Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic

• Framing A New Government
• Confederation Congress became unpopular and ineffectual by mid-1780s
• 1783, members withdrew from Philadelphia

- To escape from clamor of veterans demanding back pay
- Took refuge in Princeton, NJ, then Annapolis
- Settled in NY in 1785

• Northwest Ordinance was Confederation’s most important piece of legislation
• Advocates of Centralization
• Believed they fought Revolutionary War to advert the danger of remote and tyrannical authority
• Wanted to keep political power centered in states
• Military men disgruntled at Congress for refusal to fund pensions

- Aspired to influence and invigorate national government
- George Washington intervened and blocked the potential rebellion

• Manufacturers wanted to replace tariffs with high national duty, merchants wanted to replace state commercial policies with one national policy, land speculators wanted Indians removed
• Large property owners wanted protection from the threat of mobs

         - Caused tension between resolute defense of individual right and public
concern for safety and security

• Alexander Hamilton unhappy with A of C and weak central govt.

         - Called for national convention to overhaul the document

•  A Divided Convention
• Founding Fathers – 55 men at the convention in Philadelphia in 1787
• Members ruled that each state delegation would have one vote
• Virginia Plan – called for new national legislature with two houses: House of Representatives and Senate
• In lower house states would be represented in proportion to their population
• Members of upper house were to be elected by members of lower house
• Opposed by delegates from Delaware, NJ and other small states
• NJ Plan – preserved existing one-house legislature w/ each state getting equal representation

- Gave Congress expanded powers to tax and regulate commerce

• Couldn’t decide whether to count slaves as property for taxes or part of the population for representation
• Compromise
• July 2, created a “grand committee” that produced the “Great Compromise”
• States represented in the lower house based on population
• Each slave counted as 3/5 of a free person for representation and taxation
• Upper house represented equally with two members apiece
• Constitution provided no definition of citizenship or individual rights
• The Constitution of 1787
• James Madison resolved two important philosophical questions: sovereignty and limit power
• Sovereignty – All power of the government rests with the people
•    Constitution was supreme law; no state had authority to defy it
•    Government could tax, regulate commerce, control currency, and pass laws
• Leaders of the new nation feared a tyrannical government
•    Individual states must remain sovereign
•    Madison said a large republic was less likely to produce tyranny because it contained so many different factions that no single group could dominate
•    Separation of powers within govt. created “checks and balances” among legislative, executive and judicial branches
• Federalists and Antifederalists
• Federalists supported the Constitution as it was
• Federalist Papers – Series of essays in newspapers explaining why the Constitution was needed and virtuous
• “Publius” written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
• Antifederalists opposed Constitution
• Believed Constitution would betray principles of the Revolution
• New govt. would increase taxes and have dictatorial powers
• Wanted to add Bill of Rights
• Federalists sought the Constitution to create a govt. that would function at some distance from popular passions
• Antifederalists were more concerned about the dangers of concentrated power than about the dangers of popular will
• Opposed Constitution because it placed obstacles between the people and the exercise of power
• NH ratified Constitution in June 1788 – ninth state to do so
• Still needed participation from VA and NY, the two biggest states

F.  Completing the Structure

• George Washington became President and John Adams became Vice President
• Bill of Rights needed to legitimize new govt. in the eyes of its opponents
• Ten amendments ratified by states by the end of 1791
• Bill of Rights is first 10 amendments to the Constitution
• Nine placed limitations on Congress
• 10th reserved powers to the states
• Cabinet - first Congress created three executive departments: state, treasury, and war, and established the offices of attorney general and postmaster general
• Washington appointed:
• Secretary of Treasury – Alexander Hamilton
• Secretary of War – Henry Knox
• Attorney General – Edmund Randolph
• Secretary of State – Thomas Jefferson
• Federalists and Republicans
• Competing visions between the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Republicans led by Jefferson

A.  Hamilton and the Federalists

• Hamilton – dominant figure in Washington’s administration
• Exerted influence on domestic & foreign policy
• New govt. needed support of wealthy & powerful
• New govt. needed to take responsibility for public debt
• Congress should call in certificates of indebtedness and exchange them for interest-bearing bonds, payable at definite dates
• Known as funding the debt
•  Wanted national bank to provide loans & currency to businesses, give the govt. a place to deposit federal funds, collect taxes and be chartered by federal govt.
• Up to now, most govt. revenues came from sale of public lands in the West
• Hamilton proposed two new taxes to generate revenue for the govt.
• Taxes on distillers of alcohol and a tariff on imports
• “Report on Manufacturers” of 1791, Hamilton laid out grand scheme for   stimulating the growth of industry in the U.S. w/ healthy manufacturing base
• Federalists’ vision of America – nation w/ a wealthy & enlightened ruling class, independent commercial economy and thriving industrial sector
• A nation able to play a prominent role in world economic affairs

B. Enacting the Federalist Program

• Location of the capital moved from NY to Philadelphia in 1790
• Plans made to move it again to banks of Potomac River, dividing VA and MD
• House and Senate agreed on Hamilton’s bank bill and Washington signed it
• Effects: restored public credit, bonds sold above par value, manufacturers profited from tariffs, and merchants benefited from the new banking system

                  -  Farmers complained because they had to bear a disproportionate tax burden
-  Believed Federalist program served the interests of wealthy elites
C. Republican Opposition

•   Federalists enacted program that many leaders opposed

- Hamilton worked to establish a national network of influence that embodied all the worst features of a party
- Federalists used control over opponents and awarding of government
franchises to reward supporters and win more allies

•   New Republican Party opposed Federalists – in every state they formed committees, societies, and caucuses in every state
•   Institutionalized factionalism is known to scholars as the “first party system”
•   Jefferson emerged as most prominent spokesmen for Republicans
• Considered himself a farmer and believed in an agrarian republic whose citizens would be independent farmers
• Didn’t scorn commercial activity or oppose industry, but suspicious of cities
• Jefferson envisioned decentralized society dominated by small property owners
• Federalists & Republicans differed on how to handle French Revolution
• Federalists expressed horror
• Republicans applauded democratic, antiaristocratic spirit
• Americans considered Washington above partisan battle, but he sympathized more w/ Federalists than the Republicans
• Establishing National Sovereignty
• Securing the Frontier
•  Whiskey Rebellion – western PA farmers refused to pay a whiskey excise tax and terrorized tax collectors
• Washington called out militias and raised army of nearly 15,000 and led the troops himself
• As militia approached Pittsburg the rebellion quickly collapsed
•   Federal government won allegiance of farmers through intimidation
• New states added: VT in 1791, KY in 1792 and TN in 1796
• Native Americans and the New Nation
•  Constitution didn’t resolve place of Indian nations w/in new federal structure
•  Constitution recognized existence of tribes as legal entities & made it clear that they weren’t citizens and they received no direct representation in the new govt.
•  Above all, didn’t address the land issue between whites and Indians
• Relationship between tribes & US determined by treaties, agreements and judicial decisions in a process that has continued for two centuries
• Maintaining Neutrality
•  President and Congress established American neutrality in a conflict between Great Britain and France in 1793
• Edmond Genet came to America from France to use American ports to outfit French warships & encourage US ship owners to serve as French privateers
• Ignored Washington’s policies and violated Neutrality Act
• Washington demanded that the French govt. recall him
• In 1794, Royal Navy seized hundreds of American ships in French West Indies
• Jay’s Treaty and Pinckney’s Treaty
• Jay’s Treaty – settled conflict w/ Britain, established undisputed American sovereignty over the Northwest, and produced commercial trade w/ Britain
• Pinckney’s Treaty – Spain recognized Americans right to navigate the Mississippi and deposit goods at New Orleans, agreed to fix north boundary of Florida along 31st parallel, and required Spanish authorities to prevent Indians in Florida from launching raids across the border
• The Downfall of The Federalists
• Election of 1796
•  Washington’s Farewell Address warned against international entanglements and the divisive nature of political parties
•  Jefferson the new, uncontested candidate of Republicans; John Adams becomes the new candidate of Federalists
•  Federalists were divided between Hamilton and Adams
• Quasi War with France
•  French vessels captured American ships at sea & at times imprisoned the crew
•  XYZ Affair – Three agents of the French foreign minister demanded a loan for France and a bribe for French officials before negotiations could begin
• Adams sent a message to Congress urging war with France
•    Adams persuaded Congress to cut off all trade with France and authorized American vessels to capture French armed ships
• In 1798, Congress created the Department of the Navy and appropriated money to build new warships
• Navy won a number of duels w/ France & captured 85 ships
• US and Britain became virtual allies in the war w/ France
• In the end, the French conciliated the U.S. before the conflict grew and “quasi war” came to a reasonably peaceful end
• Repression and Protest
• Alien Act placed new obstacles in the way of foreigners who wished to become American citizens
• Sedition Act allowed the govt. to prosecute anyone who spoke against it
• Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions used the ideas of John Locke to argue that the federal govt. was formed by a contract among states, and had only certain delegated powers
• Virginia Resolution – Madison; Kentucky Resolution – Jefferson
• If states decided that central govt. had exceeded certain delegated powers, they had the right to nullify the appropriate laws
• Republicans succeeded in elevating their dispute w/ Federalists to a level of national crisis
• The “Revolution” of 1800
• Election of 1800 – Adams, Federalists v. Jefferson, Republicans
• May have been the ugliest in American history – dirty laundry was aired
• State delegates had to vote between Jefferson and Burr, due to a tie
• Leading Federalists, led by Hamilton concluded that Burr wasn’t trustworthy
• On the 36th ballot, Jefferson was elected
•  Judiciary Act of 1801 – reduced number of Supreme Court justices by one, but greatly increased the number of federal judgeships

                  -   Adams quickly appointed Federalists to newly created positions, which became  
known as the “midnight appointments”