American History

American History

1)  Washington and Adam Administration 

George Washington was inaugurated into office on April 30, 1789, becoming the first U.S president, and John Adams was the vice president. Three departments had been created under the Article of confederation which included the ministry of foreign affairs, the finance office, and the department of war.  Washington chose a cabinet to help him in his term of presidency. He chose Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, head of the department of war, Henry Knox, Edmund Randolph as first Attorney general, and Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury. He supported Hamilton’s economic policy as a way for how the government to collect revenue and pay its debt. The Federal government assumed the State government debt and established the United States Customs Service and the United State Mint as the first bank of the United States (Graff & Nevins, 2022). Under their administration, congress passed an excise tax on whiskey to fund the government and addressed the trade imbalance with Britain. 

The taxation policy on whiskey led to the whiskey rebellion where Washington personally federal soldiers in suppressing the rebellion. He championed the Northwest Indian War which enabled the United States to have control over the Native American Tribe.  Washington signed the first copyright law which protected the copyright of authors, as well as the Thanksgiving proclamation which marked a national Thanksgiving Day on 26^th November which celebrated the successful ratification of the American constitution and the end of the war for American Independence. The federalist state was successful in shaping the new republic into an effective and well-functioning state. Washington knew that his rule and how he tacked the problems facing the American citizens and the state as a whole would lay the foundation of how the other president to come would handle the same issue. 

Despite the effective and successful administration of Washington and Adams, they were faced with several challenges during their tenure. To begin with, America was a new and fragile nation having attained its independence and therefore Washington having been selected as the first president was tasked with creating the presidency. He was tasked with structuring the government and how it would operate since the constitution had only sketched the powers and limitations of the presidency but not the actual job.  He felt great pressure to keep the government operating effectively since everyone was keen on his governance and he had to make sure it did not crumble down. He was also faced with developing a style of presidential government as it was also essential in shaping the new nation (Freeman, 2021). The other challenge he faced was the institutional working of the presidency as every precedent could have a significant impact on the new state. An example was whether the senators were to sit down before an equal or rise in respect to a superior when the president arrived in the senate chambers. 

Their administration was also faced with the challenge of the rise of the first-party system. There was forming of an opposition party that called itself the Democratic Republic Society and opposed the Federalist Party. This came about following the Hamiltonian program proposed by Hamilton and other foreign policy questions such as whether the United States was to go to war with the French Republic, which greatly caused a strain between the two members of Washington’s cabinet, Jefferson and Hamilton. Jefferson felt that Hamilton’s plan empowered the central government and only cared about the rich citizens neglecting the farmer. Their relationship was further strained since Jefferson supported an alliance with France while on the other hand, Hamilton favored ties with Great Britain. Despite these challenges, Washington remained nonpartisan as he believed political parties would divide and threaten the new republic’s stability. 

2) Jeffersonian Era 

Political science says that a revolution happens when the people rise against the government because they think it is oppressive or incompetent (Phelan, 2022). This leads to a fundamental and quick change in political power and organization. The 4th quadrennial presidential election took place in the United States in 1800. October 31 to December 3rd, 1800 were the dates set for the event. John Adams was defeated by Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican Party vice president, in what is sometimes referred to as the Revolutionary War. The election marked the beginning of a new era of Democratic-Republican cooperation. 

The 1800 presidential election was unlike any other in history (Geruso, 2022). It was discovered that several states had switched from district-based voting systems to voting based on the total number of ballots cast throughout the entire state for the election of the next president. The allocation of electoral votes was greatly affected by this. The Founders of the Electoral College intended for state legislators to choose electors and thus presidents when they established the system in 1787, but it wasn't until 1800 that the popular vote totals began to have a significant impact on presidential elections. 

Under the Constitution, the House of Representatives was now in charge of the election (Dressel, 2019). As a result, Burr chose not to make a firm statement that he would not be accepting the presidency. In other words, the Federalists had to make a decision. They had a choice: support the despised Jefferson or the opportunistic Burr. However, Hamilton thought Jefferson was far more honorable than Burr, who he thought had no other goal or motive for his public principles than his gain. Both Virginia and Pennsylvania called up their state militias to help break the deadlock. The Federalists conceded when they realized that a legislative usurpation would be met with armed resistance, as Thomas Jefferson put it. Thomas Jefferson was selected by the House of Representatives as the third president of the United States after 36 votes were cast over six days. Additionally, Congress adopted the Twelfth Amendment as a result of the election, which grants each member of the Electoral College the right to cast a single ballot for president and a second for vice president. 

During these 1800 elections, there were several issues at stake. With no clear winner in sight, political threats became more serious than they had been before the voting began. Military action was discussed to prevent the Federalists from thwarting Jefferson's election; another national election was discussed as a way to ensure a different result; There were threats against Federalist electors and an assassination plot against Jefferson was discussed; Virginia would secede if Jefferson was not elected president. Delaware and South Carolina withdrew their ballots on February 17, resulting in an overwhelming victory for Jefferson. It was revealed that Jefferson had won the election on the 36th ballot. 

Thomas Jefferson's presidency was dominated by foreign affairs, which compelled him to pursue federalist policies that diverged significantly from his pre-presidential political philosophy. It was part of Jeffersonian foreign and domestic policy to wage war against the Barbary pirates. As President, Thomas Jefferson's first priority was to establish a prudent and cost-effective government that would keep people safe while also allowing them to govern themselves. He aspired to a government that respected state sovereignty had a leaner administrative structure, and paid down the nation's debts. It is also Jefferson's opinion that the country should abolish Hamilton's standing army and instead defend itself with a well-trained and disciplined militia. He firmly believed that a well-run government would help to promote agricultural development. In his view, commerce should serve as a support system for agriculture rather than the driving force behind it. 

Because of the rise in living standards and increased purchasing power that came as a result of industrialization, the United States underwent a profound economic transformation (Orłowski, 2019). Machines replaced manual labor, making distribution and the production of products more efficient and simpler. With a new source of income, many people were able to rise out of poverty. Immigration from all over the world was brought to the United States as a result of industrialization. Many manual tasks were automated in factories thanks to the development of interchangeable parts. As a result of the influx of newcomers and their cultures, America's view of gender and sexuality has shifted dramatically since the industrial revolution. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, several significant shifts occurred. As the country's trade networks grew, it was soon flooded with new factories and plants. Germany refused to relinquish its newly-acquired status as the world's industrial powerhouse so easily. During the Second Industrial Revolution, the United States was also successful. As a result, the United States was the richest country on the planet. 

3) Identify and give the significance of five of the following John Marshall 

Having been appointed by John Adams as the fourth Chief Justice, he served for many three decades under President Jefferson and other presidents that followed. He was self-schooled during his childhood and later studied law at William and Mary in 1780 under George Wythe. He fought in many wars including the American Independence war among others and later entered the federal government becoming the secretary of state and later nominated to chief justice (W & M Law School, 2014). He is known for two major significant contributions to the United State. He was responsible for establishing the judiciary department which had equal standing as the congress and executive in a balanced government of distinct authorities. Secondly, he contributed to enhancing the power of the federal government in the way he interpreted the constitution. Marshall believed that the power of the state was superseded by federal power. 

The Bill of Rights 

The Bill of Rights was the first ten amendments to the constitution. They were written by James Madison and were finally ratified after four years of debate, with most citizens viewing the amendments not just as individual rights but as a way of ensuring the federal state does not have too much power. The first amendment guaranteed the citizens' freedom of the press, assembly, religion, speech, and petition. The second enabled freedom to bear and keep firearms in order to keep a well-regulated militia in case they needed to rise up against the government since the amendment was formed to ensure the citizens do not lose their freedom to the government. The third restricted soldier from occupying civilian homes, and the fourth enabled freedom of unreasonable search and seizure (Konvitz,2017). The fifth ensured that citizens be taken through the full process of law, the sixth required that an accused person has a right to a fast trial, and the seventh preserved the right to trial by jury as the eighth amendment prohibited immoderate bail as well as uncommon and cruel treatment. The ninth stated that the listing of particular rights in the constitution did not construct to deny others retained by people and finally the tenth Amendment reserved power not delegated to the federal government to the people and state.   

The Quasi-war 

The Quasi-was was the first war by the newly established US navy and was against the French privateer who was seizing the U.S shipping in the Caribbean. The United States intended to use it to safeguard their ships overseas and to gain control over the Caribbean Sea. (USS Museum,2021). The war was a result of political disagreement after France failed to obey the treaty they had signed with the U.S and began harassing the American ships. The war took place from 1798 to 1801. 

The Whiskey Rebellion 

The Whiskey Rebellion started as a result of the new American State congress imposing a tax on distilled liquor. This tax was imposed in order to help the State earn revenue to pay off its debt following the revolution. The farmers who were involved in the whiskey business felt that the government was getting involved in their personal affairs which were unjust as there was a better market for this product and it was easy to transport compared to grains. They refused to pay the tax and were hostile to those sent to collect the tax (Freeman, 2021). George Washington put a stop to this rebellion having gathered milia and personally matching to this region to stop the rebellion. 

Sarah Bagley             

Sarah Bagley came to the city of Lowell in 1837 having come from her home in New Hampshire and started working as a weaver at the Hamilton firm. She was actively involved in the unrest that grew following a wage cut among women working in factories. She became president of the Lowell Labor Reform Association in 1844, which advocated for better working conditions and a 10-hour work day. (Wright, 1979). She wrote several editorial columns addressing the issue of work reform and the ten-hour work reform. Her efforts helped women achieve a place in the workforce and a sense of feminist identity. 

References

Dressel, B., & Bonoan, C. R. (2019). Southeast Asia's Troubling Elections: Duterte Versus the             Rule of Law. Journal of Democracy, 30(4), 134-148. 

Geruso, M., Spears, D., & Talesara, I. (2022). Inversions in US Presidential Elections: 1836– 2016. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 14(1), 327-57. 

Graff, H. and Nevins, A. (2022, February 18). George Washington. Encyclopedia                                      Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Washington Freeman, J. B. (2021). Challenges George Washington faced as America's first president.        

George Washington's Mount Vernon. https://www.mountvernon.org/george-        washington/the-first-president/5-challenges-of-being-americas-first-president/ 

Konvitz, M. R. (2017). The Bill of Rights: A bill of fundamental rights. Fundamental Rights, 43-            60. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203791110-3 

Orłowski, W. M. (2019). Trajectories of the economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe.   In Social and Economic Development in Central and Eastern Europe (pp. 11-34). Routledge. 

Phelan, K. M. (2022). Feminism as Epic Theory. British Journal of Political Science, 52(3),1226-1239. USS Museum. (2021, September 20). The quasi-war with France (1798 - 1800) - USS    constitution Museum. USS Constitution Museum. https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/major-events/the-quasi-war-with-france/ 

W &M Law School. (2014, April 2). John Marshall. William & Mary Law     School. https://www.biography.com/political-figure/john-marshall 

Wright, H. (1979). Sarah G. Bagley: A biographical note.