A New Nation | THE AMERICAN YAWP

I. Introduction

• July 4, 1788: Grand federal procession in Philadelphia for the new national constitution.
  • Symbolic activities: Blacksmiths beating swords into tools, religious leaders marching together.
• Celebrations marking government establishment, e.g., George Washington's oath, Thanksgiving 1789.
• The actual unity of the nation was complicated; the Constitution was controversial.

II. Shays's Rebellion

• Post-Revolution economic hardships for farmers in Massachusetts.
• Farmers' debts and weak economies blamed on the Articles of Confederation.
• Daniel Shays led a protest movement against foreclosures.
• Government response: Governor Bowdoin called militia; rebellion highlighted need for a stronger central government.

III. The Constitutional Convention

• Prompted by Shays's Rebellion, delegates met in Philadelphia, 1787.
• Key issue: Federal government's inability to levy taxes.
• James Madison's Virginia Plan proposed a new government framework with a strong central authority.
• Debates over representation led to the Great Compromise: bicameral legislature, population-based lower house, equal representation upper house.
• Executive branch structure was contentious; decided on a single president elected by an electoral college.

IV. Ratifying the Constitution

• Constitution required state ratification; debates were intense.
• Absence of a Bill of Rights was a major contention.
• Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, Jay promoted ratification.
• Massachusetts, Virginia ratified with promises of future amendments.
• Ultimately, all states ratified amid ongoing debates about potential tyranny.

V. Rights and Compromises

• Bill of Rights added in 1791, mainly due to pressure and compromise.
• Persistent issues: gender inequality, slavery.
• Dirty compromise on the slave trade, protected until 1808.

VI. Hamilton’s Financial System

• Alexander Hamilton's vision: industrial, commercial society.
• Proposed federal assumption of state debts, creation of the Bank of the United States.
• Bank's role: stabilize currency, promote commerce, establish government-creditor ties.
• Whiskey tax led to regional unrest (Western farmers).

VII. The Whiskey Rebellion and Jay's Treaty

• Western farmers protested whiskey tax, saw it as a sectional divide.
• Washington dispatched troops to quash rebellion, showing federal strength.
• Jay’s Treaty with Britain: maintained neutrality, favored Northern interests, controversial.

VIII. The French Revolution and the Limits of Liberty

• Initially supported by Americans, the French Revolution’s radical turn worried Federalists.
• Division over French Revolution shaped Federalist and Republican parties.
• Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) aimed to curb dissent, viewed as oppressive by Jeffersonian Republicans.

IX. Religious Freedom

• Gradual disestablishment of state churches; debate on federal vs. state religious freedom.
• Jefferson and Madison promoted separation of church and state.

X. The Election of 1800

• First peaceful transfer of power between parties: Federalists to Republicans.
• Jefferson's victory perceived as a "revolution" against aristocracy.
• Marbury v. Madison established judicial review, complicating Republican agenda.

XI. Conclusion

• The Constitution established strong federal government but could not reconcile all societal divisions.
• Political parties and regional differences tested national unity.
• Ongoing debates about the balance of liberty and government power.