congressmen come into office and want to make a name for themselves:
-farmers in the south and west are worried because they can’t trade; they want action
-there is Indian unrest; British helping to stir this up
-they had a lust for land; wanted to continue expansion
-they felt the US needed national honor: feel like the US has been walked on – how much can one
country take
»congress agrees with Madison’s declaration of war on Great Britain because they were the worst threat
»war doesn’t go well for the US; army was cut back by Jefferson and there was no navy
 »fight Great Britain in the Great Lakes area, Chesapeake Bay, Washington was nearly destroyed (burned),
Baltimore, and South of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans:

»occurred after the treaty had been signed but still a vital and important part of the war
»if the British took NO then they could control (stop) trade from middle America
»Andrew Jackson got pirates and scrappy mean and fought what the British saw as a dirty battle; but the US
won

c. problems during war

»no army
»no navy
»no bank
»not prepared or ready

d. consequences
»treaty called for no big change
»US had stood up to GB and the citizens felt that Britain had “surrendered” so it gave the people national
pride; nationalism
»Federalists party is killed off
»the republicans were left in charge but Madison starts looking more and more federalist
-they had opposed the war and come out looking bad after the US won
-came up with new resolutions to the constitution which made them look bad after the war
»the republicans were left in charge but Madison starts looking more and more federalist
-re-chartered the bank of the US
-created a high tariff on imported manufactured goods so the US could industrialize
-toss around the bonus bill – federal money would be given to the states for internal improvements; it was
never passed
»republicans learn a lesson and begin to change their thinking
-US couldn’t borrow money during the war since there was no US bank
-created a high tariff
-needed industrialization so the country would produce goods for itself
-needed a strong military before it could go to war

III.new problems
a. panic of 1819
»depression
»economic problems in Europe which drags into the US
»in order to save itself the bank of the US begins calling in its loans which makes things tighter in the US
»small farmers turn against the bank
»creation of new factionalism

b. Missouri compromise
»Missouri territory want to come into the Union as a slave state
»southern states fine with it but northerners fear this; it is setting a precedent
»slave states become a big deal – big potential problem
»compromise: Maine enters the union as a free state and Missouri enters as a slave state keeping the parties
equal in congress
»scares political leaders
»North especially unhappy; they see this as a wedge issue
Essay Questions:
1) explain the characteristics of the state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation and how they reflected
Americans’ experiences with Britain and the philosophy of republicanism
»the state constitutions and AofC did not give any one person the power – this was because Britain was under
the rule of a king and the colonists felt that if one person was given to much power it would become tyranny
»republicanism is a government with a balance of power and liberty, popular sovereignty, an independent
society, and a virtuous society

2) Explain the problems of the 1780s and how the framers of the Constitution sought to solve them while at the
same time balancing liberty and power
»the national government did not have enough power under the AofC and was not able to hold the states
together – the nation was falling apart
»the trade economy was struggling because the US was no longer apart of Britain and the states were structured
around mercantilism; the British no longer bought US goods; since the farmers were unable to sell there was a
problem with independent voters; people continue to by British goods on credit and the national government
has no way of stopping them; in the Constitution the national government was given the right to regulate trade
»states are printing their own money under the AofC and so inflation was out of control and money didn’t mean
anything – the national government could do nothing about it because they didn’t have the power; under the
constitution the states were forbidden to print money
»since the US was not honoring their end of the treaty and paying back debts the British were not pulling their
soldiers out of the US and the national government didn’t have to power to do anything about it under the
AofC; in the constitution the national government was given the power to tax the people
»Spain controlled the port of New Orleans and didn’t allow the US to use the Mississippi river for trade so new
farmers are going broke
»the state governments were too responsive and liberty was out of control under the AofC; in the constitution
the national government was given supremacy over the state government (potential power)
»the states didn’t like the deferential politics at the national level
»state legislatures passing laws saying lenders couldn’t foreclose on farmers which was saying it was okay to
break contracts
»Shay’s Rebellion – the national government had no way to stop the rebellion under the AofC; in the
constitution the national government was given the right to have an army and stop rebellion (enumerated
power)
»the constitution is considered republican because it starts with “we the people” and the states don’t lose all of
their power because the state legislations select members to the electoral college
»the constitution also satisfies republicanism because it limits the power with checks and balances between
branches of government, the national government is checked by the states, congress checks itself with the 2
houses, and the size of the republic would be a check on power
3) Look at the development of the new nation from 1788 to 1820 and evaluate whether the Federalists or the
Republicans ultimately triumphed.
»the republicans ultimately triumphed because the Federalists party dies out after the war of 1812; but the
republicans begin to adopt more federalist ideas

Book Questions:
1. ) What are the relationships between Adams and Jefferson like before 1790s?
»there was a bond for 15 years without interruption
»they worked together easily while serving in congress
»associated with perfect freedom and unreserved
»Jefferson spent time with Adams’ kids
»constant friendship
»“affection that can never die”

2. ) What domestic policy issues divided the parties in the 1790s?

»republican party against strong federal government; against the US bank; didn’t want to be a British puppet
state
»hamiltonianism (federalists) wanted a strong federal government
»democratic-republicans were thought to pose a threat to hierarchy and deference by the federalists; in favor
of popular will
»republicans didn’t like John Jay as an emissary and the Federalists were considered “the English party”
»republicans not in favor of the whiskey tax because it hurt the western frontier
3. ) What foreign affair issues divided the parties in the 1790s?
»republicans didn’t want to be neutral in the Anglo-French hostilities while the Federalists did
»republicans wanted war and the Federalists wanted a quiet peace settlement

4. ) How successful was Adams’ presidency?

»Adams’ and his cabinet clashed and their conduct towards each other was false-hearted
»members of Adams party wished for an approachable and visible leader which Adams was not when he
went to Peacefield for the summers
»his temper soured and the burdens of the presidency were getting the best of him
»toward the end Adams’ thought that his presidency was ruined
»Adams’ had a hard time gaining the respect and leadership his position held
»not very successful
»in the months before the 1800 election he began to look at the interest of the people

5. ) How fair and orderly was the election of 1800?

»campaigning began a lot earlier than the election of 1796
»a grand committee was formed of the chief of justice of the US and 5 members of congress to pass
judgment on any disputes in the election
»there was a lot of slanderous campaigning – Hamilton was called “Judas Iscariot of our country”
»each elector had 2 votes on Dec. 3, but they weren’t suppose to be counted until Feb. 11; the numbers
couldn’t be kept secret and many states leaked ballot information

6. ) What did the election of 1800 mean for the country?