History of USA Building the State (1781-1797) Brief Overview Timeline People Events & Qs
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Brief Overview
After the United States declared its Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, the long process of building the state began. This era started with the individual state constitutions, which blended the traditions of British and colonial rule with the new, more radical republicanism that infused the nation during the Revolutionary War. State governments established, Americans realized the need for a national government to take on responsibility for diplomatic representation and military control. The first attempt at national government was laid out in the Articles of Confederation. The Articles established a loose federation of states that all essentially acted as individual republics; the balance of power lay heavily in the states favor and the national government was far too weak to perform even its basic duties.
During the mid 1780s, the government under the Articles of Confederation proved unable to successfully levy and collect taxes, and unable to carry out the basic requirements of diplomacy. The nation was in danger of breaking apart. After Shays' Rebellion alerted many Americans to the weakness of the current national government, political leaders decided to alter the framework of government under which the United States operated.
The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia and determined that it was in the nation's best interest to create an entirely new framework of government. For nearly four months, the delegates at the convention deliberated on how best to accomplish this rebuilding effort. The Constitution, the result of these proceedings, sets out the tripartite system of government that is still in place in the US today. It created a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, an executive branch headed by the president and staffed by the cabinet, and provided for the establishment of a judicial branch, consisting of a federal-court system headed by the Supreme Court.
Although the Constitution established the basic framework of government, its wording was vague in regard to the details. Thus, the first Congress under the Constitution and the first President, George Washington, were responsible for working out the details of governance. In the first years of the new United States, Washington and the Congress created, among other things, the now accepted traditions of the cabinet and the judicial system. The precedents they set established the standard operating procedure of the national government for years to come.
During the fight to ratify the Constitution, a division sprang up between those who wanted to grant the central government broad powers, the Federalists, and those who feared that a national government which was too strong would prove despotic, the Anti-federalists. This debate continued into the Washington administration, as Secretary of State Alexander Hamilton set forth a program of economic Federalism which included the assumption of state debts by the national government, and the creation of the Bank of the United States. His efforts paid off for the US on a general scale, but Hamilton's actions turned many away from Federalism, since they believed Hamilton had overstepped the bounds of the national government.
Added to the growing internal turmoil was the threat of war with Britain, Spain, and the Native Americans over the control of the American West (which at this point was the area around Ohio). On the brink of war with all three parties, Washington sent successful diplomatic missions to achieve peace. However, international relations proved to be yet another area where passions ran high and the American population was divided. Washington left office in 1797 pleading for an end to political division and embroilment in foreign affairs. Yet despite his best efforts, the American public was far more sharply divided in 1797 than it had been at the outset of his presidency. Even so, upon Washington's departure from office, America itself was a far more powerfully established nation.
Timeline
July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence is Approved by Congress Independence is proposed on June 9 by Richard Henry Lee. Less than a month later, on the most celebrated day in the nation's history, Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is adopted by Congress.
November 17, 1777: The Articles of Confederation are Adopted by Congress The Articles of Confederation, brought to Congress on July 12, 1776, are officially adopted and sent to the states for ratification.
March 1, 1781: The Articles of Confederation Become Law Maryland is the last state to ratify the Articles of Confederation and they become the law of the land.
September 3, 1783: The Treaty of Paris is Signed After nearly a year of peace talks, the Treaty of Paris is finally signed, officially granting the US its independence.
May 20, 1785: The Ordinance of 1785 is Passed The Ordinance of 1785 establishes the protocol for settlement of western lands.
1786: Chief Joseph Brant Organizes an Alliance of the Northwest Tribes Chief Joseph Brant allies the tribes of the northwest wilderness in an effort to resist white settlement on Indian lands.
August 1786: Outbreak of Shays' Rebellion Western Massachusetts farmers, under the pressures of economic depression, organize in an attempt to shut down three county courthouses through violent means. The rebellion is put down, but highlight the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
September 11 - 14, 1786: The Annapolis Convention Originally planning to discuss the promotion of interstate commerce, delegates from five states meet at Annapolis and end up suggesting a convention to amend the Articles of Confederation.
May 25 - September 27, 1787: The Constitutional Convention Delegates of every state but Rhode Island meet in Philadelphia to discuss the amendment of the Articles of Confederation. Though it was not their original intent they decide to scrap the Articles, and produce the Constitution, laying out a new framework of government.
July 13,1787: The Northwest Ordinance is Passed The Northwest Ordinance defines the process by which new states could be admitted into the Union from the Northwest Territory.
July 17, 1787: The Connecticut Compromise is Approved by the Constitutional Convention Ending weeks of stalemate, the Connecticut Compromise reconciles the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan for determining legislative representation in Congress. The Connecticut Compromise establishes equal representation for all states in the Senate and proportional representation by population in the House of Representatives.
September 17, 1787: The Constitution, in its Final Form, is Approved by the Constitutional Convention The Constitutional Convention officially endorses the Constitution and sends it to the states for ratification.
June 21, 1788: New Hampshire Becomes the Ninth State To Ratify the Constitution Having been ratified by two-thirds of the states, the Constitution becomes the law of the land.
June 25, 1788: Virginia Ratifies the Constitution Following nearly a year of intense debate, Federalists win out in Virginia, which ratifies the Constitution.
July 26, 1788: New York Ratifies the Constitution Following Virginia's lead, New York ratifies the Constitution. The two states represent the most crucial states to the functioning of the Union; their ratification ensures the success of the Constitution.
March 4, 1789: The First Congress Under the Constitution Convenes in New York The first Congress convenes, symbolizing the beginning of a long period of working out the details of the new government.
April 30, 1789: George Washington is Inaugurated Washington, the nation's first president, takes the Oath of Office.
January 1790: Alexander Hamilton presents his Report on Public Credit to Congress Hamilton suggests the national assumption of state debt, the sale of US government bonds, and the establishment of a permanent national debt. Though met with opposition, his measures pass in Congress.
December 1790: Alexander Hamilton presents his Report on a National Bank to Congress Hamilton's most controversial proposal, he suggests the creation of the Bank of the United States as a depository for federal revenue and a source of federal loans. The bank is granted a twenty-year charter in February 1791.
December 1791: Alexander Hamilton presents his Report on Manufacturers to Congress Hamilton's report on Manufactures suggests a policy of protectionism, levying high tariffs on imports and providing incentives for goods to be imported on American ships. The high tariffs do not pass Congress, but a number of protectionist proposals do.
June 1, 1792: Kentucky admitted to the Union As the US expands into the Southwest, Kentucky becomes the first new state in that region. It is followed on June 1, 1796 by Tennessee.
April 22, 1793: Washington issues the Proclamation of American Neutrality The Proclamation of American Neutrality is Washington's response to the division of the nation between those advocating support of the French and those in favor of the British; those two nations had gone to war with one another as part of the fallout of the French Revolution.
February 1794: Canada's Royal Governor Denies US Claims to Land in the Northwest Territory Canada's royal government, speaking to a Native American audience, denies US claims to land north of the Ohio River as granted by the Treaty of Paris. He encourages Indian tribes to resist white settlement of the land, and the British begin construction of Fort Miami on US territory.
July 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion Distillers in western Pennsylvania, angry at the imposition of a heavy excise tax on Whiskey rebel, attack a tax collector, lay siege to the house of the chief revenue officer's house, and threaten to secede. George Washington himself led troops into Pennsylvania to crush the rebellion.
June 25, 1795: Jay's Treaty is Signed Jay's Treaty provides for the removal of British troops from American land, and avoids the outbreak of war with Britain.
August 3, 1795: The Treaty of Greenville is Signed General Anthony Wayne concludes his military campaign against the Indians of the northwest with this treaty, which ends hostilities and opens the land that is now Ohio to settlement.
October 27, 1795: The Treaty of San Lorenzo is Signed The Treaty of San Lorenzo heads off war with Spain, removes Spanish troops from American land, and opens the Mississippi to US commerce.
September 19, 1796: Washington's Farewell Address After two terms, George Washington officially resigns the presidency, exhorting future generations to avoid the division of the nation into political parties and to maintain an isolationist foreign policy.
Key People
Chief Joseph Brant
A Mohawk Chief who had distinguished himself during the Revolutionary War, Joseph Brant organized a military alliance of Native American tribes in the northwest, which, while it faltered because of limited support from certain portions of the Iroquois, presented the government under the Articles of Confederation with a challenge in the west.
Benjamin Franklin
An inventor, a writer, and former ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The other delegates admired his wisdom, and his advice was crucial in the drafting of the Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton
The outspoken leader of the Federalists, Hamilton emerged as a major political figure during the Constitutional Convention, and during the period of ratification, as one of the authors of The Federalist Papers. As Secretary of Treasury under Washington, Alexander Hamilton spearheaded the government's Federalist initiatives, most notably through his proposals on the subject of public credit and the creation of the Bank of the United States.
John Jay
John Jay played an important role in the establishment of the new government under the Constitution. One of the authors of The Federalist Papers, he was involved in the drafting of the Constitution, became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Washington, and went on to negotiate Jay's Treaty with Britain to head off war in 1795.
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson attained political fame originally as the author of the Declaration of Independence. A prominent statesman from Virginia, Jefferson became Washington's first Secretary of State. However, in 1793, Jefferson resigned from that post in opposition to Alexander Hamilton's continued efforts to garner power for the national government. With James Madison, Jefferson took up the cause of the strict constructionists and the Republican Party, advocating the limitation of the national government.
Henry Knox
Washington appointed Henry Knox his first Secretary of War. Knox played a valuable role in the development of the executive branch. His most notable actions came in relation to the struggle with the Native Americans on the frontier, where he declared the Indian title to the land officially recognized by the US in the early 1790s.
James Madison
Madison joined forces with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay as a Federalist leader during the Constitutional Convention and beyond. He was one of the authors of The Federalist Papers and, as a member of the first Congress, a staunch advocate of strong central government. However, after a string of Federalist measures that asserted the power of the national government over the state in questionable areas, Madison defected from the Federalist cause and became a critic of excessive central power. He joined Thomas Jefferson in leading the rising Republican Party.
George Washington
Washington, as the general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, was the obvious choice to be the first President of the United States. Washington took on the task of defining the presidency, attempting to establish the role through precedent. He intervened little in legislative affairs, and concentrated mostly on diplomacy and finance. A Federalist, he granted Alexander Hamilton a great deal of support, despite frequent misgivings.
Terms
Anti-Federalists
Anti-federalists rose up as the opponents of the Constitution during the period of ratification. They advocated a governmental structure that granted power to the states.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
The movement in opposition to the disbanding of formal ties between government and religion. Antidisestablishmentarianism proved especially formidable in New England. Whereas most states broke all government ties with religion shortly after the Declaration of Independence, the Congregational Church continued collecting tithes (taxes) in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts well into the nineteenth century.
Articles of Confederation
Adopted in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, the Articles were the document that established the United States of America. The Articles granted few powers to the central government and left most powers up to the individual states. The result was a weak, rather ill-defined state. The Articles were replaced by the Constitution in 1789.
Bicameral
Name for a legislative system composed of two complementary houses. Congress, like its model the British Parliament, is bicameral; the Senate and the House of Representatives make up its two houses.
Bill of Rights
Though the Anti-federalists were not able to block the ratification of the Constitution, they did make progress in ensuring that the Bill of Rights would be created. The Bill of Rights, drafted by a group led by James Madison, was the collection of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which guaranteed the civil rights of American citizens.
Checks and Balances
The Constitution set forth a government composed of 3 branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch was given certain powers over the others to ensure that no one branch usurped a dangerous amount of power. This system, known as checks and balances, represented the solution to the problem of how to empower the central government, yet protect against corruption and despotism.
Congress
The bicameral legislative body set up by the Connecticut Compromise. The two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, accorded to both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, in that membership numbers in the House were determined by state population, and representatives in the Senate were fixed at two per state.
Connecticut Compromise
Ending weeks of stalemate, the Connecticut Compromise reconciled the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan for determining legislative representation in Congress. The Connecticut Compromise established equal representation for all states in the Senate and proportional representation by population in the House of Representatives.
Constitution
The document produced by the Constitutional Convention, and ratified by the states in 1789. As opposed to the Articles of Confederation, the document the Constitution replaced, the Constitution created a strong central government with broad judicial, legislative, and executive powers, though the extent of these powers were purposely reined in by the Constitution itself.
Elastic Clause
Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution...powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States." This clause, known as the elastic clause, was the point of much contention between those who favored a loose reading of the Constitution and those who favored a strict reading.
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers contain a series of newspaper articles written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton which enumerate the arguments in favor of the Constitution and against the Anti-federalists.
Federalists
First rising to national attention during the process of ratification, Federalists remained an important influence on the government throughout the Washington administration. Led by Alexander Hamilton, the Federalists believed in a strong central government at the expense of state powers.
Jay's Treaty
Jay's Treaty provided for the removal of British troops from American land, and avoided the outbreak of war with Britain. While seen as unsuccessful by the majority of the American public, Jay's Treaty may have been the greatest diplomatic feat of the Washington administration, avoiding the outbreak of war.
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey Plan was presented at the Constitutional Convention as an alternative to the Virginia Plan. The New Jersey Plan favored small states in that it proposed a unicameral Congress with equal representation for each state.
Northwest Ordinance
The 1787 Northwest Ordinance defined the process by which new states could be admitted into the Union from the Northwest Territory. It forbade slavery in the territory, but allowed citizens to vote on the legality of slavery once statehood had been established. The Northwest Ordinance was the most lasting measure of the national government under the Articles of Confederation, in that it established the model which would be used for admission of new states well into the future.
Republicans
Rising up as the opposition party to the dominant Federalists during the Washington administration, Republicans claimed that liberty could only be protected if political power were rested firmly in the hands of the people and those government officials closest and most responsive to the people. They fought to overturn Alexander Hamilton's measures and distribute greater power to the states.
Society of Cincinnati
The Society of Cincinnati was a fraternal order of Continental Army officers, which instated a system of hereditary membership. Despite the fact that many political luminaries, such as George Washington, were members, republicans often clashed with the society, fearing that it would eventually become a hereditary aristocracy akin to the British nobility.
Strict Constructionists
Strict constructionists favored a strict reading of the Constitution and especially of the elastic clause, in order to limit the powers of the central government. Led Thomas Jefferson, strict constructionists embodied the ideological core of the Republican Party.
Supreme Court
The highest judicial body in the land, as created by the Constitution.
Three-fifths Clause
During the framing of the Constitution, Southern delegates argued that slaves should count toward representative seats, while the delegates of northern states, most of which had or would soon abolish slavery, argued that to count slaves as members of the population would grant an unfair advantage to the southern states. The result of this debate was the adoption of the Three-fifths Clause, which allowed three-fifths of all slaves to be counted as people.
Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was the first major proposal covering representation presented to the Constitutional Convention. It proposed the creation of a bicameral legislature with representation in both houses proportional to population. The Virginia Plan favored the large states, who would have a much weightier voice than the small states under this plan. The small states proposed the New Jersey Plan in opposition.
Events
Annapolis Convention
Originally planning to discuss the promotion of interstate commerce, delegates from five states met at Annapolis in September 1786 and ended up suggesting a convention to amend the Articles of Confederation.
Constitutional Convention
In response to the Annapolis Convention's suggestion, Congress called for the states to send delegates to Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. Delegates came to the convention from every state but Rhode Island on May 25, 1787, and decided to draft an entirely new framework of government, which would give greater powers to the central government. This document became the Constitution.
Proclamation of American Neutrality
In the early 1790s, Britain and France went to war with one another. The American public was torn over the issue of which nation to support, the South pulling for a pro-French foreign policy, and the North advocating a pro-British policy. Issued on April 22, 1793, the Proclamation of American Neutrality was Washington's response to the division of the nation, stating that the US would stay out of the war.
Shays' Rebellion
As economic depression struck Massachusetts, farmers were increasingly burdened by debt, a problem exacerbated by an increase in taxes. In August 1786, Western Massachusetts farmers organized in an attempt to shut down three county courthouses through violent means in order to prevent foreclosure proceedings. The rebellion was easily put down, but it alerted many to the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of Confederation.
Whiskey Rebellion
Alexander Hamilton had pushed a high excise tax through Congress as part of his economic policy efforts. However, the tax affected western Pennsylvania distillers almost exclusively, and was administered by federal officials with little knowledge of or compassion for the situation of the small farmers. Violence broke out in July 1794. In a short period of time over one hundred men attacked a US Marshall, the chief revenue officer for Allegheny County saw his house and stables burned to the ground, and organized, militant farmers threatened to form a separate country. In a show of strength, George Washington himself, led a force of militiamen to crush the rebellion.
Washington's Farewell Address
Published on September 19, 1796, George Washington officially resigned the presidency after two terms, setting a precedent that would remain in place until FDR in the 1930s. The focus of the address was a warning that Americans should avoid the rise of political parties that the previous years had seen. He further advised future generations to maintain a policy of isolationism in foreign affairs.
Study Questions
How did the debate over the fate of Alexander Hamilton's proposal to create the Bank of the United States foreshadow the future ideological division between Republicans and Federalists?
The Republicans claimed, correctly, that the Constitution nowhere granted Congress the power to grant charters. Any claim that Congress could create the Bank of the United States relied upon a loose reading of the Constitution, especially the elastic clause, which states that Congress shall have the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution...powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States." The so-called strict constructionists, advocating a strict reading of the Constitution, focused on the latter part of the clause, claiming that the Constitution did not give Congress the power to grant the bank a charter, so that the passing of the bank charter could not be considered necessary and proper. Loose constructionists, on the other hand, focused on the beginning of the clause, claiming it gave Congress the power to do anything not expressly forbidden by the Constitution.
Furthermore, reactions to the prospect of a national bank foreshadowed the widening rift between North and South. The North was, in general, very much in favor of the bank, while the South was very much opposed. The debate over the bank thus demonstrated both the growing ideological divisions in the United States and hinted at the geographical sources of those divisions.
Many historians describe the American experiment in building the state as a continuous struggle between tradition and change. Evaluate this statement, giving examples to support your evidence.
The founding fathers were no doubt influenced by the traditions and habits of the past, as well as eager to create a new form of government based on the republican values which rose to the fore during the revolution. The first area in which this tension may be seen is during the formation of state constitutions. Despite the chance to radically alter the form of government, states more often than not maintained the practices of the past, including establishing bicameral legislatures, a direct parallel to the structure of British Parliament, and maintaining property ownership as a necessity for voters and office holders. Though the spirit of government was markedly more liberal than that of the British government, these traditions survived the ideological transition. The impact of tradition in the United States did not weaken with time, even in the face of the creation of a new government under the Constitution. This is best exhibited in the creation of the federal-court system. In response to widespread fears that a national justice system would wipe out the legal traditions that had operated in the states for decades, Congress established a federal-court system which placed federal district courts in each state which ran according to local custom. This compromise represented a balance between access to the newly created federal justice system and a preservation of tradition. Throughout its history, the United States has found reason to strike similar balances in countless political arenas as it has evolved.
The division of the United States into political parties took on a distinctively geographic element during the early years of the Union. Explain how this division may be explained?
More than anything else, the division of the nation into political parties exemplified the growing rift between North and South. The conservative industrial North was decidedly federalist, while the more liberal agricultural South was overwhelmingly Republican. Historians most often attribute this split to the differing economic modalities of the regions. Perhaps most important in the division into parties were the differing social concerns which grew out of industrial and agricultural economies. In the North, as in every industrial economy, those with economic power sought to protect that power from those who did not have as much, namely the masses in the workforce. Thus, to the powerful businessmen of the North, an ideology that closely linked the wealthy to the government and put political power in the hands of elites, free from the influence of the masses, sounded very attractive. In contrast, the workforce in the South was made up primarily of slaves, with no chance to rise in the economic ranks and vie for the power of the plantation owners. Moreover, southern plantation owners did not have an antagonistic relationship with small farmers. To the contrary, they trusted their abilities to be elected by the small farmers and to lead them in peace, should they be given the chance to. Thus, for southerners, an ideology that placed the power of the government in the hands of the people did not seem dangerous, but logical.
