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| This chapter covers the tumultuous 1790s, the first decade of the Republic's existence under the new Constitution. The chapter opens by describing the celebrations over ratification of the Constitution, celebrations that could not hide basic divisions in society and the great uncertainty many Americans felt over their republican experiment. Two of the central purposes of the chapter are to describe the basic division in the United States between the commercial and semi-subsistence economies and to explain how this division was central to the development of two competing political parties. 1789: A Social Portrait As the new government began operation in 1789, the Republic divided roughly between commercial and semi-subsistence areas of the country. Hector St. John de Crvecoeur celebrated the life of semi-subsistence farm families, where wealth remained fairly evenly distributed and where people tried to provide as much of their own food and wants as they could. They had only limited contact with regions beyond their local community, seldom saw cash, and functioned in a largely barter economy. Benjamin Franklin, by contrast, came to symbolize the world of commerce. In his writings, he praised the marketplace and upheld the commercial side of America; he showed how urban economies and commercial farm families had become tied to larger markets that sold specialized goods or services were sold and created increased social distance between the rich and the poor. Americans who participated in the commercial economy held different attitudes about wealth and opportunity than did those who lived in semi-subsistence areas. Urban merchants and workers--as well as commercial farmers--generally supported the Constitution during the debate over ratification, while semi-subsistence farmers tended to oppose it, fearing too much concentration of power in the hands of aristocrats and urban merchants. Content with their lives and harboring the traditional fear of taxes, debt, and intrusive government, they wanted to preserve their society and avoid any outside interference in their lives. The New Government Americans put their faith in George Washington, who more than any individual personified the Republic. Washington organized the executive branch into Departments and created a cabinet of advisors. The most important positions in the cabinet went to Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of State. To mollify opponents of the Constitution, Congress approved and the states ratified a series of amendments to safeguard certain basic liberties. These first 10 amendments became known as the Bill of Rights. A strong nationalist, Hamilton emerged as the dominant figure in the cabinet. He worked to strengthen the power of the federal government by assuming the states' remaining Revolutionary war debts and funding, or paying, the outstanding federal debt. This process became known as funding and assumption. Congress finally approved these policies once Hamilton agreed to the compromise of locating the permanent capital on the Potomac River. Eager to tie the wealthy to the new government, Hamilton also proposed that Congress charter a national bank to aid the Treasury in its transactions, a protective tariff to stimulate manufacturing, and a series of internal or excise taxes (the one on whiskey was most controversial). Congress eventually approved most of Hamilton's recommendations. His argument that the Constitution gave the national government implied as well as explicit powers and that legislators and executive should interpret the document loosely persuaded Washington to sign the bill creating the national bank. While these ideas appealed to citizens active in the commercial life of the nation, they stimulated fears among other Americans. Eventually the Republican Party, organized by James Madison and headed by Thomas Jefferson, opposed the policies of the Federalists. Republicans feared that a corrupt aristocracy would come to dominate American society, that financial speculators, wealthy bankers, and unprincipled politicians would gain power, as had happened in Great Britain with the powerful Bank of England. They endorsed a strict construction of the Constitution, and wanted a less active federal government. Expansion and Turmoil in the West Washington tried to remain above the hostility developing between Jefferson and Hamilton, but Hamilton succeeded in gaining the president's support to send an army against citizens in western Pennsylvania. There, a whiskey rebellion had arisen against Hamilton's excise tax, an effort to raise money for the federal government and assert its power. Hamilton strategy proved an overreaction, for the army encountered little resistance and easily restored order. The Washington administration also sought to tie the West more firmly to the Union by defeating the Miami Confederacy and opening new tracts of land in the Ohio valley to white settlement. Thomas Pinckney also negotiated a favorable treaty with Spain that allowed western farmers to use the Mississippi River to ship their produce. The Emergence of Political Parties Political parties emerged slowly because the ideology of republicanism taught Americans to fear parties. But the sharp controversy over Hamilton's domestic policies led to the formation of the first national parties in American history. The Federalists, led by Hamilton and Washington, took shape first. In general, Federalists believed in order and hierarchy and supported a loose construction of the Constitution (in order to allow the federal government to actively encourage commerce and manufacturing). Eventually the Republican Party, organized by Madison and headed by Jefferson, opposed the policies of the Federalists. Differences over foreign policy also sparked the formation of parties. The French Revolution became a focus of controversy in the United States. When monarchical England and republican France went to war, Washington pursued a neutral course. The Federalists, however, favored Britain, while the Jeffersonians backed France. Efforts to settle the differences between the U.S. and Britain failed, particularly on issues of trade, neutral rights, and impressment. The U.S. gained little from Jay's Treaty (1795), which tied the nation economically to Britain. Bitter debates over the treaty further stimulated the creation of rival parties. In 1796, Washington announced that he would not seek another term. In the first contested presidential election in American history, John Adams, the Federalist candidate, defeated Jefferson, who was elected Vice President. The Presidency of John Adams Differences of opinion over America's role in European affairs continued to fester during the administration of Federalist John Adams. The major events of these years--the XYZ Affair, the Quasi-War with France, the Federalist-sponsored Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Republican response in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions--all became part of the debate over America's diplomatic course. They also demonstrated the violence and bitterness in politics during the 1790s. The Federalists increasingly lost support because of their suppression of civil liberties and their aristocratic disdain for the masses. An increasingly fierce personal feud between Adams and Hamilton also hurt the party. Thus in 1800, Jefferson defeated Adams (although the House had to break the tie between him and his vice-presidential running mate, Aaron Burr). Despite the threat of violent tumult and even civil war, power passed peacefully from one administration and party to another. Under Washington's firm leadership, the Federalists had made the Constitution a workable instrument of government and established economic policies and principles of foreign affairs (particularly of neutrality) that even Jefferson's Republicans would continue. Jefferson in Power The first section examines Jefferson's political philosophy. A complex individual, Jefferson combined a fondness for making seemingly radical pronouncements with a large dose of political realism. Jefferson had a strong faith in the people and a belief in limited government. Convinced that agriculture nurtured the values necessary to preserve republicanism, he wanted to keep commerce and urbanization distinctly subordinate in the American economy. Jefferson found, however, that he confronted different problems in power than in opposition. His agrarian principles led him to push actively for the United States' geographic expansion, but on economic questions he increasingly compromised. In particular, he failed to dismantle Hamilton's economic program, opposition to which had largely caused the original formation of the Republican Party. Jefferson's radical rhetoric contrasted sharply with his more pragmatic actions. In another crucial development, the Supreme Court established the principle of judicial review -- the right of the Court to interpret the Constitution -- primarily as a result of the influence of Chief Justice John Marshall, a staunch Federalist appointed by John Adams at the end of his term. Based on this theory, the Court asserted its right to rule on the constitutionality of any laws passed by Congress and state legislatures, as well as its right to review decisions on constitutional matters by state courts. Marshall first laid out the principle of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). Eager to bring all branches of government under their party's control, Republicans attempted to impeach several notoriously partisan Federalist judges, but Congress balked at this action, thereby preserving the independence of the judiciary. Jefferson and Western Expansion Jefferson viewed western expansion as a blessing. He believed that it would preserve his republic of liberty by keeping agriculture and the values of the semi-subsistence economy dominant. When France suddenly offered to sell the entire Louisiana region to the United States, Jefferson leapt at the chance to double the size of the country, even though he believed that the federal government lacked the power under the Constitution to acquire territory. Once again, as with his economic policies, practical politics prevailed over ideological purity. Jefferson dispatched an expedition under the leadership of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new territory, find a route to the Pacific, and strengthen American claims to Oregon. Whites and Indians on the Frontier As whites poured across the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio Valley, a series of revivals broke out on the frontier. These revivals marked the beginning of the Second Great Awakening and were characterized by strong displays of emotion. The camp meetings offered social outlets for isolated pioneer families and offered an emotional release from the hard life on the frontier, while the revivalists preached a message of hope and the ability of individuals to gain salvation. As white settlement increased, tensions between whites and Indians steadily grew across the Ohio Valley. White encroachment on Indian lands and disputes over Indian trade with whites led to cultural disorder among the northwestern tribes. In this situation, some Indian leaders, such as Black Hoof, urged adoption of white culture . Most of the tribes in the region, however, rallied behind a religious movement promoted by the Shawnee leader Tenskwatawa, who was known as the Prophet, much as frontier families turned to the revivalism of camp meetings. The Prophet sought to revitalize Indian cultures by limiting contact with whites, rejecting white goods, and preserving tribal lands. His movement, however, proved unable to prevent further land cessions. As the Prophet's prestige declined, his brother Tecumseh assumed leadership of the western tribes. Tecumseh advocated combining the western and southern tribes into a political and military alliance to protect their lands and way of life. The Second War for American Independence Increasingly, foreign affairs dominated American politics. Efforts to define an American cultural identity led to conflicts with both the Barbary states of North Africa and with Britain and France. When the latter two nations resumed their war in 1805, neither power was willing to respect the United States' rights as a neutral nation, and began to raid American shipping on the high seas and impress American sailors. American grievances were stronger against Britain, which had the more powerful navy. Reluctant to resort to force, Jefferson tried to use peaceful coercion by imposing an embargo on American trade with both countries. Some areas, especially New England, openly flouted the law, and eventually the Republican Party had to abandon this policy. James Madison, Jefferson's successor, came under mounting pressure from younger nationalistic Republicans, known as the War Hawks. The War Hawks grew increasingly indignant over British interference with American shipping and meddling with western Indians. When renewed efforts at peaceful coercion and negotiation failed, the U.S. finally declared war on Britain in order to preserve American rights and uphold national independence. Americans proved woefully ill-prepared for war, however. Efforts to invade Canada failed dismally, the British occupied Washington and burned a number of government buildings, and only Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans redeemed American pride. Meanwhile, Tecumseh allied his followers with the British, seeing such an alliance as the western tribes' best chance to safeguard their lands. His death in battle ended his pan-Indian movement. Federalist leadership incited New England states to refuse to support the war, and the region's opposition culminated in the Hartford Convention of 1814, which rejected calls for disunion but proposed several constitutional amendments to reduce the South's political influence. Despite the country's many military failures, the war produced several long-term consequences. It broke the power of Tecumseh's movement, opening the way for white settlement of the Northwest. It destroyed the Federalist Party, which suffered irreparable damage due to its opposition to the war. Finally, it led to a groundswell of American nationalism. America Turns Inward This postwar nationalism emerged in the foreign policy of President James Monroe. The Transcontinental Treaty established the principle of American expansion to the Pacific, while the Monroe Doctrine proclaimed the New World's independence from Europe. American relations with Britain improved dramatically after 1815, as the two nations reached agreement on a number of long-standing differences. Britain's recognition of American sovereignty ended the threat of foreign interference in American affairs, bringing to a close the quest for independence from British control and interference that had begun with the Revolution. However, the Missouri crisis of 1819-1821, which brought the issue of slavery to the forefront of national politics for the first time, offered an example of the formidable challenges that remained for the American republic and its leaders. |