STATION 1 – FEDERALIST ERA
The Constitution established a system of government known
as federalism. Federalism is when the people give some
power to the national government, some power to the state
governments, and keep some powers for themselves.
Powers given to the national government are described in
the Constitution and some examples include the power to
create post offices, control interstate trade, declare and
conduct war, and create a national currency. Powers given
to the state governments are listed in the state constitutions
and some examples include the power to control trade
within the state, establish public schools, create motor
vehicle laws, and control marriage and divorce laws. Powers
kept by the people include the right to choose a religion,
select careers, choose friends, raise a family, and travel.
PAGE 3
There were many challenges facing the new country. Many
Americans disagreed about how to deal with those
challenges. In Washington’s cabinet, Alexander Hamilton
and Thomas Jefferson often disagreed as well. These
disagreements led to the forming of two political parties:
the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.
Alexander Hamilton Thomas Jefferson
PAGE 4
One challenge was deciding where the power should be,
with the national government or the state governments.
Hamilton and the Federalists wanted a strong national
government. They wanted a broad view of the meaning of
the Constitution that would give more power to the national
government. Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans
wanted stronger state governments so that the national
government wouldn’t become too powerful and threaten the
rights of Americans. They wanted a narrow view of the
meaning of the Constitution so that the power of the
national government would be limited.
PAGE 5
Another challenge was dealing with the debt from the
American Revolution that the state governments and the
national government had. Hamilton and the Federalists
wanted to have the national government pay off all the war
debt for the states. They also wanted to create a national
bank called the Bank of the United States that would issue a
single type of money for all the states to use. Referring to
the Necessary and Proper Clause, they said that the bank
was necessary to help the government deal with taxes,
money, and debt. Jefferson and the Democratic-
Republicans said that creating this bank was not in keeping
with a narrow interpretation of the Constitution and should
not be allowed.
PAGE 6
Another challenge was how to interact with foreign
countries. Hamilton and the Federalists believed the U.S.
should have a close relationship with England since many
Americans were of English descent. Jefferson and the
Democratic-Republicans wanted a close relationship with the
French since France had supported the U.S. during the
American Revolution. This became a bigger issue when
England and France went to war against each other and the
U.S. needed to decide who to support and with whom to
continue trade.
PAGE 7
President Washington needed advisors to help him run the
new country, so Congress created four departments within
the executive branch. The leaders of those departments
served as his advisors. These advisors are also known as
the cabinet.
PAGE 8
Department
Handles…
Leader
State
Other countries
Thomas Jefferson
Treasury
Financial issues
Alexander Hamilton
War
Military defense
Henry Knox
Justice
Legal advice
Edmund Randolph
PAGE 9
The First Two Political Parties
Federalists
Democratic-Republicans
Leader: Alexander Hamilton Leader: Thomas Jefferson
Wanted: Wanted:
Strong national government Strong state governments
Broad interpretation of the Constitution
Narrow interpretation of the Constitution
National bank State banks
British alliance French alliance
Emphasis on manufacturing Emphasis on agriculture
Protective tariffs (taxes) Free trade
STATION 2 – FEDERALIST ERA –
GEORGE WASINGTON
Precedents are things that are said or done that serve as
examples for others to follow in the future. As first
president of the U.S., George Washington knew that he
would be setting precedents for future presidents that would
determine the future of the country and the government.
PAGE 11
Precedent #1
Washington believed that getting involved in the affairs of
other countries would be harmful to the U.S. This belief led
him to declare the Proclamation of Neutrality, which stated
that the U.S. would remain neutral and not get involved in
the war between England and France. Washington said the
U.S. should avoid all foreign entanglements.
Precedent #2
Washington warned against forming political parties.
He believed they would divide the country and cause people
to think about what was best for them, not the country as a
whole.
PAGE 15
Precedent #3
Washington only served two terms as president because he
believed that was the most a person should serve. This was
to make sure that no one person gained too much power.
PAGE 17
Precedent #4
Washington was the first to use force to enforce the law.
Hamilton asked Congress to put a tax on all whiskey made
and sold in the U.S. as a way to raise money to pay off the
war debt. Farmers didn’t like having to pay a tax on the
whiskey they produced from their corn. In Pennsylvania,
farmers refused to pay the tax, and attacked, tarred, and
feathered tax collectors. Washington responded to this
challenge to the national government’s authority by leading
over 13,000 soldiers to Pennsylvania to put down the revolt.
The farmers fled rather than fight. This became known as
the Whiskey Rebellion and showed that armed rebellion was
not acceptable.
STATION 3 – FEDERALIST ERA – JOHN ADAMS
In the 1796 presidential election, John Adams, a Federalist,
received the most electoral votes and became president. At
that time, the person with the second highest number of
electoral votes became the vice-president. Thomas
Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, received the second
most votes and became the vice-president. That meant that
the government had a Federalist president and Democratic-
Republican vice president, which made it more difficult to
run the government.
PAGE 20
In the late 1700’s, the French and British were at war. The
French were worried that the U.S was helping the British in
the war against France so they captured U.S. ships that
were heading to England. In 1797, President Adams sent
ambassadors to France to address the issue of the French
attacking U.S. ships. Agents of the French government
demanded that the U.S. pay a bribe of $250,000 and lend
France several million dollars. The U.S. refused. When
Americans heard about the bribe attempt, they called for
war against France. This became known as the XYZ Affair,
named after the three French agents who’d suggested the
bribe.
PAGE 22
To avoid war, Adams sent new ambassadors to France to
meet with Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of France.
Napoleon agreed to stop capturing American ships so that
France would be able to focus on fighting the war with
England. A peace treaty was signed between the U.S. and
France in 1799.
PAGE 24
These events led many Americans to become more
suspicious of aliens. Aliens are immigrants who have not
become citizens of the country in which they live. The
government passed laws called the Alien and Sedition Acts
which allowed the president to put aliens in prison and send
them out of the U.S. if he thought they were dangerous.
Sedition refers to activities that weaken the government.
The laws limited free speech and made it a crime to write or
say anything insulting about the president, Congress, and
the government in general. These laws were later
determined to be unconstitutional.
STATION 4 – WASHINGTON, D.C.
Southern states wanted to change the location of the
nation’s capital. Many Southerners thought that having the
capital in New York gave the Northern states too much
influence over national policy. Also, Southern states weren’t
happy with Alexander Hamilton’s plan to have the national
government repay each state’s debt from the American
Revolution. The Southern states had less war debt than the
northern states and felt they weren’t getting as much benefit
with Hamilton’s plan. So a compromise was reached.
Northern members of Congress agreed to move the capital
to the south and in exchange, the South agreed to
Hamilton’s plan to have the government repay debt the
states’ American Revolution war debt.
PAGE 29
In 1791, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia for
10 years while the permanent capital was being built.
Washington chose a place on the Potomac River that
included part of Maryland and Virginia. The land was made
up of swamps and farms and would eventually become the
city of Washington D.C.
PAGE 30
Benjamin Banneker was born to a free African American
family in rural Maryland. He attended a Quaker school but
was mostly self-educated. When he was young, he would
take apart his father’s farm tools and then reassemble then
so they would work better. His grandmother taught him to
read. He was an outstanding scientist, mathematician, and
surveyor. He was appointed by Thomas Jefferson to work
as a surveyor for the new capital.
PAGE 33
President Washington had appointed a French architect,
Major L’Enfant, to draw up plans for the new capital. After
working on the plans for some time, L’Enfant was fired and
took all his maps and plans back to France. The plans for
the city would have been gone forever except for the
memory of Benjamin Banneker, who redrew all the maps
from memory.
PAGE 34
George Washington was plagued by illness throughout his life. He
was officially reprimanded for being away from his military duties
so often during the French and Indian War. During his lifetime,
he suffered from smallpox, pneumonia, malaria, pleurisy,
dysentery, rheumatism, and influenza, as well as back pains,
dental problems, and recurring fevers. By the time Washington
was 29, he had survived four serious illnesses, any of which could
have proven fatal. He was a big man and possessed incredible
physical strength, which was probably what kept him alive.
During the American Revolution, he had an attack of malaria and
pneumonia. Ironically, he died of a sore throat. Even though he
was plagued by illness, Washington had enough strength to
become the Father of Our Country.
STATION #5 – LOUISIANA PURCHASE
In the 1800’s, thousands of settlers moved westward across
the Appalachian Mountains into areas long inhabited by
Native Americans. Some of these areas became U.S. states.
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio had become states by 1803.
PAGE 36
There was activity further west, too. In 1800, France and
Spain were negotiating for ownership of the Louisiana
Territory, which was the vast region between the Mississippi
River and the Rocky Mountains. Also, along the Pacific coast
in Oregon Territory, Spain, Russia, England and the United
States were establishing settlements.
PAGE 37
As the number of westerners grew, so did their political
power. An important issue for many settlers was the use of
the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans. The
Mississippi River served as a major transportation route for
people and goods. It was less expensive and faster to load
goods onto an ocean-going ship on the east coast, sail down
the eastern coast to New Orleans, off load the goods onto a
river boat, and sail up the Mississippi River rather than
transport goods by wagon across the Appalachian
Mountains.
PAGE 40
Ownership of New Orleans had alternated between France
and Spain for several decades. In 1802, just before turning
the Louisiana Territory over to France, Spain closed New
Orleans to U.S. ships. Westerners called for war against
Spain and France since the closing of New Orleans cut off
their main transportation route. To avoid war, President
Jefferson offered to buy New Orleans from France. He
received a surprising offer back. Napoleon, the leader of
France, offered to sell New Orleans and the entire Louisiana
Territory to the United States.
PAGE 41
Napoleon had three reasons for making the offer.
First, France was at war with England and needed soldiers to
fight the war. In order to hold on to the Louisiana Territory,
French soldiers would have to be stationed there.
Second, there had been a slave revolt on the French island
of Hispaniola in the Caribbean and France needed to send
soldiers there to put down the revolt. Sending soldiers to
the Louisiana Territory would have stretched the army too
thin. Third, wars are expensive, so selling the Louisiana
Territory would give France some much needed money.
PAGE 42
Jefferson wanted to accept the offer; however, the
Constitution said nothing about a president’s right to buy
land for the country. This troubled Jefferson because he
believed in the strict interpretation of the Constitution. But
he also believed in a nation of independent farmers, and
that required land. So, on April 30, 1803, the Louisiana
Purchase was approved for 15 million dollars which gave the
United States the port of New Orleans, the Louisiana
Territory and doubled the size of the country.
STATION 6 – LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
Jefferson planned an expedition to explore the Louisiana
Territory in order to learn about what he’d purchased for the
U.S. The expedition into the northern portion of the
Louisiana Territory was led by Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark. The trip became known as the Lewis and Clark
Expedition and lasted from 1804 to 1806.
PAGE 45
Jefferson set four goals for the expedition:
1: find the headwaters of the Missouri River
2: find an all-water route across the continent
3: establish good relations with Native Americans
4: write accounts of the plants, animals, and landscapes
PAGE 49
In 1806, another expedition, led by Zebulon Pike, was sent
to explore the southern portion of the Louisiana Territory.
Pike’s mission was to find the headwaters of the Arkansas
and Red Rivers. During the expedition, they crossed into
Spanish Territory and were arrested by Spanish troops.
Spanish officials released them in 1807. They returned with
important descriptions of the Great Plains and the valley of
the Rio Grande.
STATION 7 – THE WAR OF 1812
Foreign Policy:
the way a country deals with other countries
Isolationism:
a foreign policy of avoiding political or economic
entanglements with other countries
When Thomas Jefferson became president, England and
France were at war. The U.S. wanted to remain isolationist
and not get involved in the war. This was not easy to do for
three reasons.
PAGE 54
First, the U.S. couldn’t remain isolationist because it had
made the Louisiana Purchase. Now Americans were moving
westward and coming into contact with people from other
countries, which meant the governments needed to be in
contact as well in order to help settle problems.
PAGE 55
Second, once a country starts trading with another country,
the government cares about what’s going on in that country
and gets involved in that country’s affairs in order to protect
trade. The U.S. couldn’t remain isolationist because
thousands of American merchant ships traded with the
English and French. America’s economy depended on
trading its excess food and raw materials to Europe.
America’s raw materials were vital to the war efforts of both
England and France, which led both countries to try to stop
the other from getting those raw materials. They didn’t
want America providing their enemy with food and supplies.
This put America in a difficult position. England and France
also used their navies to board American ships in order to
seize war materials bound for enemy ports.
PAGE 57
Third, the U.S. had little control over the actions of other
countries. This meant that even though the U.S. might want
to be isolationist, it would need to react to the actions of
other countries. The British were interfering with U.S. ships
through the impressment of American sailors. Impressment
was the kidnapping of American sailors to work on British
ships. Between 1803 and 1812, over 6,000 U.S. sailors were
impressed by the British. The British claimed they were only
taking British citizens from the ships; however, many U.S.
citizens were taken. Since the British had the largest navy in
the world and they were at war with France, they needed a
steady supply of sailors. Few men enlisted in the British
navy, and many deserted, because of the horrible conditions
on British ships. Discipline was harsh, punishments were
PAGE 59
In response to these issues, President Jefferson asked
Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807. This law
stopped all foreign trade. Without U.S. trade, it was
believed that England and France would suffer economically
and would agree to end impressment and interference with
U.S. ships. This policy was a disaster because it was more
harmful to Americans than anyone else. Farmers were
unable to sell their surplus food which caused them to lose
money and over 30,000 merchants were put out of work.
PAGE 62
In 1809, James Madison became president of the U.S. and
he reopened trade with all countries except England and
France. He said trade with those countries would begin
again when they agreed to respect U.S. ships. This policy
was not effective either.
PAGE 63
The Americans were also angry with the British because it
was believed that the British were pushing Native Americans
to fight against the westward expansion of American
settlements and also supplying the Native Americans with
weapons. The British did this as a way to keep friendly
relations with Native Americans. Tecumseh was a Shawnee
chief who wanted to stop the loss of land to the white
Americans. He believed that the Native Americans were
losing land because they were not united, with each tribe
making its own treaties with the U.S. He tried to organize
the Native Americans tribes to work together to fight the
Americans.
PAGE 65
Many Americans, who were already angry with the British for
interfering with shipping and impressing sailors, were even
angrier about the Native Americans allying themselves with
the British. Many called for war and became known as war
hawks. They thought that winning a war against the British
would stop shipping interference, impressments, aid to the
Native Americans, and would allow the Americans to take
over Canada. On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on
the British.
STATION 8 – THE WAR OF 1812
England was already at war with France in 1812 and did not
want to fight a war against the U.S. at the same time.
British leaders announced that they would stop interfering
with U.S. shipping and stop the impressment of U.S. sailors.
In the 4-6 weeks it took that news to make its way to the
U.S. by ship, the U.S. had already declared war.
The British Army The French Army
Crossed in the mail!
No more impressment of
sailors! We declare war on
England!
We will stop impressment of
sailors! We don’t want
war!
PAGE 69
At the beginning of the war, the U.S. army was weak. It
had less than 7,000 men who were poorly trained and poorly
equipped. They were led by officers with little experience.
PAGE 71
The U.S. navy was small, with only 16 ships, compared with
England’s 1,017 ships. The U.S. naval officers, however,
had gained experience fighting pirates overseas and the
ships were the fastest afloat.
PAGE 72
The War of 1812 had two main phases. The first phase
lasted from 1812-1814. During this phase, the British
focused most of their attention on their war with France.
The second phase lasted from 1814-1815. During this
phase, the British turned their attention to the war with the
U.S. since they had defeated the French in 1814.
The British Army The French Army
PAGE 73
During the first phase of the war, the British partially
blockaded the American coast. There were several naval
battles won by the Americans, which boosted their
confidence.
PAGE 74
The war in Europe ended in April of 1814. After that, the
British concentrated on defeating the U.S. They attacked
the U.S. in three areas.
PAGE 75
One area the British attacked was Washington D.C. They
believed that if they were able to defeat the country’s
capital, the war would be won. They marched into
Washington D.C. and burned several buildings, including the
President’s Mansion. James Madison and his wife Dolley
were about to have dinner when they were warned of the
attack. Before escaping, Dolley Madison saved many
valuable items from being destroyed in the fire. After the
war, the President’s Mansion was whitewashed to cover the
soot from the fire. It was then that the name was changed
to the White House.
PAGE 77
The British then marched on to attack Fort McHenry at
Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, an American, was on a British
ship in the Baltimore Harbor working out the release of an
American Prisoner. He was trapped on the ship overnight
while the British bombarded Fort McHenry. It wasn’t clear
which side won the battle until the morning light. It was
then that he saw the American flag still flying over the fort,
indicating that the Americans had won. He was inspired to
write the poem “The Star Spangled Banner”. The words
were later put to the tune of a popular English drinking song
and, in 1931, became our official national anthem.
STATION 9 – WAR OF 1812
The second area the British chose to attack was in the
northeast. They sent forces through Canada in an attempt
to push south and cut off the northeastern states, with their
factories that supplied weapons and ammunition, from the
rest of the U.S. By September 1814, the plan had failed.
PAGE 80
The third area the British chose to attack was New Orleans.
If the British were able to take over New Orleans, they
would cut off access to the Mississippi River, the main
transportation route in that section of the country. U.S.
General Andrew Jackson put together an army to defend
New Orleans. The battle lasted one hour. At the end of the
battle, 2,000 British soldiers had died and 71 U.S. soldiers
had died. The Battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson
a war hero.
PAGE 82
The peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 was called the
Treaty of Ghent. Peace treaties are named after the place
they are signed and this treaty was signed in Ghent,
Belgium. The Treaty of Ghent been signed December 24,
1814, two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans on
January 8, 1815. News of the treaty that ended the war
didn’t reach New Orleans until after the battle because of
the slow speed of mail.
PAGE 84
The Treaty of Ghent showed that the war had no clear
winner. Neither side won territory, nor had the border and
trade disputes been resolved. The war did, however, have
four important consequences. First, the heroism of
Americans increased patriotism across the country. Second,
the war weakened the Native Americans, who had sided
with the British. This made westward expansion easier for
Americans. Third, because the war had interrupted trade,
Americans were forced to begin manufacturing many of the
goods they would normally have gotten from England. This
encouraged the growth of U.S. manufacturing. Finally, the
U.S. proved it could defend itself against the strongest
military power of the time, which increased the respect the
U.S. received from other countries.
STATION 10 – THE MONROE DOCTRINE
President Vice President Years In Office
George
Washington
John Adams
1789 – 1797
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
1797 – 1801
Thomas Jefferson
Aaron Burr
George Clinton
1801 - 1809
James Madison
George Clinton Elbridge Gerry
1809 - 1817
James Monroe
Daniel Tompkins
1817 - 1825
PAGE 88
doctrine:
a formally stated government policy
Monroe Doctrine:
an American foreign policy that warned European countries not to interfere in North and South America
By the early 1820s, most of the Spanish colonies in North and South America had declared independence. The circumstances surrounding these struggles for independence
reminded many U.S. leaders of the American Revolution. As a result, the U.S. supported these revolutions.
PAGE 89
U.S. President James Monroe feared that rival European countries might try to take control of the newly independent countries in North and South America.
Monroe had a dilemma. On one hand, the U.S. was friendly with European powers and didn’t want to be involved in wars with them. On the other hand, the U.S. supported the newly independent countries in North and South America and didn’t want any European nation to try to take back its colonies.
On December 2, 1823, President Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine and delivered it as part of his annual State of the Union Address speech to Congress.
PAGE 90
The Monroe Doctrine had four main points.
Point #1
The United States would not interfere in the affairs of European nations.
Point #2
The United States would recognize, and not interfere with, European colonies that already existed in North and
South America.
PAGE 91
Point #3
The Western Hemisphere (North and South America) was to be off-limits to future colonization by any foreign power. Point #4
The United States would consider any European nation’s attempt to colonize or interfere with nations in North and South America as a hostile act since it would be a serious threat to the peace and stability of the United States.
PAGE 94
In 1844, when our town was being formed, it was originally
going to be named Johnson. This was after Richard
Johnson, the soldier who killed Tecumseh in battle during
the War of 1812. In the end, it was decided to use the
name Jackson, after Andrew Jackson, a hero of the War of
1812 who went on to become the 7th U.S. president.
Jackson was the 3rd most popular town name in the U.S.
PAGE 95
John Adams, the second president of the U.S., and
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the U.S., both died
on the same day. It happened to be July 4, 1826, which
was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence.
PAGE 96
James Monroe, the 5th president of the U.S., died on
July 4, 1831, which was the 55th anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence.
XYZ Affair (on my youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0KcA59_8s&list=PL2iFY1Pz4dl1Hk65XNQ9-
6XU_r0Zwrr4S&index=8
USA State and Federal Powers (on my youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IsRmNhwauc&list=PL2iFY1Pz4dl1Hk65XNQ9-
6XU_r0Zwrr4S&index=7
Whiskey Rebellion (on my youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHzhK0BNVBc&index=4&list=PL2iFY1Pz4dl1Hk65XNQ9-
6XU_r0Zwrr4S
Station 10:
Brain Pop: Political Party Origins (4:00)
http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/politicalpartyorigins/
Lewis and Clark Rap (on my youtube) (3:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eqGmM6ze2s&list=PL5suMQvd6vQ3vncws0zMJzdFWVHsKJHWP&i
ndex=11
Star Spangled Banner (on my youtube) (1:32)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i426pbQJZ_g
After as a class
Alexander Hamilton vs Thomas Jefferson Flocabulary (on my youtube) (4:27)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnCuwV29eBQ&index=13&list=PL5suMQvd6vQ3vncws0zMJzdFWV
HsKJHWP