The First Five Presidents. Early American Politics Foreign Policy:

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1 The First Five Presidents Early American Politics Foreign Policy: 1. The French Revolution: (1789) The people of France were tired of their unjust king, Louie XVI and the abusive power of the government. Looking at the success of the American Revolution, the French people rebelled against their king and began building a new nation based on Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity (brotherhood). Many Americans were thrilled and supported the French strive for democracy. Problem: The French were a bit more violent (1793) they not only beheaded the King and Queen (a later) Marie Antoinette, the people also began executing many nobles, the educated, doctors, etc. causing many Americans to withdraw their support for the revolution. After the French won their independence, they began a war with Britain. Since the French helped the Americans win the Revolutionary war, they expected the Americans to help the French fight against the British. 2. Neutrality Proclamation: Newly appointed President Washington was faced with a difficult decision. The US was not prepared of war. The US was in great dept., not to mention, Britain was a huge trade market for the US economy. Declaring another war would hurt the US trade economy, thus putting the US in more dept. So, Washington presented the Neutrality Proclamation This stated that the United States could not take sides with any European countries that were at war with each other. Of course, this did not sit well with the French. There were also members of congress who felt that by declaring neutrality, we are dishonoring our agreement with the French that we would support them if they ever needed us. 3. Trade: Impressment The practice of forcing people to serve in the army or navy; led to increased tensions between Great Britain and the US in the early 1800 s. American merchant ships continued to sail hoping the Neutrality proclamation would keep them safe. You see, the US still needed to do business with Europe, and when two countries are at war (France and Britain), this can be a little rough. Both countries did not want the US to supply their enemy with goods. So, each country would pass laws to prevent American merchants from trading with the other. Both the French and the British would capture US merchant ships. The real trouble started when Britain began stopping and searching US ships for sailors who had run away from the British navy, forcing the sailors to return to British ships and many times, US citizens were captured by accident. This was called impressments. The US protested, with little result.

2 4. Washington Farewell Address: (1796) Before he left office, Washington warned the people about two things. First: that the US would gain nothing by becoming involved in other nation s affairs. It is our true policy, he declared, to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of foreign world. The policy of avoiding alliances with other countries became known as isolationism. This idea will be the foundation of American foreign policy for the next century. Second: growing political conflicts within the nation. He warned that we must have political unity to be a successful nation. 5. Trade: Impressment Abuse Continues: The Embargo Act Great Britain continues to violate the US neutrality law some wanted to go to war, while others wanted favored an embargo the banning of trade from Britain Congress passed the Embargo Act that banned all trade with foreign countries. American ships could not sail to foreign ports. And, American ports were closed to British ships. They hoped that this would punish both France and Britain for their violations of US ships. Unfortunately, this was devastating to American merchants. Without foreign trade, they lost enormous amounts of money. At the same time, it really had no effect on Britain or France it was a failure. 6. Political Tensions Heighten War Hawks (1812) President Madison took office in 1809 He wanted to try a new approach to protecting Americans at sea. He offered France and Britain a deal: If you agree to stop attaching American ships, the US will stop trading with your enemy. But this didn t work both France and GB continued to seizing US ships. Several young members of Congress (especially those from the South) called War Hawks took the lead in calling for war against Britain. (They also wanted to take Canada from Britain giving the US even more territory. 7. The War of 1812: Madison chose to abandon isolationism and requested to Congress to declare war on Britain, July 17, This war was fought at sea and on US soil. North at the Canadian boarders and South in order to capture the port of New Orleans. Canada could never be taken, but Andrew Jackson led the army that struck down the British at the Battle of New Orleans the last major conflict. Note: The war produced intense feelings of patriotism among many Americans for having stood up to the mighty British. The war also broke the power of many Native American groups. Finally, a lack of goods caused by the interruption in trade, boosted American manufacturing bring more business to US markets. 8. Revolutions in South America The US was also had a dispute with Spain over the southern border with Spanish Florida. Through a series of conflicts between the US And Spanish Florida and the southern Seminole Indians, a treaty was signed in 1819 which settled all border disputes between the US and Spain. Spain gives Florida to the US and the US give up its claim to what is now Texas. The US also agrees to pay up to $5 million to Spain. 9. The Monroe Doctrine Spain was still having problems most of their colonies were claiming their independence Mexico broke free from Spain in Monroe became worried that rival

3 European powers might try to take control of newly independent Latin American countries. He also was concerned about Russia s interest in the northwest coast of North American (Canada, today s Alaska). In an interesting turn of events, both Britain and the US worked together to warn the rest of Europe not to interfere in Latin America. Both countries has strong trading ties with most of the independent Latin American countries. The Doctrine was an exclusive statement of American policy warning European powers not to interfere with the Americas. There are four basic points: 1) The US would not interfere in the affairs of European nations. 2) The US would recognize, and not interfere with, colonies that already existed in North and South America 3) The Western Hemisphere was to be off limits to future colonization by any foreign power. 4) The U.S. government would consider any European power s attempt to colonize or interfere with any nation in the Western Hemisphere to be a hostile act. II. Domestic Policy: Okay, let s review. The US has just won their independence, created an amazing government system (Constitution, Three branches of gov t., Bill of Rights, and a President) now what? Well, the first order of business for President Washington is to create a cabinet to get this new government working. First, he breaks down the committees into three departments. State, War, and Treasury (adds, Attorney general and postmaster general) Next, He starts with selecting men he trusted and he knows are up for the challenges ahead. He selects John Adams as his VP, Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, etc. 1. The Bank of the US: The first major problem is debt. The US is in trouble. Wars are expensive and after the Revolution, we owe money to foreign countries as well as to US citizens. Hamilton created an Economic plan to get us out of debt. He warned, the government would lose respect if the debts were not promptly paid. One step was to create a National Bank and National Mint. At the time, the US did not have one type of currency that everyone used. Each state had its own type of money, and the value in one state may not be the same in another. Hamilton felt that it was necessary to create a national bank where the government could safely deposit its money. This bank would help the government by collecting taxes and keeping those funds safe. It would print paper money backed by the government, giving the nation a stable currency. Most important, a bank would make loans to business people to build new factories and ships. 2. Hamilton s Tariff Program: Another way to increase revenue (money back to the US) was to pass a tariff on all goods entering and leaving the US. He believed that this would bring in money and help American manufacturers. Both the North and the South opposed the tariffs because they felt it would hurt their business. Tariffs make goods

4 expensive to buy and sell. Traders may stop trading with the US if they have to pay taxes on everything. 3. Repayment of Government Bonds: A bond is a certificate of debt that carry a promise to buy back the bond at a higher price after a certain amount of time. This is how the US made money during the Revolutionary war. Citizens would buy a bond for $2.00 with the promise that in X years, they can sell the bond back to the government for $4.00. Making a $2.00 profit. The problem, is that the gov t. did not have the money to buy back the bonds. So, speculators, would buy bonds, at less than they were originally purchased for, from people who needed money now. The speculators will hold on to the old bonds until the value goes back up. Sometimes this works, sometimes the bonds never return a value. Under Hamilton s plan, the government would exchange old bonds for new, more reliable ones that were now guaranteed by the government bank. So, no one is losing anything and the government is simply extending the loan for a few more years as the national bank continues to build up. 4. State Debt and Washington D.C.: Again, Hamilton wants the federal government to pay off its foreign debt. One solution would be for free up state money. Here s what this means: Many states owed a lot of money to the federal government (like taxes). Hamilton felt that if the Federal government paid for most of the individual state debts, it would free the states up so that they could spend their money creating more business, trade, jobs, etc. = more $ back to the state and federal gov t. The Problem: some southern states did not think this was fair. You see, a lot of the southern states (Virginia and Carolina) had already paid their dept back and felt that so should everyone else. Why should the Northern states get their debts wiped clear? To them, this was unfair. The Southern states felt that since the capitol was in the north that the northerners had an unfair advantage over the south when it came to making any type of political decisions. Hamilton had a solution/compromise: If the southern states agree to paying off states war debt, we will move the capitol to an area that is on both north and south land (Maryland / Virginia Washington D.C.) 5. Whiskey Rebellion: (1791) Once again, Hamilton is doing what he can to pay off the foreign war debt. One idea was to put a tax on American made whiskey. Western Grain farmers found it expensive to haul their grain across the mountains to sell in eastern cities. Instead, they distilled their bulky wheat into whiskey which shipped more cheaply. Hamilton considered whiskey a luxury item (not necessary to sustain life), and since whiskey was very popular, a tax would bring in much needed money to the federal bank. However, the famers complained that the tax made their whisky too expensive and refused to pay it. There were a lot of protests (sometimes violent) and debate both in towns and Congress. 1793, Congress agreed to lower the tax (but not end it). Most farmers began to pay up, but not everyone. Tax rebels of Western Pennsylvania Whiskey Boys tarred and feathered tax collectors who tried to enforce the law. Both Hamilton and Washington saw this as a threat to the authority of the national government. Washington led (himself) 13,000 state militia troops across the mountains to crush the rebels. By the time the army arrived, most rebels had fled and

5 it ended without a battle. What this did do was show the Americans that the Federal government has the power and authority to declare a tax and that the people must trust in their representatives/congress. Citizens cannot take matters into their own hands (review Shay s rebellion). This was a clear demonstration of a strong central government. 6. Alien and Sedition Acts: After President Washington left office, ( ) John Adams became the next President. It was not easy for Adams to walk into Washington s shadow. In fact, becoming president was not easy. Despite Washington s warning about inter conflict within political parties, it was bound to happen. In 1796, more than one candidate ran for president. And political groups began to take shape. There were two ways of thinking: The Federalist Party (Hamilton) wanted a strong central government and supported industry and trade. The Federalists chose John Adams and Thomas Pinckney as their candidates. The Democratic Republican Party (Jefferson & Madison) wanted to limit the federal government s power. They chose Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their candidates. We will learn more about the differences later. After the election, Adams won and president (by three votes) and Jefferson took the VP, there was a lot of problems members of Congress belonged to one or the other party and no one agreed on anything. There was a lot of fighting going on between the Federalists and Republican parties. So, the Federalists in Congress passed four controversial laws known as the Alien and Sedition Acts as a way to make life difficult for anyone who did not agree with the Federalists point of view (Republicans). Alien = non citizen & Sedition encouraging rebellion against the government a crime. Alien: This lengthened the time it took for an immigrant to become a citizen with the right to vote from 5 to 14 years. Since most immigrants voted Republican Jefferson saw this as an attack on his party. The other two acts allowed the president to either jail or deport aliens who were suspected of stirring up trouble. Although these laws were never enforced, they did frighten a number of French spies and trouble makers to leave the country. Sedition: This included printing, writing, or speaking in a scandalous or malicious (hateful) way against the government congress or the president. Hamilton approved of this law, believing that it would punish only those who published vicious lies intended to destroy the government. Instead, it punished Republican newspaper editors who printed opposing opinions towards the Adams and the government. What s the problem? This act went against the First Amendment of our Constitution it s unconstitutional! This did not sit well with a lot of people and they are beginning to worry about misuse of government power. Although Congress did not repeal the act, after much pressure from Madison and Jefferson (& States Kentucky and Virginia), they did allow it to expire within a few years. It simply went away, but this act damaged the Federalists party future.