-
Election of George Washington
Some of the other candidates for President and/or Vice President included John Adams, John Jay, and John Hancock. Washington ran virtually unopposed and won the Presidency, and John Adams became his Vice President. Washington served two terms and set many precedents for future leaders of the United States during his presidency. -
Bill of Rights added to Constitution
The Bill of Rights was strongly opposed by Federalists, who considered it unnecessary and impractical. It was largely influenced by the English Bill of Rights. There are 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights: Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Right to keep and bear arms, Protection from the quartering of troops, Protection from unreasonable search and seizure, Due process and double jeopardy, Right to a speedy trial, Civil trial by jury, etc. -
Beginning of Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party favored a weaker central government and stronger state governments. It came into power in 1801 with the election of Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States. They favored France over Great Britain. -
The Beginning of the Federalist Party
The Federalist power was largely influenced by the ideas of Alexander Hamilton. They supported a strong national government, and when it came to foreign policy, they generally favored Britain. The party started to lose power after the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Democratic-Republican Party rose to power in 1801. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Nearly 20 years after the Revolutionary War, The Articles of Confederation passed a levy, taxing farmers for their whiskey products in order to pay off their debt with Britain. This angered the farmers, who claimed that they had already played their part of the debt, and caused them to burn down a tax inspectors house in 1794, starting a revolt.This revolt collapsed before federal forces arrived, but not without leaving a lot of damage. This revolt proved that the Articles were too weak, leading -
Election of John Adams
Adams ran against Jefferson for 2nd President of the US. The person with the most electoral votes would become President, and the person with the second highest number of votes would be vice president. Ironically, Adams ended up as President and Jefferson was his vice president. -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic episode in 1798 that worsened relations between France and the United States and led to the undeclared Quasi-War of 1798. John Jay's Treaty of 1794 angered France, which was at war with Great Britain and interpreted the treaty as evidence of an Anglo-American alliance. U.S. President John Adams and his Federalist Party had also been critical of the Reign of Terror and extreme radicalism of the French Revolution, further souring relations between France and the US. -
Alien Act
The Alien Act was passed in 1798. It gave the President the power to expel any alien who was a threat to the United States and made it harder for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. This was a clever tactic by the Federalists because most immigrants supported Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans; this law prevented them from voting for many years. -
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act was 1 of 4 bills Federalists passed in 1798. The Act was intended to protect Americans from their foreign enemies. This act made it harder for foreigners to become citizens, gave the President power to deport anyone of suspicion, and made false writing about government officials illegal. Overall, the Sedition Act was ruled unconstitutional. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
During 1800, Thomas Jefferson pitted against John Adams for votes for presidency. After a grueling campaign, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were tied in the electoral vote at 73 votes each. After much debate in the House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson was declared president of the United States. -
John Marshall appointed
John Marshall was appointed in 1801 by John Adams in the last days of his presidency. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court until his death 34 years later. Several important cases were brought before Marshall’s court such as Gibbons v. Ogden, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Marbury v. Madison. -
Marbury v. Madison
John Adams made 42 justices of the peace and 16 new circuit court justices for the District of Columbia under the Organic Act. The commissions were signed by Adams and sealed by acting Secretary of State John Marshall, but they were not delivered before the expiration of Adams’s term as president. Thomas Jefferson refused to honor the commissions, saying that they were invalid because they had not been delivered by the end of Adams’s term. -
Louisiana Purchase
President Jefferson wanted control of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, which was a major highway for ships. He sent a representative to talk to Talleyrand, who surprised him by asking if they wanted to buy the entire Louisiana Territory. Eventually, they settled on $15 million for the territory. There was much debate about whether the president had the power to do this, but based on a loose interpretation of the Constitution, they decided he did. -
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark were asked by Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Territory and to study the geography of the land along the way. Sacagawea helped guide them through the land. The expedition started at St. Louis and took about 2 years. -
Embargo Act
During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain and France were at each others throats, and the U.S. eventually tried to profit from this by selling goods to both sides. This
backfired quickly, resulting in the capture or destruction of many trade ships by British or French forces. Jefferson tried to solve this by passing the Embargo Act, which banned all trade with foreign countries. The Embargo actually hurt the Americans more than it did the British and French, with trade profits falling by the million. -
Election of James Madison
Following the precedent set by George Washington, Jefferson refused to accept a third term, which was where James Madison stepped up to the plate for presidency, running with George Clinton. Meanwhile, the New England states talked of secession from the U.S., while anti-Madison newspapers were churned out to the public, ridiculing Madison.Throughout the campaign though, Madison calmed all of the political dissidents and angry Americans, just in time for election day. Madison won by a landslide. -
Non-Intercourse Act
During Jefferson’s last days as president, Congress passed an act as a means of recovering from the Embargo Act of 1807, a failed attempt to damage British and French economies. The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 was a more lenient version of the Embargo Act, lifting all trade bans originally placed except for Britain and France. The goal was the same, and the Non-Intercourse Act was mostly ineffective, and actually contributed to the war of 1812. -
War of 1812
The United States was beginning trade with countries everywhere when the British Navy began attacking American ships, and Impressing seamen into the navy. Along with that, Americans found the British supplying the indians with weapons and ordering them to attack the Americans. So, in 1812, they went to war. While suffering major defeats, the U.S. eventually pushed the British back until a treaty was signed. Americans called it the Second War for Independence. -
Election of James Monroe
He was known for being a unique president because he was the 1st president to make a career off of public service. Because of this, he was known to be a very hard worker and a good governor. He also won his presidency by being meritand and not bitter in battle. As a president he was worried about foreigners, so he created the Monroe Doctrine. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Federalist power was largely influenced by the ideas of Alexander Hamilton. They supported a strong national government, and when it came to foreign policy, they generally favored Britain. The party started to lose power after the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Democratic-Republican Party rose to power in 1801. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
New York passed a state law where two specific people were given the right to travel the state’s waters. One of those men was a man named Gibbons, and he profited from these special privileges he had. One day though, a man by the name of Ogden sailed into New York from New Jersey. When questioned, he claimed that he was given the right to travel these waters by the national government. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ogden. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
Maryland, a strong State Government State, hated the National Bank, and, in 1818, the state passed taxes on the National Bank in the state. The cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank, James McCulloch, refused to pay the bill, resulting in a lawsuit. The case resulted in two questions: Did Maryland have the power to tax the National Bank, and did Congress have the power to charter a National Bank in the first place? In the end, the court ruled in favor of McCulloch.
