Introduction

In 1789 George Washington journeyed from his home in Virginia to New York City to be inaugurated as the first President of the United States. As William Gienapp, author of chapters 8-1, notes, the country he traveled through represented two very different societies: one the semi-subsistence barter economy of the isolated interior, the other the commercial market economy along the Atlantic coast. This fundamental division shaped attitudes toward the new national government. On the one hand, Thomas Jefferson championed the self-sufficient farmer, distrusted elites, and wanted a less active government. On the other, Alexander Hamilton favored a strong central government beneficial to commercially oriented Americans. The disparate views were popularly represented by the French writer turned farmer, Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, and by a self-made citizen of commercial America, Benjamin Franklin. 

Political debates and foreign disagreements during Washington's presidency stimulated the rise of political parties in spite of Americans' distrust of narrow interest groups. Major events of Washington's administration and that of his successor John Adams provided a framework to hold a socially diverse nation together.

Chapter 8 Web activities assist you in comprehending life in the new Federal Republic and acquaint you with its leaders. Examine the various crises of the era by following the additional research links.

Web Activities

1.  Washington made his journey to New York reluctantly. Read his Address to the Mayor, Corporation and Citizens of Alexandria (magnify).  What reason does Washington give for his return to public life? To understand the life Washington was leaving, visit his home at Mount Vernon and take the mansion tour. What does your visit to Mount Vernon indicate concerning social divisions in the early Republic? Was Washington representative of the self-sufficient farming sector of society, the commercial market economy, or both? 

• Washington was aware of the need for strong leadership and the precedent his presidency set. Visit the George Washington papers at the Library of Congress. Read the essay on Washington's Letterbooks (copies of letters he sent), "Yr. Most Humble Obt. Servt." Be sure to follow several of the links to read Washington's own words. What insights on his administrative skills and the routine of governing does the correspondence provide?
• Go to The Surprising George Washington, an article by Richard Norton Smith, in Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Spring 1994, and read parts three and four. What does Smith indicate is surprising about Washington? How does he contend that Washington harmonized America's competing interests? 
• Washington distrusted political parties. When in 1796 he decided not to run again, he offered "counsels of an old and affectionate friend" in his Farewell Address. Skim through the document and list several of these "counsels," then review your list to see with which political faction Washington is most in agreement and why. What were the consequences for American politics of Washington's decision?
• Finally, explore additional interpretations of Washington at the University of Virginia site The Apotheosis of Washington. Scroll down to the table and follow the three biographical section links to read about Washington's life, then scan The Moral Washington: Construction of a Legend (1800-1920s)  and Washington Materialized: Paradigm of Enshrinement (1856-1930's). Think about the manner in which Washington has been imagined and re-imagined by generations of Americans. Go to Case Studies in Comparison and view images of Washington at the National Portrait Gallery in the section "Space, Time, and Washington." Do you concur with the statement, "whatever the republic was to become, Americans agreed that George Washington personified it" (Nation of Nations Concise, 3e, 206)?

2.  Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, who referred to himself as a "humble American Planter, a simple cultivator of the earth,"  characterized the American landscape of Washington's era by the widespread equality of its people. The farmers of the interior represented his "new man." While Crevecoeur praised the self-reliant rural farmer, Benjamin Franklin  encouraged Americans to take advantage of commerce and a wider market economy.

• Crevecoeur's twelve Letters From An American Farmer  provide a portrait of rural American life. Go to letter number three, What is an American, and read several selections. List some of the virtues promoting equality that Crevecoeur extolls. 
• Read the text of Benjamin Franklin's "The Way to Wealth." Make a list of Franklin's economic ethics -- Poor Richard's maxims -- centering on industry and frugality. Compare them with your list of Crevecoeur's virtues. 
• After reviewing these sites and your lists, ponder the following statement, "the ethics of Franklin's marketplace, which looked forward to the opening up of opportunity in American society, threatened to destroy Crevecoeur's egalitarian America" (Nation of Nations Concise 3e, 205). Did it?

3.  The tensions and conflicts Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams caused within Washington's administration challenged his leadership. How did the political philosophies of these men differ? Was the conflict between Jefferson and Hamilton a significant factor in the emergence of political parties, or did it simply mirror the social divisions noted in activity 2? What were the political outcomes of their differences and how did this contribute to Adam's troubled presidency? The following sites will assist you in your responses.

• Go to the site created by Ian Finseth at the University of Virginia, The Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton. First read the introductory essay Gone But Forgotten which juxtaposes Hamilton's career with Jefferson's; then under "Political Battles," read Secretary of the Treasury. 
• Next go to the Index of the online Revolution to Reconstruction project's Biography of Alexander Hamilton by Lisa Marie DeCarolis. How do the topics included in the "Precipice of Power" section compliment the material on Finseth's site and in your text? Read number 22, Jefferson and Madison create a party,  which narrates their response to Hamilton's activities. Next read item 26, Strained loyalties: the French Revolution 1789-1799, and 36, The Quasi War with Adams (1789-1800). 
• On the one hand, Hamilton was determined to solve the nation's financial problems and link the interests of the wealthy with the new government. The Tax History Museum site examines the thorny issue of Hamilton and the need for revenue production. Go to the section 1777-1815.  Scroll down to the years 1790-94 and read the summary of Hamilton's "Report on Public Credit" and "Report on Manufactures." Why was the second report rejected?
• On the other hand, Jefferson distrusted the market economy and opposed Hamilton's program. In Notes on the State of Virginia, read Query 19, The present state of manufactures, commerce, interior and exterior trade; then read Jefferson on the subject of Money & Banking and Interpreting the Constitution. What insights on his political philosophy do these documents provide?. 
• Finally, John Adams shared neither Hamilton's commercial-industrial vision nor Jefferson's views on equality and personal liberty. During the election of 1796 Hamilton opposed both Adams and Jefferson. Although Adams' victory was predicted by many (see Paterson's letter) a political "fault line" separated Adams from Jefferson, his Vice President.
• Go to the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society and review the chronology of Adams years during the Washington Administration and his own, 1789-1801. What do these benchmark events tell you about the man, his relationship with Hamilton, and his troubled presidency?

Additional Research Links

Federalist Leadership

• To continue your examination of how Washington's life represented and shaped his era view the three part timeline site at "The George Washington Papers" at the Library of Congress. Each timeline contains internal links to documents in the collection and includes illustrations that may be magnified. See also The Diaries of George Washington. 
• The Papers of George Washington project at the University of Virginia compliments the Library of Congress collection and offers additional research opportunities. See the Documents and Articles section.
• Two primary sources on the "whiskey rebellion" are The Whiskey Rebellion, 1794, a Proclamation and The Whiskey Insurrection from "The Diaries of George Washington 30 September to 19 October 1794." The Whiskey Rebellion site at PBS provides a good summary of events. 

Political Parties

• To explore more on the emergence of political parties return to the Treasures of Congress. Go to The Formation of Political Parties: Early Animosities and The Formation of Political Parties: The Alien and Sedition Acts .
• Next, for a brief look at the controversial election of 1800, go to "Congress Finds a Home: The House Selects a President."  Click on "read more," then be sure to magnify the images of each of the key players. 

Key diplomatic documents of the era include:

• Treaty With the Cherokee : 1791 
• The Proclamation of Neutrality :1793, issued by George Washington 
• The Jay Treaty:1794, includes all articles 
• Treaty of Greenville:1795 
• Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and the U.S. (Pinckney's Treaty): 1795, including full text of related presidential and Senate messages. 

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Americans and the French Revolution

• During the 1790s many Americans believed that the future of their republic was threatened by events abroad, specifically by the French Revolution and its consequences. To better understand American anxieties refer to The French Revolution Timeline and the timeline for the Napoleonic Europe 1799 -1815. 

When placed alongside the more familiar timeline of American History (see the list of significant events at the end of each chapter in Nation of Nations Concise, 3e), these chronologies will help you understand the global perspective of the era.
• Read David Cody's brief essay on the French Revolution to further understand the revolution's importance in the context of Western history. Note the links to works by Thomas Paine (see Web activities chapter 5) and Edmund Burke (see Web activities chapter 6).