mini-lecture : Creating A Nation After the Constitution and the Bill of Rights w

mini-lecture :
Creating A Nation
After the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were created it was still very unclear what the nature of this new government would be. In some respects the future of the United States would hinge on the visions of three men. The first of these men was the first president of the United States, George Washington. The others were two of his leading cabinet officers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The ideas and actions of these men would go a long way in determining the direction of this new republic, the United States of America, and ultimately what the final outcome of the revolution would be.
Some Americans, including his close friend Alexander Hamilton, wanted Washington to take on a monarch-like presence. As Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Washington obviously had the most power of any single man in the new United States. In an unsettled and revolutionary atmosphere, it would have been easy for Washington to become a strongman, perhaps suspending the Constitution, or at least making the presidency a much more powerful position than it would become. Instead, and perhaps virtually unique in world history, Washington became famous and important by renouncing the potential power available to him. He was very aware of the precedent he would set, and loyal to the revolution, wanted to make sure he set a proper example. Instead of amassing power, he created advisory posts with his secretaries such as Jefferson and Hamilton, that would broaden the nature of the Executive office. He also looked to Congress to create legislation and to work with his secretaries in leading the way for the new republic. He, instead of taking on a Napoleon persona, preferred to preside and facilitate. Instead of holding on to power, he resigned from the office after eight years, setting a precedent that would be followed until World War II.
While Washington set the tone for how the office of the president would be conducted, Hamilton and Jefferson vied for setting a national direction. Alexander Hamilton was appointed by Washington to be the country’s first Secretary of the Treasury, which was obviously a very important position given the financial problems of the new country. Hamilton was born in the Caribbean to very modest circumstances, but was fortunate enough to be sent to New York to attend college and wound up there just in time to participate in the Stamp Act protests. A young revolutionary, he worked his way to the top by serving in the Continental Army and impressing his commanding officers with his intellect. Although Hamilton came from modest circumstances, he was not a supporter of the common man. He believed the revolution and new government should serve and be led by America’s aristocracy. In Hamilton’s mind, the revolution’s success depended on the support of the wealthy. Although he helped lead the fight against Great Britain, he also saw Britain as the model that the United States should follow. He advocated that the United States pursue a mixed economy model, like Great Britain, that would wean the US from solely producing raw materials and that would encourage industrial manufactures. Consequently, as Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton created legislation that would adhere to these values. Read the text’s presentation on Hamilton’s “Report on Public Credit” and his “Report on Manufactures” to get a sense of how Hamilton’s values were enacted. Also check out the Whiskey Rebellion. Note how Hamilton chose to tax poor, yeoman farmers instead of wealthy land speculators, with one of these speculators being George Washington himself. Also read about the Jay Treaty that represented to many the United States choosing to ally with Britain instead of its friend in revolution, France.
While Hamilton was a man of common background who represented aristocratic interests, Thomas Jefferson was a member of the American aristocracy who represented common people’s interests. While Hamilton had a distrust of the political actions of democratic governments and common people, Jefferson trusted common people and their exercise of political power. Jefferson had traveled to Europe and saw how early industrialization had led to increasing class distinctions and tensions. Jefferson believed that class differences would undermine the American republic and thought the best resource to create a classless society would be America’s vast lands. Jefferson hoped these lands would allow the United States to become a nation of small farmers. If Americans were all semi-independent, farming families, there would be little in the way of political, economic or social differences which would create the best environment for a republican government to grow in. Jefferson also saw Britain as representing the aristocratic world he hoped to change. To Jefferson, France was the United States’ natural ally. While Britain tried to stop the French Revolution, Jefferson believed the United States should support this revolution that was directly inspired by the Americans.
In your readings you will see how Washington tended to favor Hamilton’s position and how Jefferson and those who supported his views, such as the farmers who participated in the Whiskey Rebellion, started to organize in trying to stop Hamilton’s influence on American development. This wound up being the origins of political parties in the United States. The Hamilton group came to be called Federalists, while the Jefferson faction was known as Democratic-Republicans. This was a development that was very alarming to most political leaders who saw factionalism as the enemy of the Constitution. Indeed, with the Election of 1796 you can see how little prepared the Constitution was to deal with this development. In this election Hamilton’s candidate, John Adams, won the presidency, but his opponent Thomas Jefferson won the vice-presidency because he earned the second highest total of electoral votes. As party factionalism grew, along with the radicalism of the French Revolution, Federalists became increasingly paranoid of the potential threat those developments posed to their form of government. You will read how the Alien and Sedition Acts were created to end the threat of political parties. At the same time, realize the threat those acts had on the freedoms provided by the Bill of Rights.
Ultimately, Jefferson and his faction triumphed in what is called the “Revolution of 1800”. The “Revolution of 1800” refers to the Election of 1800 where Thomas Jefferson and his vice-president won the election and the Federalists agreed to relinquish power. Although this may seem hardly revolutionary today, this again set an important precedent. The losing side accepting defeat without trying to stage a coup or declaring a national emergency will be the pattern in American elections up to today. Given the fate of other, more “radical” revolutions, the “Revolution of 1800” may be one of the most revolutionary developments in our history.
ONLY USE THIS SOURCE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS :
The American Yawp, Chapters 6 and 7
please refrain from using any other outside sources
Please discuss the following ideas. Try to develop specific examples from our lecture and or text.
1) Why might George Washington be considered as one of the most important presidents in US history?
2) Who was Alexander Hamilton? What were some of his visions on America? What did he do to implement his visions?
3) Who was Thomas Jefferson? What were some of his views on America and how it should develop?
4) What types of Americans supported the political parties led by Hamilton and Jefferson? Which Founding Father or political party do you tend to agree with? Who best represents the spirit of the American Revolution?