AP U.S. History
Student Lecture Notes
Unit 3.2
THE FEDERALIST ERA (1789-1801)
DOMESTIC POLICY
I. America c. 1790
A. Population nearly 4 million in 1790 census: doubling
every 25 years.
1. About 90% of Americans lived
on farms
2. Relatively few large towns
existed:
-- Exceptions: Philadelphia, NY, Boston, Charleston, Baltimore
3. 5% lived east of the Allegheny
mountains
-- New
states: Kentucky, 1792; Tennessee 1796; Ohio 1803;
B. Finances of the new nation were precarious
1. Public debt was enormous; revenue
had significantly declined
2. Worthless paper money, both state
& national, was in heavy circulation.
C. Foreign challenges by Britain and Spain threatened
the unity of the U.S.
II. President Washington's Administration
A. Washington unanimously elected president
by the Electoral College in 1789
– only
Presidential nominee ever to be honored unanimously.
1. Many believe Congress was willing
to give the presidency power due to
Washington's
immense respectability
2. Took oath of office on April
30, 1789 in temporary capital of NYC.
-- John
Adams sworn in as vice president
B. Washington's cabinet
1. Precedent:
Consulting of cabinet members (department heads) in order
to make
decisions.
2. Constitution does not mention a
cabinet
3. The cabinet has become an
integral part of the "unwritten constitution."
4. In the beginning, only three
full-fledged department heads existed:
a. Secretary
of State -- Thomas Jefferson
b. Secretary
of the Treasury -- Alexander Hamilton
c. Secretary
of War -- Henry Knox
d. Edmund
Randolph--Attorney General; became the 4th major cabinet
member after passage of Judiciary Act of 1789.
5. Cabinet characterized by
bickering between Hamilton and Jefferson.
III. Bill of Rights
A. One of first priorities facing the new government
1. Antifederalists had sharply
criticized the Constitution for not having one.
2. Many states had ratified under
the condition that one be included.
B. Amendments to the Constitution could be achieved two
ways:
1. A new constitutional convention
requested by 2/3 of the states
(has
never happened)
2. 2/3 vote by both houses of
Congress and ratification by 3/4 of states (has
happened on
18 separate occasions--we have 27 Amendments)
C. Federalists feared another constitutional convention
might reverse their victory
-- James Madison drafted the
amendments and submitted them to Congress.
-- Madison's draft based largely on James
Mason's bill of rights in Virginia.
D. Bill of Rights -- First ten amendments to the
Constitution adopted in 1791.
1. Provided safeguards for some of
America's most precious principles:
Amendment
I. Freedom of speech, press, assembly, & religion
Amendment
II. Right to bear arms
Amendment
III. Troops may not be arbitrarily quartered on the people
Amendment
IV. Unreasonable searches and seizures forbidden
Amendment
V. The individual is guaranteed certain rights when on trial
and the right to life, liberty and property
Amendment
VI. Right to a fair and speedy trial in criminal cases
Amendment
VII. Right to a trial in civil cases (law suits against other citizens)
Amendment
VIII. Excessive fines and unusual punishments are forbidden.
Amendment
IX. The people retain rights not enumerated in the Constitution
Amendment
X. Powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved
to the states and the people.
IV. Judiciary Act of 1789
A. Organized the Supreme Court with a chief justice
(John Jay) and five associates
B. Organized federal district and circuit courts.
C. Established the office of attorney general.
D. Fatal provision: law stated Supreme Court could force
presidential appointments
of judges. This law would be overturned in 1803 and a new judicial act would
need to be written.
V. Hamilton’s Financial Plan
A. Economic Philosophy
1. Report on Public Credit (1790)
a. Plan
to shape fiscal policies of the administration to favor wealthier groups
b. In
return, the wealthy would lend the gov't monetary & moral support
c.
Prosperity would trickle down to the masses
d. Became the basis for assumption
of state debts and funding at par
2. Report on Manufactures
(1791)
a. Advocated
promotion of a factory system in U.S. so the nation
could exploit its national resources and strengthen capitalism.
b. Was
the basis for the tariff component in his financial plan.
B. Hamilton’s Plan contained five major components:
1. Funding at Par
a. Purpose:
Bolstering national credit
-- Believed gov't couldn't borrow money without investor confidence
b. Urged Congress to pay off the
entire national debt by "funding at par"
all gov't bonds
incurred by the states during the Revolutionary war.
c. Debts would be paid at face
value plus accumulated interest
d. Gov’t bonds had depreciated to 10
or 15 cents on the dollar since the new
Treasury was
believed incapable of paying its obligations.
i. Speculators still had large amounts of
bonds.
ii. Many
wealthy investors rushed to buy as many bonds as possible in rural areas
at rock-bottom prices before news of
Hamilton's plan reached countryside.
iii. Many
original bondholders (common people) sold their bonds unknowingly
as they were often
poor and desperate for immediate cash.
e. Hamilton was bitterly
criticized for not alerting original bondholders to the plan.
2. Assumption of State Debts
a. Hamilton urged Congress to
assume the states' debts.
b. Hamilton's ulterior motive:
further obligate states to the federal gov't.
i. Hamilton believed nat'l debt was a "blessing"
that would cement the union.
ii. States with huge debts favored the plan
(especially Massachusetts)
iii. States
with less debt or no remaining debt were unhappy
-- Hated being taxed to pay someone else's debt.(Virginia especially angry)
iv. North-South
struggle ensued over assumption
c. Compromise achieved in 1790
through a process called "log rolling"
i. "Log
rolling" occurs when two opposing factions agree to vote for each
other's bills so that their own cherished bills will pass.
ii. Federal government would assume all state debts
iii. South
would get new federal district-- now District of Columbia.
-- Pierre L’Enfant -- Created map plan for the new city.
-- Benjamin Banneker -- African American who surveyed land
Washington was to be built on.
iv. Madison
and Jefferson instrumental in helping set up compromise.
-- Jefferson later lamented he was outwitted by Hamilton
3. Tariffs (customs
duties) became a source of revenue for paying the debt
a. Tariff
revenues depended on a healthy foreign trade.
b. Revenue
Act of 1789 -- imposed an 8% tariff on dutiable imports
i. First
tariff law passed in U.S. History at the national level
ii. Secondary
goal was to help protect infant industries.
4. Excise taxes
a. 1791,
Congress passed an excise tax on whisky.
i. Backcountry distillers most affected by the 7 cent per gallon tax.
-- Poor roads made grain transportation practical only by horseback
which severely hampered profit potential of cash crops.
ii. Whiskey flowed so freely in this region it was often used as money.
b.
Hamilton not overly concerned with the protests from the frontier – most
had been antifederalist in sentiment during the ratification debate.
5. Battle
for the National Bank: most important Hamilton v. Jefferson issue
a. Foundation of Hamilton's financial plan was a Bank of
the United States
-- Washington requested written opinions from Jefferson & Hamilton
b. Provisions:
i. Gov't would be major stockholder despite bank being a private corporation.
-- 1/5 of members of its board of directors would be government appointees.
ii. Federal Treasury would deposit its surplus revenues in the bank
-- Federal gov't would have a convenient safe.
-- Federal funds would stimulate business by remaining in circulation.
iii. Government would print urgently needed paper money thus providing a
sound & stable national currency.
c. Jefferson (and
Madison) strongly opposed the bank
i. States' righters feared liberties would be jeopardized by a huge central
bank.
-- Moneyed interests would benefit at the expense of farmers.
-- State banks would not be able to compete against federal bank.
-- Federal gov't did eventually enjoy a monopoly of surplus funds
ii. strict construction -- strict interpretation of the
Constitution
-- Jefferson: Constitution did not stipulate creation of a national bank.
d. Hamilton argued
Constitution would support a plan for a national bank
i. loose construction -- Hamilton urged a broad interpretation
of the
Constitution
-- Set a precedent for enormous federal powers.
ii. “elastic clause” -- Provided for passing any laws "necessary
& proper"
to carry out the powers vested in the various governmental agencies.”
-- Also known as Congress’ Implied Powers
iii. Bank would be "necessary" to store revenues from taxes and
the regulation of trade, both of which were stated in the Constitution.
e. Washington
reluctantly signed the bank measure into law in February, 1791
i. Hamilton's views had prevailed
over Jefferson’s
ii. Bank chartered for 20 years; located in Philadelphia
iii. Old North-South friction surfaced again
-- Bank favored commercial and financial centers in the North.
-- The agricultural South saw their state banks decline.
f. Bank issue
sparked the open public split between Hamilton and Jefferson.
C. The Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
1. Southwestern Pennsylvania backcountry folks
hard hit by Hamilton's excise tax.
2. “Whiskey Boys” posed a major challenge to
the new national government
a. Torched
buildings, tarred & feathered revenue officers, chased gov’t
supporters from the region; some talked of secession from U.S.
b. Tax collections
came to a halt.
3. Washington summoned the militia of several
states resulting in 13,000-man army.
a. Washington
accompanied troops part of the way; Hamilton all the way.
4. When the troops reached the hills of w.
Penn., the Whiskey Boys dispersed.
-- Washington
later pardoned the two convicted participants to heal the rift.
5. Significance: Federal government showed
it could ensure domestic tranquility
a. Proved that another Shays’-type
rebellion could not succeed under the new
Constitution
b. Jeffersonians condemned the
action as a brutal display of force and gained
increasingly more support from ordinary farmers.
D. Hamilton’s financial plan became the cornerstone of
America's financial system.
1. Strengthened the government
politically as well as financially.
a. Established
strong public credit:
b. "Loose
construction" -- paved way for increase of federal power
c. Report on
Manufactures – anticipated the industrial revolution
2. Jeffersonian opposition emerged due to
encroachments upon states' rights
VI. Birth of the Party System
A. Founding Fathers in 1787 did not envision the
existence of political parties.
1. Organized opposition
seemed disloyal and against spirit of national unity.
2. No national political
party had ever existed in America before
Washington's administration.
3. Factions had existed
only over special issues: e.g. Tories & Whigs,
Federalists
& Antifederalists. But factions were not parties.
4. Jefferson &
Madison first organized their opposition to Hamilton only
in Congress; did not anticipate creating a permanent, popular party.
5. As their antagonism
at Hamilton grew, political parties began to emerge.
6. By 1792-1793, two
well-defined groups had crystallized:
i. Hamiltonian Federalists
ii. Jeffersonian Republicans
7. Our
two-party system is owed to the clash between Hamilton & Jefferson.
**Important: Be careful not to confuse the Federalists of the 1790s with
the
Federalists who supported the Constitution in the late 1780s. They are not
necessarily the same!! For example, Madison wrote part of the Constitution and
Jefferson supported it yet they were not Federalists in the 1790s.
n Federalists in 1787-88 were a faction that supported the Constitution
n Federalists in the 1790s became a political party that embodied Hamilton's
financial plan and Washington's
presidency.
B. Federalists
1. Emerged from the federalists
of the pre-Constitution period by 1793.
2. Believed in gov't
by the upper classes with secondary attention to
the masses.
a. Openly advocated rule by the "best people."
i. Rich had more leisure time to study problems of governing.
ii. Enjoyed the advantages of intelligence, education, & culture.
b. John Jay: "Those who own the country ought to govern it."
3. Distrusted the
common people.
a. Regarded democracy as a "mobocracy"
b. Believed democracy too important to be left to the people.
4. Supported a strong
central government
a. Maintain law & order; crush democratic excesses (Shays’ Rebellion)
b. Protect life & property of the wealthy.
5. Federal gov't
should encourage business, not interfere with it.
a. Federalists dominated by merchants, manufacturers, & shippers
b. Most lived in urban areas of the eastern seaboard where commerce
&
manufacturing flourished.
6. Pro-British in foreign
policy
a. Foreign trade with Britain was key in Hamilton's plan.
b. Many Federalists were mild Loyalists
-- Welcomed bias in favor of the mother country.
C. Jeffersonians
1. Advocated the rule
of the people; government for the people
a. However, only by those who were literate enough to inform themselves.
b. Believed in the wisdom of the common people; teachability of the masses
2. Biggest
appeal was to the middle class and the underprivileged --
yeoman farmers, laborers, artisans, and small shopkeepers.
3. Democratic-Republicans
believed the best gov't was one that governed least.
a. Bulk of power should be retained by the states.
b. Limit federal authority via strict interpretation of Constitution
4. National debt was
a curse to future generations that should be paid off ASAP.
5. Jeffersonians
themselves were primarily agrarians
a. Insisted on no special privileges for special classes, esp. manufacturers.
b. Farming was an ennobling profession
6. Believed in
freedom of speech to expose tyranny.
7. Basically
pro-French
-- Supported liberal ideas of the French Revolution.
FEDERALIST ERA: Foreign Policy
I. Impact of the French Revolution
A. Significance: Single most important issue
separating Federalists and Republicans
B. Americans initially pleased; esp. Jeffersonians
1. Saw the French
Revolution as the second chapter of the American Revolution.
2. 1792, supported
France's war against Austria and Prussia.
3. France
proclaimed itself a republic (similar to the U.S.)
C. “Reign of Terror”
1. King Louis XVI &
his wife, Mary Antoinette, beheaded
2. Thousands of conservatives
& anti-revolutionaries executed
3. Christianity was
abolished
4. Jeffersonians
regretted bloodshed but felt it probably could not be avoided
3. Federalists frightened
at the scope of the carnage; viewed Jeffersonian
masses
with concern.
D. French Revolution became a world war
1. Britain sucked into
the conflict
2. U.S. had to decide
which side to support when war spread to the Atlantic
& Caribbean.
II. Washington's Neutrality Proclamation (1793)
A. U.S. still obligated to France under the
Franco-American alliance of 1778
1. U.S. had pledged to
protect French West Indies from enemies
2. Jeffersonians favored
the Alliance
B. President Washington believed war should be avoided
at all costs
1. U.S. was militarily
weak in 1793 and should stay out of the war.
2. Hamilton &
Jefferson in agreement.
C. Neutrality Proclamation of 1793
1. Proclaimed U.S.
neutrality toward the war between Britain and France
2. Warned citizens to be
impartial to both Britain & France
D. American Reaction
1. Jeffersonians
enraged, especially by Washington not consulting Congress.
2. Federalists
supported it.
3. Citizen Genet
a. French envoy/ profiteer undertook to entice U.S. profiteers to
outfit
French
ships and supply the French war cause; he recruited Americans
b. Believed Neutrality Act did not truly reflect American public opinion.
c. Suggested bypassing Washington by appealing directly to the voters.
d. Washington demanded his withdrawal & Genet was replaced.
E. America & France benefited from U.S. neutrality
1. America's neutrality
meant it could still deliver foodstuffs to the West Indies.
2. France did not
officially ask the U.S. to honor the Franco-American treaty.
3. If U.S. entered war,
British navy would blockade U.S. coasts and cut
off supplies the French relied on.
III. Jay Treaty (1794) -- Temporarily eased U.S.
conflict with Great Britain
A. Significance: Most important immediate cause for
formation of the
Democratic-Republican
party.
B. Background: British continued harassing American frontier
settlers and U.S.
ships on the oceans.
1. British remained in their
northern frontier posts on U.S. soil
a. Violation of
the Peace treaty of 1783
b. Sold firearms
and alcohol to Indians who attacked American settlers
2. British navy seized about
300 U.S. ships in West Indies starting in 1793
3. Hundreds of Americans impressed
into service on British vessels; hundreds of
others
imprisoned.
C. Federalists unwilling to go to war
1. U.S. depended on 75%
of its customs duties from British imports.
2. Jeffersonians argued
that U.S. should impose an embargo against Britain.
D. Washington sent Jay, the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, to London in 1794
1. Jeffersonians feared the
conservative Jay would sell out U.S. interests.
2. Hamilton secretly
gave Brits U.S. bargaining strategy; Jay handicapped
-- Hamilton feared war with Britain and was willing to appease her.
E. Provisions: (America won few concessions)
1. British renewed their
pledge to remove their posts from U.S. soil (as in 1783)
2. British consented to
pay damages for recent seizures of American ships
3. British refused to
guarantee against future maritime seizures and impressments
or
the inciting of Native Americans to violence on the frontier.
4. U.S. forced to pay
pre-Revolution debts owed to British merchants
F. Jeffersonian outrage resulted in creation of the
Democratic-Republican party.
1. South felt betrayed
that northern merchants would be paid damages
2. Southern planters
would be taxed to pay pre-Revolution debt.
G. War with Britain was averted
1. Washington pushed for
ratification of the treaty
-- Realized war with Britain would be disastrous to the U.S.
2. The Senate narrowly
approved the treaty in 1795
IV. Pinckney Treaty of 1795 (ratified by Senate in 1796)
A. Normalized relations with Spain
B. Spanish Motive: feared an Anglo-American alliance;
sought to appease U.S.
1. Spain a declining
power in Europe
2. Spain’s position
declining on the American frontier
C. Treaty provisions: (Spanish concessions)
1. Granted free
navigation of the Mississippi River to the U.S. including
right
of deposit at the port city of New Orleans
2. Yielded large area
north of Florida that had been in dispute for over a decade.
-- 31st parallel recognized as legal border between U.S. and Spanish Florida.
V. Defeat of Indians in the Old Northwest
A. Iroquois nation forced onto reservations in New York
& Pennsylvania after
the Revolutionary war.
1. Many fled to Canada.
2. No longer major threat to
U.S.
B. Indians in Northwest and Southwest borders, Shawnee and
Miami tribes, were
increasingly hostile toward
Americans.
-- Supported by British on the
frontier.
C. Washington lost two armies in the Northwest in 1790-1791
to the Shawnee
and allied tribes.
D. General “Mad” Anthony Wayne finally led
U.S. forces to victory
1. Battle of Fallen Timbers in
August 1794 was the climactic battle.
-- Indians finally
forced to abandon their British allies
2. Treaty of Greenville (1795)
– cleared 2/3 of Ohio & Indiana of Indian tribes.
3. Britain abandoned its forts in
the Old Northwest.
E. Eastern Woodlands Indians now saw their lifestyle ruined by
increased competition
for the fur trade, white settlement,
and ruining of hunting grounds.
1. Forced westward; came into
increased conflict with tribes west of Mississippi.
2. A movement to regenerate Indian
society swept through the region and was led
by certain Indian
prophets; eventually failed due to continued U.S. expansion.
VI. Washington’s Farewell Address
A. He had reluctantly accepted a second term at the urging
of his supporters
-- Unanimously reelected
B. Washington lost his nonpartisan standing when he became a
Federalist
-- Verbal abuse from Jeffersonian
wing was significanct
C. Refused to accept a third term as President
1. Set a precedent for the 2-term presidency
(or was it Jefferson?)
2. Washington exhausted physically and weary of
verbal abuse
D. Farewell Address
1. 2/3 domestic related: Warned against evils of
political parties.
2. Warned against permanent foreign alliances
(like treaty with France)
3. Jeffersonians angered; speech seemed to
declare U.S. hostility toward France.
4. Isolationism became dominant U.S. foreign
policy for next 100 years.
E. Washington thus kept U.S. out of war
F. Washington's Precedents
1. President relied on and consulted regularly
with his cabinet.
2. Chief executive gained the right to choose
his own cabinet.
-- This custom
grew out of Congress' respect for Washington
3. Two-term office for president
4. After Jay resigned, Washington went outside
the Supreme Court to select
a new Chief Justice
VII. Election of 1796
A. John Adams, from Massachusetts, became the Federalist
candidate.
-- Hamilton was too controversial to
be a candidate.
B. Democratic-Republicans gathered around Thomas Jefferson
-- Decried the
crushing of the Whiskey Rebellion and Jay's Treaty
C. Adams d. Jefferson 71 to 66 in the Electoral
College
-- Jefferson, as
runner-up, became vice president
VIII. War with France
A. French Directory government condemned the Jay Treaty
1. Saw it as an initial step towards
a U.S. alliance with Britain
2. Saw it as a flagrant violation of
the Franco-American Treaty of 1778
3. French warships seized about
300 U.S. merchant vessels by mid-1797
4. France refused to receive
America's newly appointed envoy.
B. XYZ Affair
1. President Adams sent a delegation
to Paris in 1797 (incl. John Marshall).
2. U.S. delegates secretly approached
by three French agents--"X,Y, & Z"
-- French
demanded a large loan and a bribe of $250.000 for the
privilege of talking to French foreign minister Talleyrand.
3. Negotiations broke down and
Marshall came home—seen as a hero
4. War hysteria swept the U.S.
C. Undeclared Naval Warfare, 1798-1799 -- “Quasi -War”
1. U.S. war preparations set in
motion
a. Navy Department
at the cabinet level was created: 3 ship navy expanded
b. Marine Corps
established
c. Army of 10,000
men was authorized (not fully raised)
--
Washington was top general but gave active command to Hamilton
2. Adams suspended all trade with France
and authorized American ships
to capture armed
French vessels
3. Undeclared hostilities ensued for 2 1/2
years between 1798-1800
a. Principally in
the West Indies.
b. U.S. privateers
and U.S. Navy captured over 80 French armed ships
c. Several hundred
U.S. merchantmen were lost to the French.
d. Full-blown war
seemed imminent; Adams sought to keep U.S. out
D. Convention of 1800 (Adam's “Finest Moment”)
1. France became eager to negotiate
a peace
-- Did not want another
enemy allied with Britain
2. Adams shockingly submitted to the
Senate a new foreign minister to France
a. Hamiltonian
"High Federalists" enraged; sought military glory
b. Jeffersonians
and moderate Federalists favored one last try for peace
3. 1800, U.S. negotiated with
Napoleon (who was bent on European conquest)
4. Convention of 1800
a. France
agreed to end the 22-year Franco-American alliance with the U.S.
b. U.S. agreed to
pay the damage claims of American shippers.
5. Significance:
a. Major war
with France avoided
b. Improved
relations made possible the Louisiana Purchase 3 years later.
-- If war had occurred, Napoleon would not have sold Louisiana
c. Adams felt this
to be his finest achievement.
E. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
1. Purpose: Federalists passed a
series of oppressive laws in 1798 that would
reduce
the power of Jeffersonians and silence anti-war opposition
2. Alien Acts
a. Attack on
pro-Jeffersonian "aliens"
i. Most immigrants lacked wealth and were welcomed by Jeffersonians.
ii. Hated by Federalists who did not want these immigrants voting in U.S.
b. Raised
residence requirements for U.S. citizenship from 5 yrs to 14 yrs.
c. President could
deport "dangerous" foreigners.
d. Laws in some
ways seemed sensible
i. Some foreign agitators were coming into the country (Citizen Genet)
ii. Many from France sought anti-British policies
iii. Others were foreign agents who should have been expelled.
e. Alien Acts
never enforced but some frightened foreign agitators left
3. Sedition Act
a. Anyone who
impeded the policies of gov't or falsely criticized its officials,
including the president, would be liable to a heavy fine and imprisonment.
b. Direct
violation of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution
-- Federalist Supreme Court not interested in declaring it unconstitutional.
c. 10 Jeffersonian
editors were brought to trial & convicted
d. Law expired in
1801 the day before Adams left office.
--
Demonstrated dubious intentions of bill (if a Federalist was not elected in
1800,
Republicans wouldn't have the Sedition Act to prosecute Federalists.)
4. Popular support for Alien and
Sedition Acts significant
a. Anti-French
hysteria played into the hands of the Federalists
b. Largest ever
Federalist victory in 1798-99 congressional elections
5. Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions (Jefferson and Madison)
a. Republicans
believed Alien and Sedition acts were unconstitutional
-- Process of deciding constitutionality of federal laws not yet defined
b. Jefferson &
Madison secretly created a series of resolutions
-- As vice president Jefferson
in awkward position; feared prosecution from
Sedition Act
c. Premise: States
had right to nullify unconstitutional laws passed by Congress
d. Aim not to
break up the union but preserve it by protecting civil liberties.
-- Essentially campaign documents to defeat the Federalists
e. Compact
theory
i. Popular among 17th c. English political philosophers (John
Locke)
ii. 13 sovereign states created the federal gov't & had entered a
"compact"
iii. Thus, national gov't was an agent or creation of the states.
iv. Nullification: Individual states were the final judges of whether a
federal
law was constitutional.
f. Result:
i. No other states passed the Jefferson & Madison resolutions
ii. Federalists argued the people, not the states, made the original compact
-- Argued Supreme Court, not states, could nullify laws.
g. Significance:
Later used by southerners to support nullification and ultimately
secession
prior to Civil War.
IX. The Jefferson "Revolution of 1800"
A. Federalist handicaps
1. Federalists split
over going to war with France biggest reason for Adam’s defeat
-- Hamilton and "High Federalists" openly broke from Adams
for his refusal
to fight against France
2. Alien and Sedition
Acts
3. Federalists swelled
the debt in preparation for war with France.
-- New taxes (incl. a stamp tax) were levied to pay the costs.
4. Military preparations
now seemed unnecessary
B. Federalist mudslinging accused Jefferson of:
1. being an atheist
(Jefferson really a deist)
-- His success with separating church & state in Virginia incurred the
wrath
of the orthodox clergy esp. in Congregationalist & Federalist New England.
2. robbing a widow and
her children of a trust fund
3. fathering mulatto
children by his own slave woman (note: in 1998, genetic
tests apparently proved that Jefferson had fathered at least one child from
his
slave mistress, Sally Hemmings)
C. Jefferson defeats Adams: 73 to 65
1. Most support from
South & West where universal manhood suffrage adopted.
-- New York was the key: Aaron Burr narrowly turned NY toward Jefferson
2. Yet, Jefferson
tied with Burr, the vice presidential candidate, for electoral votes
a. House of Representatives had to break the deadlock
b. Federalists wanted Burr; hated Jefferson
c. Eventually, a few anti-Burr Federalists, refrained from voting and Jefferson
became president (swayed by Hamilton; Burr now hates Hamilton)
3. Significance:
Peaceful change of power was revolutionary
a. Transfer of power on a basis of an election that all parties accepted
b. Britain would not achieve the same stature for another generation.
X. The Federalist Legacy
A. Hamilton's financial plan
B. Washington established important precedents for the
presidency.
C. Federalists kept the U.S. out of
war
D. Preserved democratic gains of the Revolution and
fended off anarchy.
E. Opposition party resulted in creation of two-party
system.
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