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35 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The first 10 Amendments
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Congress must not interfere with freedom of religion, speech, or press, assembly, and petition (1). The people may bear arms (2). Soldiers may not be arbitrarily quartered on the people. (3). Unreasonable searches are forbidden (4). The individual is guranteed certain rights when on trial and the right to life, liberty, and property.(5) An accused person had important rights. (6) The rules of common law are recognized (7) Excessive fines and unusual punishments are forbidden (8). The people reatain rights not here enumerated (9). Powers do not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states and the people. (10)
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Tenth Amendment
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Reassured the rights to teh states' rightersm. It reserved all rights not explicitly delegated or prohibited by the federal government while specifying protection for minority and individiual liberties.
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Judiciary Act of 1789
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Created effective federal courts. Organized the Supreme Court, with a chief justice and five associates, as well as the federal district and circuit courts, and established the office of attorney general.
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Trickle down
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A concept developed by Hamilton. His plan was to shape the fiscal policies of the administration in such a way as to favor the wealthier groups. They, in turn, would gratefully lend the government monetary and political support. The new federal regime would thrive, the propertied classes would fatten, and prosperity would trickle down to the masses
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"fund" the entire national debt "at par"
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Without public confidence in the government, Hamilton could not
secure the funds with which to float his risky schemes. He therefore boldly urged Congress to “fund’’ the entire national debt “at par” and to assume completely the debts incurred by the states during the recent war. “Funding at par’’ meant that the federal government would pay off its debts at face value, plus accumulated interest. |
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"Assumption"
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Hamilton. made a convincing case for “assumption.’’ The state debts could be regarded as a proper national obligation, for they had been incurred in the war for independence. But foremost in Hamilton’s thinking was the belief that assumption would chain the states more tightly to the “federal chariot.’’ Thus the secretary’s maneuver would shift the attachment of wealthy creditors from the states to the federal government.
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District of Columbia
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Forthcoming federal district. is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the Territory into a single entity called the District of Columbia. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. Virginia did not want the state debts assumed, but it did want the forthcoming federal district*—now the District of Columbia—to be located on the Potomac River. It would thus gain in
commerce and prestige. |
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"Father of the National Debt"
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Hamilton was the “Father of the National Debt, ’’His objectives were as much political as economic. He believed that within limits, a national debt was a “national blessing’’—a kind of union adhesive. The more creditors to whom the government owed money, the more people there would be with a personal stake in the success of his ambitious enterprise. His unique contribution was to make a debt—ordinarily a liability—an asset for vitalizing the financial system as well as the government itself.
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The first tariff law
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The first tariff law, imposing a low tariff of about 8 percent on the value of dutiable imports, was speedily passed by the first Congress in 1789. Revenue was by far the main goal, but the measure was also designed to erect a low protective wall around infant industries, which bawled noisily for more shelter than they received. Hamilton had the vision to see that the industrial revolution would soon reach America, and he argued strongly in favor of more protection for the well-to-do manufacturing groups—another vital element in his economic program.
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"Strict Construction"
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Believing that the Constitution should be interpreted “literally’’ or
“strictly,’’ Jefferson and his states’ rights disciples zealously embraced the theory of “strict construction.’ It ’limits or restricts judicial interpretation. is also commonly used more loosely as a generic term for conservatism among the judiciary. |
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"Necessary and proper" clause
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Hamilton boldly invoked the clause of the Constitution that stipulates that Congress may pass any laws “necessary and proper’’ to carry out the powers vested in the various government agencies. The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer there of. The government was explicitly empowered to collect taxes and regulate trade Hamilton argued, a national bank would be not only “proper’’ but “necessary.’’ By inference or implication—that is, by virtue of “implied powers’’— Congress would be fully justified in establishing the Bank of the United States.
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"loose" or "broad" interpretation
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Hamilton contended for a “loose’’ or “broad’’ interpretation of the Constitution. He and his federalist followers thus evolved the theory of “loose construction’’ by invoking the “elastic clause’’ of the Constitution—a precedent for enormous federal powers. Loose constructionism is used, if at all, by strict constructionists as a straw man to disparage those with whom they disagree.
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"Elastic clause"
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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.
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Bank of the United States
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The Bank of the United States, as created by Congress in 1791, was chartered for twenty years. Located in Philadelphia, it was to have a capital of $10 million, one-fifth of it owned by the federal government. Stock was thrown open to public sale.
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Whiskey Rebellion
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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. George Washington’s government, now substantially strengthened, commanded a new respect. Yet the foes of the administration condemned its brutal display of force—for having used a sledgehammer to crush a gnat.
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Two Party System
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is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections, at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties. in light of early suspicions about the very legitimacy of parties, their competition for power has actually proved to be among the indispensable ingredients of a sound democracy. During Hamilton's time the parties consisted of the Democrat Republicans and the Federalists.
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Democrat Republican
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Democrat Republican was the political party that had developed after Hamilton’s domestic policies under Jefferson and Madison in 1792. It was the dominant political party from 1800 to 1824. It then split into several factions one which became the modern Democratic political party. They were created to oppose the Federalists. Members called themselves Republicans but the term Democrat Republicans was used by the opposing parties. 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.
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Federalists
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was the Hamiltonian party of the time. They opposed the Democrat Republicans. It was a political party in the period of 1792 to 1816 almost lasting to the 1820s. Alexander Hamilton created the party during the the first tem of President George Washington. They build supporteres, mostly urban, to support their fiscal policies. which wanted a fiscally sound and strong nationalistic government and was opposed by the Democratic-Republicans. The only Federalist president was John Adams but George Washington was largely sympathetic to the federalist. 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.
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Franco American Alliance of 1778
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bound the United States to help the French defend their West Indies against future foes, and the booming British fleets were certain to attack these strategic islands. was a defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future.
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Neutrality Proclamation of 1793
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Washington boldly issued his Neutrality Proclamation in 1793, shortly after the outbreak of war between Britain and France. proclaimed the government’s official neutrality in the widening conflict but sternly warned American citizens to be impartial toward both armed camps. America’s first formal declaration of aloofness from Old World quarrels, Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation proved to be a major prop of the spreading isolationist tradition. It also proved to be enormously controversial .pro-French Jeffersonian were enraged by the Neutrality Proclamation, especially by Washington’s method of announcing it unilaterally, without consulting Congress. The pro-British Federalists were heartened.
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Citizen Edmund Genet
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representative of the French Republic, Citizen
Edmond Genêt. he undertook to fit out privateers and otherwise take advantage of the existing Franco-American alliance.was soon swept away by his enthusiastic reception by the Jeffersonian Republicans. He foolishly came to believe that the Neutrality Proclamation did not reflect the true wishes of the American people, and he consequently embarked upon unneutral activity not authorized by the French alliance. |
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Treaty of Greenville
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Treaty of Greenville, signed in August 1795, the confederacy gave up vast tracts of the Old Northwest, including most of present-day Indiana and Ohio. In exchange the Indians received a lump-sum payment of $20,000, an annual annuity of $9,000, the right to hunt the lands they had ceded, and, most important, what they hoped was recognition of their sovereign status. Although the treaty codified an unequal relationship, the Indians felt that it put some limits on the ability of the United States to decide the fate of Indian peoples.
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Jay's Treaty
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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.
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Pinckney's Treaty of 1795
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Pinckney’s
Treaty of 1795 with Spain granted the Americans virtually everything they demanded, including free. established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River. navigation of the Mississippi and the large disputed territory north of Florida. |
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Farewell Address
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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.
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XYZ Affair
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A bribery scandal that caused public uproar during the Adams administration in 1798. After several naval skirmishes and French seizures of American merchant ships, Adams sent ambassadors to Paris to try to normalize relations. When the emissaries arrived, however, French officials demanded $250,000 before they would even speak with the Americans, let alone guarantee a truce. These officials, whom Adams dubbed X, Y, and Z, outraged Congress and the American public. Adams’s popularity skyrocketed, and Congress braced for war. Although no war declaration was ever made, the United States and France waged undeclared naval warfare in the Atlantic for several years.
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Convention of 1800
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was a meeting between the United States of America and France to settle the hostilities that had erupted during the Quasi-War. The Quasi-War, waged primarily in the Caribbean, had existed since the American delegation to France, arriving in 1797, had been told that America had to pay $250,000 to see—not negotiate with—the French ambassador. This incident, known as the XYZ Affair, was scandalous in America. American merchants in the Caribbean were seized by French warships, and American privateers retaliated against French shipping.
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Alien Laws
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A group of acts passed in 179 8, designed to restrict the freedom of foreigners in the United States and curtail the free press in anticipation of a war with France. The Alien Acts lengthened the residency time required for foreigners to become American citizens from five years to fourteen years and gave the president the power to expel aliens considered dangerous to the nation. It was passed simultaneously with the Sedition Act, and together they provoked the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, written the same year in protest. These resolutions stated that individual states had the right to nullify unconstitutional laws passed by Congress.
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Sedition Act
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A 1798 act (passed simultaneously with the Alien Acts) that banned all forms of public expression critical of the president or Congress. President John Adams approved the act, fearing the influence of French immigrants in the United States and also hoping the free speech ban would harm his political opponents, the Democratic-Republicans. Ironically, the act only made the opposition party stronger. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions the same year in protest, arguing that individual states had the right to nullify unconstitutional laws passed by Congress.
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Matthew Lyon
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(1749-1822) was a printer, farmer, soldier and politician, serving as a United States Representative from Vermont and from Kentucky. had earlier gained fame by spitting in the face of a Federalist. He was sentenced to four months in jail for writing of President Adams’s “unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice.’’
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Virginia and Kentucky Revolutions
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Two resolutions, passed in 1798–1799 and written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, that declared that the individual states had the right to nullify unconstitutional acts of Congress. The resolutions stated that because the individual states had created the Union, they also reserved the right to nullify any legislation that ran counter to their interests.
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Compact theory
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Jefferson and Madison stressed the compact theory—a theory popular among English political philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As applied to America by the Jeffersonians, this concept meant that the thirteen sovereign states, in creating the federal government, had entered into a “compact,’’ or contract, regarding its jurisdiction. The national government was consequently the agent or creation of the states. the individual states were the final judges of whether their agent had broken the “compact’’ by overstepping the authority originally granted.
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"nullification"
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a refusal to accept them
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Federalist Features
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Rule by the “best people, Hostility to extension of democracy, by the “best people” Hostility to extension of democracy A powerful central government at the expense of states’ rights. Loose interpretation of Constitution Government to foster business; concentration of wealth in interests of capitalistic enterprise A protective tariff Pro-British (conservative Tory tradition) National debt a blessing, if properly funded An expanding bureaucracy A powerful central bank Restrictions on free speech and press Concentration in seacoast area ; A strong navy to protect shippers
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Democratic-Republican Features
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Rule by the informed masses
Friendliness toward extension of democracy A weak central government so as to preserve states’ states’ rights rights Strict interpretation of Constitution No special favors for business; agriculture preferred. No special favors for manufacturers Pro-French (radical Revolutionary tradition) National debt a bane; rigid economy Reduction of federal officeholders Encouragement to state banks Relatively free speech and press Concentration in South and Southwest; in agricultural areas and backcountry A minimal navy for coastal defense |
