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Election of George Washington
As the American Revolution was coming to a close the American people needed a leader. A leader that would not follow the ways of a tyrant. And that leader was an obvious pick to the people, George Washington. He was the leader of the American Revolution and the people loved him, he had proved himself more than worthy so he became the United States very first president. -
Election of John Adams
This election had a very strange outcome. Under the Constitution the rule was that whomever has the highest electoral vote ecame President the person with the next highest became Vice President. John Adams was the popular vote for the Federalists and Thomas Jefferson was the popular vote for President for the Republicans. Ended up that Adams won the Presidency and Jefferson won the Vice Presidency. Two different political parties would create interesting outcomes. -
Bill of Rights added to Constitution
When the Constitution was sent to the states to be ratified the people rejected it because there was no bill to proclaim their rights. The writers of the Constitution did not think that a bill of rights was needed. The states said that they wouldn’t ratify the Constitution unless a bill of rights was added. So the government had no choice other than to please the people. -
Beginning of Federalist Party
More and more people were starting to believe in gaining a stronger federal goverment. And with this stronger federal goverment there were followers and opposers. Which is how the Federalist party was created, by people who followed,supported, and believed in the Constitution a hundred percent. These people were called Federalists. -
Beginning of Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican party was started after Jefferson decided he wanted things to change. In Congress more of Hamilton’s programs were being picked over his, so he got together Madison and decided to find people who shared their views. Jefferson wasn’t happy with just that, he went a step farther. He went to New York to talk to the Govenor and convince him to get New Yorkers support him. Then other states started doing the same things to their citizens. All Jefferson supporters started cal -
Whiskey Rebellion
Alexander Hamilton wanted to put tax on alcohol because he wanted to pay back the nation debt the American Revolution caused. Farmers from western counties were angry with the government for putting taxes on whiskey. The farmers made a profit from the whiskey because they distilled their grain into whiskey. -
XYZ Affair
The United States attempted to put in end between conflicts between themselves and France after France had rejected Jay’s Treaty. Adams sent diplomats to reason with Talleyrand in an attempt to avoid war. But instead of Talleyrand meeting with them he sent three of his own diplomats only known as X, Y, and Z. X, Y, and Z then gave the diplomats Talleyrand’s demand which was a bribe of 250,000$ for himself and a 10 million$ loan to France. This out raged the American people and they rejected it. -
Alien Act
While the U.S. was having problems with France congress published the alien act. First of all this allowed the president to expel any foreigner or citizen that he thought to be dangerous. Also this act made it very difficult for people to become American citizens by extending the waiting period to 14 years. Most recent citizens supported Jefferson and the republicans and this act would not allow them to vote for years so this upset them and Jefferson greatly. -
Sedition Act
Republicans were angry with Congress for passing the Sedition act because they felt like it violated the first amendment in the Constitution. The people argued that the amendment protects freedom of speech. Citizens were jailed or fined if they criticized the government or its people. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
Electors made two choices for president and who ever got the majority of the vote, then they will win. There was a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Therefore, the House of Representative got to choose who the president and vice-president would be. Thomas Jefferson was selected due to a campaign over Alexander Hamilton. -
John Marshall Appointed
As Adams presidency was coming to a close he was devising a plan to bring more power to the Federalist party. The plan of which he brought together was to appoint more federal judges in the Judiciary Branch -
Marbury v. Madison
This case was between Marbury whom was one of Adams last minute appointments and Madison whom was Jefferson’s Secretary of State. The Conflict was that Marbury was meant to appointed as a judge but his letter was stopped by Jefferson telling Madison not to deliver it. Marbury was extremely upset about not getting his appointment and decided to sue Madison for not delivering it. The case was brought to the Supreme Court and Madison prevailed against Marbury. -
Indian Removal Act
This act forced the Native Americans to travel west of Mississippi. The United States army drove more than 15000 Cherokees westward. This led to the trail of tears. The Indians traveled for miles in a cold winter and many died. -
Louisiana Purchase
While Thomas Jefferson was president France was in huge debt. In an attempt to get out of their debt they offered the U.S. an opportunity to buy the vast land of Louisiana for a very cheap price of 15 million dollars. Jefferson purchased Louisiana, doubling the size of the United States. This was definitely the best decision of his presidency. -
Lewis and Clark Expidition
After the Louisiana Purchase Jefferson wanted Louisiana and westward to be explored. He sent Lewis and Clark to explore it. They were accompanied by a native, Sacagawea. Together they brought back a vast amount of information. -
Embargo Act
Jefferson thought that the embargo act would hurt France and Britain by cutting off their needed supplies. By banning trade between these two countries, both Britain and France got hurt, except America got hurt more. Imports such as sugar, teas and molasses were cut off. American exports dropped $80 million in one year because no other nation was trading with them. Instead, Jefferson replaced it with the Non-Intercourse Act. -
Election of James Madison
James Madison, a Democratic republican defeated Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a federalist. Madison was the secretary of state while Jefferson was serving as president. This was the first time in American history where a new president was elected but the same vice-president would continue to serve. The election was made by caucuses. -
Non-Intercourse Act
Since the Embargo Act failed, the congress replaced it with the Non-Intercourse act. This act allowed the Americans to trade with every country except for Britain and France. Madison hoped that Britain and France would agree to respect all American neutrality. -
War of 1812
The war of 1812 was a military conflict between the United States and Britain. It was due to trade restrictions and impressment. The United States was unprepared for the war because Jefferson had reduced the spending of navies. The British blockaded the American ports to stop trade. Later on, the Americans attacked Canada to get back at the British. The treaty of Ghent was signed by the British and the United States. However, nothing was settled. -
Battle of New Orleans
The British thought they were going to have an easy victory in New Orleans, but Jackson was ready for them. With tons of experienced shooters, determined volunteers, and a rivalry that would kill, Jackson was prepared. This meshpot of people worked together to dig trenches around the fort they had taken over. When the Bristish went to storm our fort they were met with gun and cannon fire. Britain ended up losing more than 2,000 soldiers. We only lost 7.This victory gave Americans hope. -
Election of James Monroe 1816
Monroe’s Presidency was also known as the Era of Good Feelings. This was because by the time he was elected President the Federalist party had almost disappeared completely, so that now the Republican party was thriving. People loved that he was so old fashioned still wearing breeches and long stockings. Monroe was also the last Revolutionary War officer to grace our Capital. -
Expanded suffrage to all white males
In 1820 Voting rights for White males became more lenient. The government decided that white males should all be able to vote. So Jackson made it happen. -
Missouri Compromise
With 11 free states and 11 slave states everything was fair in Congrees, but Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. This made the Northeners blood boil and they didn’t want the slave states to have more power in the Senate then they had. All the fighting was going for on for a while so finally Henry CLay came up with a plan. His plan made Missouri a slave state and Maine a slave state. That way everything was equal and everyone was happy. -
Monroe Doctrine
Countries in south America began to start heir on revolutions. Because of Americas past Monroe wanted to do something to help them. So he created Monroe’s Doctrine. Monroe’s Doctrine was a documet that stated that if any European countries wanted to mess with those countries that they would have to go through the U.S. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
Federal government gained more power after NY tried to control steamboat travel between NY and NJ but the Supreme Court ruled that states could only control trade within it’s borders. When NY tried to tell a steam boater that he couldn’t opperate his boat there the steam boater kept doing what he was doing.Ogden sued Gibbons and he won in the state of New York. Gibbons took his case to the Supreme Court and they made a new rule. This case gave the Federal government new power. -
McCulloch V. Maryland
Maryland voted to put tax on the people who live in Maryland who do business in other states. A guy named Andrew McCulloch refused to pay the taxes in Baltimore. He got sued by the state of Maryland so the Supreme Court accepted the case. Chief Marshall said that the federal government did have the right to put up a federal bank. -
Election of 1824
The election of 1824 was a very close running. There were four canidates and Jackson had the poplular vote. When all the results came back though there was no clear winner. And when something like that happens the House of Representatives had to pick a winner. Now they could only choose form the top three canidates. Henry Clay didn’t make the cut, but he was part of House of Representatives and he urged the council to vote for Adams. People started saying a corrupt bargain was made. -
Election of Andrew Jackson
Four different canidates all rally for votes to be President. Andrew Jackson was known for his military victories. After the election was over there was not a clear winner. Clay was the last of the canidates so he was out of the running. Clay was the Speaker of the House, he urged members to vote for Adams. -
Beginning of Democratic Party (Jacksonian Democracy
The democratic party started when the Federalist party dissapppeared for a while. Both parties really began when the conflicts between John Adams and Andrew Jackson started heating up. These two gentelman had followers and that’s how the parties really started. Their followers/supporters created the Whig party which developed into the Democratic party. -
Worcester V. Georgia
Chief John Marshall declared Georgia’s action unconstitutional and said that the Native Americans were protected by the U.S. Constitution. However, Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Court decision. He defended the federal power in the Nullification act. He backed the states’ rights; he said the federal government couldn’t stop Georgia from having control over the Cherokee lands. -
Closing of the U.S. Bank
The Bank of the U.S. only had a charter for twenty years. At the end of that charter the government had the opportunity to renew the bank or get rid of it. Henry Clay attempted to get the charter renewed through congress and brought it to President Jackson. Jackson, though, thought that the Bank of the U.S. was too powerful and took away the power from the people so he vetoed it.
