Major issues: The two issues at stake in the chapter were Hamilton's plan for the Federal

government toassume the debt of each state, and the location of the nation's capital. Hamilton's plan tohandle debt was to combine 13 ledgers into one so that the Federal government wouldhandle it. The second issue was the location of the capital. Southern congressman feltthat the capital's location should be moved more south. the citizens of 1790s saw in Washington's retirement a serious threat. For one, he was leaving the country in a state of flux and uncertainty. Secondly, there had been no period of time in which the nation had been without Washington as a leader. Lastly, eight years seemed rather short for a people who had been raised under monarchs. Based on this final point, Ellis theorizes that Washington feared the possibility of dying while in office. However, Ellis sees in this motivation more than just personal pride; he reads in it Washington's desire to keep the republic intact. As the United States republic had no historical precedent, there was no model to suggest when and how a President should retire. By voluntarily stepping down from office, Washington was reaffirming the nations unique position, by refusing to act a monarch. He wished to quit while his reputation was strong, to thereby suggest that every President was replaceable, and that what mattered most was the republic itself. Washington used the Farewell Address to validate the power he held during his presidency. He emphasized the importance of a centralized government, something Jefferson did not understand, and stressed the imperative of defending the nation against domestic or foreign threats. Washington also implored the people to identify themselves as Americans, to embrace their national identity. The press, which becomes a character in itself in its chapter, ultimately became an antagonist to Washington. Ellis introduces Benjamin Franklin Bache in this chapter as a personification of sensationalist newsman. In spearheading attacks that Washington was a quasi-king, Bache and his contemporaries were feeding the flames of a national schism.

erhaps the most fascinating and moving aspect of this story is that Washington remained aware of the limits and potential of his power, and yet never allowed it to control him. He acknowledged what he could do, and then accomplished his greatest legacy by refusing to wield that power. He stepped down, and so ensured his country's survival. In fact, posterity and legacy is quite prominent in this chapter. Washington did worry that the attacks of Jefferson and the Republicans - that he was senile, weak, and cruel - would ultimately tarnish his reputation should he remain in office. In hindsight, many of the decisions that caused controversy - like Jay's Treaty or his handling of the Whiskey Rebellion - have proved wise, but he could not be certain that history would judge that way. Through retiring, he was considering posterity both for his own sake and for their sake. He wanted to be remembered well, but he also wanted to ensure that his presidency strengthened rather than weakened the union. It is telling that the Farewell Address was addressed to the people, and not to politicians. He was acting for the sake of his beloved public, and he wanted them to know it.

In terms of the theme of collaboration, provide an example of how two conflicting Founding Fathers arrived at a compromise. There are many examples of compromises reached between political adversaries inFounding Brothers, but perhaps the most intense one is covered by the chapter "The Dinner." During the Constitutional Convention, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton shared a desire for a more powerful federal government. In 1787-1788, they coauthored the Federalist Papers with John Jay to support the ratification of the Constitution. However, after its ratification and the formation of the new federal government, Madison began to distrust Hamilton and his pro-banking Federalists. He reestablished connections with Jefferson, and later helped found the Republican Party. In 1790, Hamiltons Assumption Bill was at a Congressional stalemate. Madison opposed the assumption of state debts by the federal government, but came to a compromise when he and Hamilton met with Jefferson during a secret dinner party. Their collaboration enabled the passing of Hamiltons Assumption Bill, while also favoring Madisons plan for the location of the new capital. This is an indication of how the relationships forged during the Revolution were able to facilitate progress even once political differences began to strain those relationships.

Compromise of 1790

Residence Act

Funding Act It is said that the final draft of our Constitution is a compromise between the Jeffersonian ideal and Hamiltonian practicality, and the novel also highlights Hamilton and Madison's compromise over the nature of federal government.

Chapter 2The Dinner: This chapter is about a private dinner party organized by Jefferson to broker a political bargain between Madison and Hamilton with far-reaching significance: Madison agreed to permit the core provision of Hamiltons fiscal program to pass; and in return Hamilton agreed to use his influence to assure that the permanent residence of the national capital would be on the Potomac River. Ellis calls it a landmark accommodation although much intrigue ensues with a revisiting of the same arguments: Hamilton was tone-deaf to the familiar refrainsabout the inherent evil of aggregated power and favored economic development overseen by a national bank, regulated commerce, and powerful finance ministers. The Virginians, Madison and Jefferson, were psychologically incapable of sharing Hamiltons affinity with men who made their living manipulating interest rates and it was extremely important to the South that the capitals location was close at hand so they could keep an eye on things. There was even talk of secession during this period (June 1790) but Jefferson and Madison would not go this route; they would capture the government politically.

Chapter 3The Silence: Slavery is the subject of this chapter, starting with Quakers petitioning the new government to put an end to the slave trade (which everyone knew also meant slavery itself). The essence of the title is that, in the end, all argumentsand they were legionended with, not a consensus view, but a reality nonetheless: that no one really could find a way to solve the problem of slavery for fear that the new nation would fall apart over it. In frustration, the talented leaders of our country left it for a later generation but the debate over what the Revolution meant for the institution of slavery raged on. Hindsight permits us to listen to the debate of 1790 with knowledge that none of the participants possessedthat slavery would become the central and defining problem for the next seventy years of American history; that the inability to take decisive action against slavery in the decades immediately following the revolution permitted the size of the enslaved population to grow exponentially and the legal and political institutions of the developing U.S. government to become entwined in compromises with slaverys persistence; and that eventually over 600,000 Americans would die in the nations bloodiest war to resolve the crisis, a trauma generating social shock waves that would reverberate for at least another century. The liberal values of the Declaration of Independence, the secular version of American scripture, was an unambiguous tract for abolition. But it didnt happen. The Constitutions distinguishing featurewhen it came to slavery was its evasiveness. It was neither a defining document for abolition, nor a sanction of the institution, i.e. it was an exercise in ambiguity for any resolution would have rendered ratification of the Constitution virtually impossible. Thus, it was silently accepted that the subject not be talked about at all. Slavery was the unmentionable family secret, or the proverbial elephant in the middle of the room and left for the future.

June 20 - the famous dinner at the Jefferson Residence where Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton decided a compromise: Madison agreed to vote for the assumption of state debts by the federal government; Hamilton agreed to vote for the capitol to be above the Potomac.

The Compromise of 1790 was the first of three great compromises made by the North and South every thirty years in an attempt to keep the Union together and prevent civil war. Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson, with the backing of Washington, arranged the terms which resulted in passage of the Residence Act in July and the Funding Act in August.

Central to the compromise was a bargain by which several southerners agreed to change their votes and support assumption if Congress would first pass a bill locating the capital city of the United States on the Potomac River, after a ten year temporary residence at Philadelphia. This carried the strong implication that the North would not raise serious objections to the institution of slavery, since the capital would be located in two slave states, Maryland and Virginia.

Although political leaders knew that the differences between North and South would long plague the Union, they hoped they had found an indissoluble bond: a democratic empire, fueled by Northern financial and commercial capitalism, with its capital in the agrarian, slave-holding South. As the turbulent second session closed, congressmen as well as the press urged Americans to

support the compromise. During the third session, Congress passed several laws confirming its terms.