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Date Posted: 20:26:50 09/26/02 Thu
Author: Jordan
Subject: Ch.6 Compiled(some missing-see post)

ok, missing sections are:
-federalists and anitfederalists
-Enacting the federalist program
-Native Americans and the new nation
-Maintaining Neutrality
-jay's treaty and pinckney's treaty
-the quasi war w/ france
-the "revolution" of 1800


A. Weak central government
1.After the revolution, the Confederation Congress became ineffective.
a.the people needed the Confederation for protection against the british, when they got it, the Confederation was no longer needed.
B. Supporters of a strong national government
1.A rebellion was averted when George Washington stopped rich military men from rebelling against the Confederation.
C. Diverse needs among people
1.It had become clear that the people needed many diferent things and by 1786, the needs became so appearant that the question of a changing confederation was no longer "if" but "how drastic."
D. Alexander Hamilton
1.called for national goverment to overhaul the entire Articles of Confederation document.
a. along with James Madison of Virginia, he convinced the Virginia Legislature to convene at an inter-state conerence on commercial questions.
-very small turnout, only 5 states ent delagates.
2. since Virginia meeting was a bust, Hamilton suggests another meeting with all states in Philedelphia
3. Although reluctant at first,George Washington's support of the meeting gave it instant credibility.

I. A Divided Convention
A.founding fathers were 55 educated men who were all products of the American Revolution and retained the revolutionary suspicion of concentrated power
1. the convention chose George Washington to preside over all convention meetings.
a.unlike congress, the convetion used majority rule
2.James Madison shows plan for new "national" government and Virginians used it to control the agenda from when the convention began
3.Edmund Randolph fo Virginia proposed, in addition to the national government, that 3 branches be represented, the legislative, executive and judicial.
B.Madison, in turn, comes up with The Viginia Plan
1.Virginia Plan woul devide the new national legislative into two houses, the lower and the upper.
-lower house voted on members of upper house and since there were no represntaive rules, no state was guaranteed to have representation in the upper house.
2. William Patterson then comes up with a "federal" plan for government
a. In Pattersons plan, each state had equal representation, but it gave Congress expanded powers to tax and regulate commerce.
-in he end the delagates nixed Pattersons proposal, but took into consideration how much the saller states approved of it
3. in the end, the Convention voted to keep the Virginia plan but revise it so the members of the upper house were elected buy state legislature, to ensure equal state representation
C.Remaining Questions
1.Would the states be equally represented in the upper house, or would the large states have more memeber than the small ones? Would slaves count in population counts even though they could not vote and were considered property?
-many states wanted slaves to be counted if it meant larger representation at the convention, but did not want slave to count if the government were to levy taxes based on population.
-no one went to great lengths to fight for or against slaves in the matters of government

A. July 2nd – convention agreed to a “grand committee”

1. One delegate from each state

2. Ben Franklin was chairman

B. Committee proposed the “Great Compromise”

1. Resolved problem of representation

2. Called for new legislature

a. Lower House – states represented based on population

-slave counts as 3/5 of a free person

b. Upper House – states represented by 2 members each

3. July 16th, 1787 – voted to accept proposal

C. New constitution undergoes many changes

1. legislature cannot tax imports:

2. congress may not charge over $10 a head on imported slaves

3. no definition of citizenship

4. individual rights not listed


A.James Madison
1.creative political thinker of the generation
2.created the Virginia Plan
3.drafted most of the Constitution himself
4.resolved two philosophical questions
a.The Question of Sovereignty
i. Answer – all power, each level of government, ultimately lies with the people
ii. Distributed power between national and state governments possible
b.The Separation of Powers
ii. most distinctive feature – “checks and balances”
iii. designed to protect the nation from tyranny
B.September 17, 1787 – Constitution was signed

Completing the Structure
I.1st election under new constitution in early months of 1789
A. most of the new elected officials favored ratification
B. Washington became president of the country
i.received all the votes of the electors
ii.inaugurated in new york on april 30th 1789
C.John Adams became VP
II.Congress
A. almost a continuation of the Constitutional Convention
i.principal responsibility to fill gaps of the constitution
a. congress approved 12 amendments to the constitution
b.1st ten became what we know as the bill of rights
-9 placed limitations on congress
-basic rights of freedom of religion, speech, press, trial by jury, immunity form arbitrary arrest and others
III.judicial power of the United States
A.congress decided to have a supreme court
i.serve justice to the people of the U.S.
a.the judiciary act of 1789
1. six members of the supreme court along with 1 chief of justice and 5 associate justices
2.13 district courts with one judge a piece
3.3 circuit courts of appeal each with one of the distinct judges sitting with 2 supreme court justices
4. gave over all power to supreme court in all cases involving constitutionality of state laws
IV.1st offices of government
A. president-George Washington
B.VP-John Adams
C.3 secretaries – State-Thomas Jefferson, Treasury-Alexander Hamilton, War-General Henry Knox
D.Attorney General-Edmund Randolph
E.Postmaster

I. Federalists and republicans(blue heading)
A.federalists
i.wanted a strong, national government, leaned to Alexander Hamilton as a leader
B. republicans
i. wanted a more modest central government, leaving most of the power to the states and the people, the gathered under the leadership of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson
II. Hamilton and the Federalists(red heading)
A.As a result of George Washington's reluctancy to become involved in the deliberations of congress, Alexander Hamilton(secretary of treasury) became the dominant figure in his administration
i.Hamilton decided that the government shoud pay for the existing public debt
a. he looked to the wealthy classes for money and support
-he did not evision paying off the debt, but simply establish a new and permanant national debt, with new bonds being issued and old ones being paid off.
-he believed that if he could get the crditors(wealty class) to believe in the government, he would see the country survive.
B.Hamilton's report on manufacturing
i.once the natonal debt was assumed, hamilton began looking for new sources of revenue
a.as a revenue source, he enstated a tax on whiskey distillers
b.as the second revenue source he put a tariff on imports
-this was a good idea because it not only raise reveue, but protect american manufacuring from foreign competition.
c.the federalists offered more than just a vision to stabalize the government, they offered a vision of what the nation should be: a nation able to play a prominent role in world economic affars

I.Securing the Frontier
A.Whiskey Rebellion
i. in 1794, pennsylvania farmers began to terrize the tax collectors after refusing to pay a whiskey excise tax.
ii.after Hamilton's request, Washington gathered up 15000 militia men(more than the revolution) and personally marched them into Pittsburg(center of rebellion) and the rebels quicy dispersed.
iii.the government won the allegiance of the whiskey rebels by intimidating them and
a.then, pennsylvania joined the union.
b. by 1796, north carolina, rhode island, vermont, kentucky, and tennessee were all states in America.

The Republican Opposition
A. Politicians believed that party system was wrong
1. Left out of the constitution
2. "The public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties"
B. The Federalist Party (denied it was a party) created for the common good
1. Used positions and power to gain allies
a. formed associations
2. Thought they were working for the good of the American people
3. Opposition thought they were doing the same thing as he corrupts British Government of early 1700's
4. Lead by Hamilton
C. The Republican Party formed in response to the "tyrannical" Federalists, only to become manipulative themselves
1. Not the same as the current Republican Party, est. 1850
2. 1790's had a greater apparatus of partisan influence
3. banding together to win local and state elections
a. justified be claiming that they alone represented the national interests
b. fighting against a conspiracy of the Federalists
D. both groups refused to concede to the other the right to exist and believed that they were the sole power fighting for the good of the nation
E. Republican party lead by Thomas Jefferson puritanically and ideologically
1. Jefferson considered himself a farmer and his beliefs reflected a decentralized society
a. Agrarian society full of sturdy independent farmers
b. Commercial activity - selling crops nationally and internationally
c. Industrial - thought US should develop manufacturing
d. feared too many industrial workers that had no land
F. Republicans supported the French Revolution and the Federalists felt horror
1. Republicans agreed with revolutionaries
a. imitated Jacobins
i. cut hair short
ii. called each other citizen
G. Federalists mostly in North East and Republicans in South West
H. Presidential Elections
1. Both Jefferson and Hamilton urged Washington to run again
a. he was thought to be neutral
b. he mostly sided with federalists

The Election of 1796
A.Candidates
1.Republican – Jefferson
2.Federalist – Adams
a.Adams beats Jefferson by three electoral votes
b.Jefferson becomes vice president
B. Hamilton remains most influential Federalist

I.Repression and Protest
A.Alien and Sedition Acts
i.Alien Act
a.placed new obstacles for foreigners wanting to come to America
b.stregnthened the president’s hand in dealing with aliens
c.resident Adams never deported any aliens, but the Alien act still discouraged foreigners from coming to America, and even encouraged them to leave.
ii.Sedition Act
a.allowed the government to prosecute those who engaged in “sedition” against the government
-in theory only libelous or treasonous activities were subject to prosecution, but since their definitions were so wide, the government could then stifle any opposition
iii.republicans
a.believed the federalists created the laws to try and destroy them
B.Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
i.Republicans pinned their hopes for the reversal of the acts on the individual states(the supreme court was not fully established yet)
ii. with the help of Virginia and Kentucky standing behind the opposition of the acts with Jefferson and Madison, they claimed they had the right to nullify any laws that all the states felt exceed the governments’ range of power
iii.ultimately, the republicans lost, having only Virginia and Kentucky join their cause
C.republicans did manage to escalate the feud between them and the federalists to a level of national crisis
i.in the 1790sthe feud came to a fever pitch when in a house of representatives meeting, Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold ended up wrestling each other on the floor after a disagreement.

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