The document discusses several key events from the early United States government under the Articles of Confederation and the first Presidencies under the Constitution: 1) Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation like the inability to regulate commerce and the rebellion led by Daniel Shays showed the need for a stronger central government, leading to the Constitutional Convention. 2) The presidencies of George Washington and John Adams saw the establishment of the first executive departments and cabinets. Washington pursued a policy of neutrality during the wars in Europe while also dealing with the Whiskey Rebellion at home. 3) Political parties began emerging between the Federalists led by Hamilton, who supported a strong central government, and the Democratic-

1. a. Explain how weaknesses in the Articles of
Confederation and Daniel Shays’ Rebellion
led to a call for a stronger central
government.

2.  Colonial government during and
immediately after the American Revolution.
 ―Confederation‖– a loose agreement

3.  Land Ordinance of 1785 – determined how
land would be sold – 640 acres for no less
than $640
 Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – when any
territory had population of 5000 free male
adults, it could choose an assembly and
Congress would name a governing council –
reach 60,000, apply to become a state –
done with OH, IN, IL, MI, and WI

4.  1 vote for each state, regardless of size
 Congress was powerless to regulate foreign
and interstate commerce
 No executive or judicial branches
 Amended only with consent of ALL states
 9/13 majority required to pass laws

5.  Farmers arm themselves to prevent courts
from opening and foreclosing on their land.
 Rebellion put down by military; 4 killed.
 Shays’ Rebellion showed weaknesses in
government & need for change.

6.  Congress in 1787 passed resolution
endorsing convention ―for the sole and
express purpose of revising the Articles
of Confederation‖
 55 came, only 39 stayed to end, 36
signers – ave age 42 – Franklin oldest at
81
 Sworn to secrecy
 Washington presiding officer, Madison
secretary – Father of Constitution
 No Jefferson, Adams, or Hamilton

7. b. Evaluate the major arguments of the anti-
Federalists and Federalists during the debate
on ratification of the Constitution as put forth
in The Federalist concerning form of
government, factions, checks and balances, and
the power of the executive, including the roles
of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

8.  Article VII said would be effective when
approved by 9 states – submitted in 1787
 Debate b/t Federalists who wanted
Constitution and strong central govt and Anti-
Federalists who didn’t

9.  Anti-Feds saw no advantage for them in new
Constitution and were afraid strong central
govt would violate their rights

10.  Aka The Federalist Papers – series of essays
published b/t 1787 and 1788 –
 Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James
Madison
 Defended Constitution –

11.  9th state to ratify was New Hampshire, in
1788, but needed VA and NY to be successful
 When Bill of Rights promised, VA came in, soon
followed by New York – RI was last

12.  Sept 13, 1788, NY City picked as capital
 Oct 10, 1788 Confederation Congress
disbanded with Franklin saying, ―nothing is
certain but death and taxes‖

13. c. Explain the key features of the
Constitution, specifically the Great
Compromise, separation of powers, limited
government, and the issue of slavery.

14.  Unicameral legislature based on equal
representation
 Congress have power to tax, regulate
commerce, have plural executive with no veto
and a supreme court

15.  Presented by James Madison
 Separate branches
 Federal system
 Bicameral legislature – based on population –
◦ lower house based on popular vote –
◦ upper house elected by state legislatures

16.  Great Compromise aka Connecticut
Compromise (Roger Sherman) –
◦ lower house by population,
◦ upper by equality – each state gets
2, vote as individuals

17.  3/5 Compromise – 3/5 slaves count for
taxation and representation
◦ No slave trade after 20 years (1808)
 No discussion of women’s rights

18.  Nat’l govt could: tax, regulate
commerce, raise an army and navy, make
laws binding to citizens
 States denied power to issue money, void
contracts, make treaties or wage
war, and levy tariffs

20.  Preamble—Introduction
 Articles— Body
 Amendments 1-10 are known as the Bill of
Rights, all ratified in 1791.
◦ Federalists had to agree to add these to the
Constitution in order to have it ratified by all of
the states.

21.  There are 27 Amendments in total, each
reflects changes in American society.
◦ See handout for a list of Amendments.
 Government is based on the idea of popular
sovereignty.

22.  The Legislative branch is first in the
Constitution because it is closest to the
American people.
 Requirements for the House of Reps:
◦ 25 years old
◦ U.S. citizen for 7 years
◦ Resident of the state in which you were elected
 Requirements for the Senate:
◦ 30 years old
◦ U.S. citizen for 9 years
◦ Resident of the state in which you were elected

23.  Requirements to be President
◦ Natural Born citizen of the U.S.
◦ 35 years old
◦ Live in U.S. for 14 years
 Cabinet—President’s advisors (15
departments)
 22nd Amendment limits to 2 terms; 10
years max

24.  Supreme Court
 Justices serve for ―life or good behavior‖
 Power to declare laws ―Constitutional or
Unconstitutional‖ comes from Marbury v.
Madison Case
◦ (we will talk about court cases later in the unit)

25.  The writers of the Constitution knew that
the limits of the powers and responsibilities
of each branch were not always clear.
 To keep the branches equal in power, the
writers developed a system of checks and
balances

27.  This system of checks and balances
has several pros and cons:
◦ slows the process of making decisions and
taking action.
◦ It gives American citizens time to learn
about the issues and to give their
opinions.
◦ It also gives the government time to think
about the effects of any new law.

28. Explain the importance of the
Presidencies of George
Washington and John Adams;
include the Whiskey Rebellion,
non-intervention in Europe,
and the development of
political parties (Alexander
Hamilton).

29.  Temp president of Senate counted ballots and
pronounced Washington unanimous choice of
Electoral College for president
 Adams second-most votes so VP

30.  Congress created executive departments:
 Dept of State=foreign affairs=Jefferson
 Dept of Treasury=financial affairs= Hamilton
 Attorney General=legal affairs=Edmund
Randolph
 Made up Cabinet to advise president
 Chief Justice=John Jay

31.  Federal and state govt in debt from war
 Hamilton said all debts were a national
responsibility
 States with lower debts or who had paid
debts didn’t want it – usually Southern
 Compromise – agree to plan and get national
capital on Potomac—Washington, D.C.

32.  Would issue bank notes (paper money) as a
natl currency, expand capital
 But was this constitutional? Led to division
between strict and broad constructionism –
how closely do we follow the Constitution?
 Washington signed bill for a bank

33.  Excise tax on alcoholic beverages
 National mint to provide money
 Govt encourage manufacturing
 So set up protective tariffs
 Believed even agricultural areas would benefit
from increased manufacturing

34.  Began retiring war debt
 Enhanced value of American currency
 Secured gov’t credit
 Attracted foreign capital
 Helped create prosperity in new nation at end
of 1700s

35.  Get two political parties: Feds:
Hamilton, Washington, Adams
 Republicans: Madison and Jefferson – aka
Democratic Republicans –
 Main issue was power of federal govt –

36.  Brit and France at war beginning in 1793 –
lasted until Waterloo in 1815
 1778 Treaty of Alliance had US perpetual
allies of France- but we didn’t want to –
 Washington issues neutrality proclamation on
April 22, 1793 which declared US ―friendly
and impartial toward the belligerent powers‖

37.  Washington recognized France’s new govt
and received ambassador Edmond Genet
 Genet outfitted privateers to capture British
ships and conspired with others to attack Fla
and LA b/c Spain opposed French Rev
 Cabinet decided unanimously that he had to
go – hard to sympathize with French
 Hard with Britain too b/c they began to seize
our ships in Caribbean

38.  Jay was named special envoy to Britain w/
orders:
◦ Get British out of forts on our land
◦ Win payment for lost American ships
◦ Win payment for lost American slaves in 1783
◦ Get commercial treaty which would allow us to
trade in British West Indies

39.  Got two: forts and damages for ships
 In return, Jay agreed to list of demands from
the British
 Not a good treaty, but way to avoid war so
Washington signed it

40.  Tax on liquor had farmers mad
 Rebellion in W PA where they terrorized tax
collectors and taxpayers – robbed mail,
stopped courts, and threatened attack on
Pittsburgh

41.  1794 Washington ordered them dispersed
 called militia from VA, MD, PA and NJ – led by
Gen. Henry Lee
 could catch only a few whom Washington
pardoned
 mixed reaction: some said showed new
gov’t’s ability to enforce law – others thought
sign of heavy-handed federal govt

42.  Spain claimed land up into GA, AL, and TN
but couldn’t consolidate control
 Paid Indians to attack us
 US ambassador Thomas Pinckney got Spain to
accept 31st parallel as boundary, allow US to
use Miss River and New Orleans for free, and
a promise to stop having Indians attack us
 Very popular

44.  In Farewell Address
 Warned against sectionalism
 Warned against partisanship
 Warned against permanent alliances

45.  Feds: John Adams and Thomas Pinckney
 Reps: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
 Not quite fully developed political parties, but
this is essential breakdown
 Adams wins presidency, Jefferson has second
most votes so he is vice president

46.  France plundering our ships looking for
contraband
 France broke diplomatic relations with US
 XYZ Affair: Adams sent Charles Pinckney, John
Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry to France – X, Y, Z
approach them and say negotiations would begin
after they pay the French $250,000 bribe – we said
no

47.  We were in undeclared naval war from 1798-
1800
 Congress authorized capture of armed French
ships, suspended commerce and renounced
1778 Treaty of Alliance
 Congress created Dept of Navy and increased
number of ships
 French want peace so war stops

48.  Feds and Reps called each other traitors
 1797 Jefferson hired ―journalist‖ James
Callender to write pamphlet showing Adams
wanted monarchy with him as king
 Adams took higher road and asked Jefferson
to join him in creating bipartisan
administration but Jefferson declined

49.  Naturalization Act incr # of years you had to
live in US to be citizen from 5-14
 Alien Act gave president power to deport
―dangerous‖ aliens
 Sedition Act made it illegal to conspire
against government, including insurrection or
rioting – also no ―false, scandalous and
malicious‖ speech against govt
 Very anti-foreign

50.  Purpose was to punish Reps – new
immigrant/citizens tended to vote Rep
 All 10 convictions were Republicans
 To counter, Jefferson and Madison wrote KY
and VA Resolutions
◦ Said Alien and Sedition Acts were violations of
constitutional rights and said states could ―nullify‖
them if necess

51.  Complaints against Feds:
 taxes to support an unnecessary army,
 Alien and Sedition Acts,
 fears about Adams and monarchism,
 anger at Hamilton’s economic program,
 suppression of Whiskey Rebellion
 Jay’s Treaty

52.  Feds: John Adams and Charles Pinckney-
 Reps: Jefferson and Burr
 tied so went to House of Reps – Hamilton
supported Jefferson
 Revolution of 1800 because party changed

53.  Before leaving office, Federalists in Congress
passed Judiciary Act of 1801
 Created 16 circuit courts and increased
numbers of other judge positions
 Adams named John Marshall chief justice of
Supreme Court