Political developments in the Early National

Period

George Washington

Inaugurated President on April 30, 1789 in New YorkJohn Adams was Vice PresidentAsked Congress for funds to created three cabinet positions

The First Cabinet

Secretary of State – Thomas JeffersonSecretary of War – Henry KnoxSecretary of the Treasury – Alexander Hamilton

Creation of a National Bank, 1791

Washington and Hamilton created the Bank of the United StatesMadison and Jefferson greatly disagreed that Congress had the power to created the bank because the Constitution did not give this power to Congress

Hamilton argued that Congress had the “implied power” to create a national bank because of the “necessary and proper” clauseGreatly extended Congress’s power and led to the Whiskey Rebellion

Whiskey Rebellion, 1794

Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a tax on whiskeyWashington sent an armed force against themFrom then on, most people in the West opposed the Federalists

Emergence of Political PartiesControversy over the Federalists’ support for the Bank of the United States, the Jay Treaty, and the undeclared war on France contributed to the emergence of an organized opposition party, the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Emergence of Political Parties

Emerged after George Washington’s presidency ended in the late 1790s Jefferson and Madison opposed Hamilton’s financial plan

Federalists

• Led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton

• Believed in a strong national government and industrial economy

• Were supported by bankers and business interests in the Northeast.

Democratic Republicans

Led by Thomas JeffersonBelieved in a weak national government and an agricultural economy.Supported by farmers, artisans, and frontier settlers in the South

Opposed to he Federalists’ support for the Bank of the United States, the Jay Treaty, and the undeclared war on France

Election of 1800

Won by Thomas Jefferson, was the first American presidential election in which power was peacefully transferred from one party to another.

Important Supreme Court Decisions

Marbury v. Madison

Established the power of the federal courts to declare laws unconstitutional: “judicial review” Chief Justice John Marshall of Virginia

McCulloch v. Maryland

prohibited the states from taxing agencies of the federal government “the power to tax is the power to destroy”

Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

Established the federal government’s right to regulate all aspects of interstate commerce (interstate waterways)

Expansion resulting from the Louisiana Purchase and War of 1812

Louisiana Purchase

Jefferson as President in 1803 purchased the huge Louisiana Territory from France

Louisiana Purchase

The purchase doubled the size of the United States overnight

Lewis and Clark

Jefferson authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the new territories that lay west of the Mississippi River

Lewis Clark

Lewis and Clark

Sacajawea, an Indian (First American) woman, served as their guide and translator