What's up beautiful people? Welcome to Joe's Productions. In this video, we're going to take a look at the first years under the Constitution, and we're going to take a look at the important events that took place in the 1790s under George Washington and John Adams.
It is during George Washington and John Adams'presidential administrations that various political leaders created institutions and precedents that put the ideas and principles of the Constitution into practice. One such precedent is the establishment of the presidential cabinet. The purpose of the different executive agencies were to advise the president.
Washington's cabinet included Thomas Jefferson that served as Secretary of the State. This position dealt largely with foreign affairs. Another significant figure was Alexander Hamilton.
Hamilton served as Secretary of the Treasury. The job of the Treasury Department was to handle the nation's economy. You might recall the economy of the US was a mess. There was debt from the American Revolution and creditors wanted to get paid back. Not to mention, there wasn't a lot of trade going on with other nations.
In response to the economic problems facing the nation, Hamilton drafted various reports to Congress that outlined his vision for an economic program that secured the financial stability and credit of the new nation. In the report on public credit, Hamilton advocated that the federal government should assume all of the individual state debts from the American Revolution. This plan, known as the Assumption Plan, was meant to deal with the problem you can see in the graphic there.
As you can see on the graphic, not only was the national government in debt, but also many states owed millions of dollars. Under the Assumption Plan, the U.S. government would take on the debt of the states. The idea behind this was that this would free up state money for business and trade. Another perk of this plan was the creditors, or people who are owed money, now have a stake in the success of the new nation.
In addition, this act would further reinforce the power of the federal government. government, something the Federalists like Alexander Hamilton truly believed in. Now this alone would not fix all of the economic problems, so in addition to the Assumption Plan, Hamilton proposed additional actions to raise revenue.
Congress passed a tariff to bring in money. A tariff is a tax on goods imported into the United States. The goal of the tariff was not only to generate revenue, but by making foreign products imported into the U.S. more expensive, the hope was this would help American manufacturers. And an excise tax on goods such as whiskey was also passed to generate revenue. Perhaps the most important part of Hamilton's economic vision was the creation of a national bank.
The idea behind the Bank of the United States was that revenue generated by the tariff or excise taxes on goods such as whiskey would be deposited into the first bank of the United States. The Bank of the U.S. would provide loans to businesses, especially those in manufacturing and industry. And the idea behind all of this bank stuff was that the money coming in and going out will stimulate the economy of the new nation.
Jefferson opposed Hamilton's plan, which he felt promoted urban manufacturing interest over those of the agricultural interest. Jefferson also originally opposed the assumption plan because some states had already paid off their state debt and he was worried about a powerful federal government. In addition, the creation of the National Bank of the United States raised constitutional questions. Was the creation of the Bank of the U.S. constitutional?
Jefferson said the National Bank was unconstitutional. Article 1, Section 8. Section 8 of the Constitution lists the enumerated powers of the legislative branch. And nothing in Article 1, Section 8 mentions that the legislature can create a bank. Jefferson and his supporters believed in a strict interpretation or strict construction of the Constitution. And what this meant was the government can only do what is specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
Since the Constitution did not give Congress the explicit power to create a bank, the national government cannot do it. Hamilton though argued that Article I, Section 8 provided the government the power to create a bank. He argued that the national bank was necessary for dealing with the financial health of the nation. To defend his position, Hamilton used what is known as the necessary and proper clause to justify creation of the Bank of the US.
Also known as the Elastic Clause, this part of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers that are enumerated in the Constitution. Hamilton argued since Congress has the power to tax and regulate trade, it makes sense Congress has the power to create a national bank. Hamilton and his supporters believed in a loose construction. This stated the Constitution gave the federal government broad powers to do what is necessary for running the country. Ultimately, the bank issue is important not because of disagreements over the bank, but rather how different individuals interpret this new constitution.
As a result of these issues, the first party system would develop during the 1790s as disagreements emerged over the direction of the new nation's economic policy and debates about the power of the federal government. The two parties that will dominate this era will include the Federalist and the Democratic Republicans. Hit pause to get a quick review of the big ideas we just covered. The Whiskey Rebellion is another event that shows the division within the United States in the 1790s. Part of Hamilton's financial plan included an excise tax on whiskey.
The purpose of this tax was to generate revenue for the federal government. In response to the excise tax, farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay it. Federalists see the Whiskey Rebellion as a challenge to the authority of the new federal government and its ability to govern.
For some, this was giving them flashbacks to the failure of the articles in dealing with Shea's rebellion. In contrast to Shea's rebellion, though, during the Whiskey Rebellion, Washington demonstrated the power of the federal government by leading thousands of troops to western Pennsylvania to stop the revolt. While critics such as Thomas Jefferson were disturbed by the use of force, this show of force demonstrated that this new federal government under the Constitution would be able to govern effectively. It would not just be domestic disputes that would help contribute to the growth of political parties.
You may recall under the Articles of Confederation, the young republic faced threats from various foreign nations. One challenge occurred when the US sought free navigation of the Mississippi River. You may recall under the Articles, Spain banned American shipping along the river. But a breakthrough came with Pickney's Treaty between the US and Spain.
The treaty helped the development of U.S. trade since Spain agreed to allow the U.S. to use the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans and made the northern boundary of Florida the 31st parallel. This was a diplomatic win for the young nation under George Washington. Another big problem for the young republic was the French Revolution.
The revolution presented challenges to the U.S. over issues of free trade and foreign policy. The overthrow of King Louis was initially supported by many Americans, but the reign of terror and France fighting darn near the rest of Europe made some rethink their support for the French Revolution. Washington's own cabinet was split over the French Revolution. His Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, was all about supporting the French. Jefferson felt the Enlightenment ideas and the formation of another republic was a good thing for both countries.
Not to mention the French helped us during the American Revolution, so it was only fair that we return the favor. Opposition to the French Revolution was led by Alexander Hamilton. In his mind, the revolution was way more radical than we were comfortable with. The reign of terror, heads were being chopped off. And starting in 1792, France was fighting most of the monarchies of Europe, including Great Britain.
Folks like Hamilton worried that this fighting would disrupt trade. During this time, France attempted to restart the Franco-American alliance. And in response, Washington issued the Neutrality Proclamation of 1793. In it, he said the US would be neutral and the rationale was, we are a young nation, the last thing we need is getting into one of Europe's wars. These challenges further fueled political disagreements over the best way to respond to both the French Revolution and the war that followed. While these issues with France and Spain were going on, George Washington also had to deal with estranged former mama, Great Britain.
As US settlers migrated west beyond the Appalachian Mountains, they came into contact with British threats. Great Britain openly defied the peace treaty of 1783 by maintaining a chain of forts on US soil. While there, the British sold firearms to local Indian tribes that would then be used to pose a threat to American settlers on the frontier. The presence of the British on North American soil was seen as a threat to American settlement and peace out in the west. Not to mention in the 1790s both England and France began impressing US ships and sailors.
Neither side liked that we were neutral and sought to trade with both countries, so they began taking our ships and seamen. In the midst of all this, Chief Justice John Jay was sent to negotiate with Great Britain to preserve US neutrality and deal with this threat. The result of that meeting was Jay's Treaty of 1794. While Britain did agree to leave the forts they occupied on American soil, they don't really do this in a timely manner and Jay's Treaty said nothing about Great Britain stopping the harassment of American ships. Jay's Treaty was celebrated by Federalists for keeping the US neutral, but condemned by many others, including the Jeffersonians, for not really addressing the problems between the US and Great Britain.
By 1796, George decided to leave the presidency and in doing so began the tradition of the Farewell Address. In leaving office after two terms, Washington established another precedent. of voluntarily stepping down from the presidency after two terms. Washington felt it was important to step aside because the Constitution created a republic and serving too long may seem too like a king. Plus he was old and wants to just go and chill in Mount Vernon.
In Washington's farewell address, he encouraged national unity and warned the nation against political factions. And Washington also warned about the dangers of permanent foreign alliances. This tradition of avoiding entangling alliances with Europe will be followed by subsequent presidential administrations.
Following George Washington's retirement, fellow Federalist John Adams is elected president. And like Washington, Adams had to deal with violations to American neutrality as both France and Great Britain continue to seize American ships. Adams wanted to avoid a war with France and set US diplomats to France to negotiate.
However, French officials known as X, Y, and Z attempted to get the Americans to bribe them in order to start negotiations with Foreign Minister Talleyrand. This incident known as the XYZ Affair outraged many Americans as a result an undeclared naval war between the US and France began known as the Quasi-War. And in our next video, I'll take a look at what happens after the XYZ Affair.
Until next time, thanks for watching. Have a beautiful day. Peace.